Guest posts by other professionals
Analyst relations is easily the most misunderstood function in marketing. I’ve been involved with analyst relations — or AR — for over a decade, working on dozens of Gartner Magic Quadrants and Forrester Waves. I’ve experienced the impact that analyst relations, when done well, can have on growth. And I know how much time and effort it takes to …
[GUEST POSTING] Debunking Five Analyst Relations Myths Read More »
By Theo Pristley (@tprstly, LinkedIn), originally posted here on Forbes and republished with his express permission. Co-authored with Ian Gotts (@iangotts, LinkedIn), tech advisor, investor, speaker and author.) You’re an innovative and growing startup, I get that. You’ve got a fab new product or service that’s going drive dramatic benefits for enterprise customers, I get that. You’ve even …
[GUEST POST] Why Startups Need Analyst Relations More Than Growth Hacking Read More »
By Ian Gotts / Founder and CEO, Elements.cloud (LinkedIn, @iangotts). You’re an innovative and growing software vendor, I get that. You’ve got a fab new product that’s going drive dramatic benefits for enterprise customers, I get that.You’ve even got a blog to push out great customer stories now and then, I get that too. But how …
[GUEST POST] Why AR comes before PR. Just look in the dictionary. Read More »
[GUEST POST] from @pegoneill on dealing with analyst firms sales reps #archat
Dave Noble / Intelligen AR (@IntelligenAR, LinkedIn) recently posted a good insight on his blog at looking in to the financial results of Gartner and Forrester. To go directly to the article click this link. If you ever wanted evidence that success in the analyst business is about more than good research, then the latest …
By: Dr Neil Pollock, University of Edinburgh Business School After several years’ research on industry analysts and IT Research firms there are some interesting conclusions to be reached on how industry analyst firms are exerting influence on IT vendors and their product markets. This is just a snapshot of some of Dr. Pollock’s findings. 1. …
[Guest Post] Why IT Vendors Should Take Industry Analysts (More) Seriously Read More »
Blog courtesy of: Simon Levin (IIAR Board Member) What is it that makes the difference when it comes to making the step up into the Leaders section of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant? Ever wondered what companies who gain recognition as Leaders have in common? Having seen four of our MQ Tune-Up clients gain Leaders status for the …
[GUEST POST] Big Dogs don’t yap: the secret ingredient for MQ success Read More »
There’s no penalty for jumping the gun On your marks. Get Set. Go. When the starting gun goes off, there is always going to be a rush of adrenalin, a surge of excitement, and a striving to get up to speed and do your best. But when the starting gun goes off in relation to …
Yankee’s Group’s summer repositioning and restructuring has, more or less, completed the firm’s evolution from a full-service analyst and consulting firm into a data-driven research and advisory firm focussed on mobility (which the firm defines as advancements that enable fluid access to any content, applications or services from any device, by anyone, from anywhere at …
This interview of chat with Dane Anderson / CEO Springboard Research by @SAJEIdeas contains a few learnings that are applicable to other geographies, in particular that personal relationships matter more than in the USA.
I’m fast becoming a big believer in virtual events as an essential part of a comprehensive AR strategy. There are many reasons for my enthusiastic position on virtual events.
James McGovern has posted this on his blog (Enterprise Architecture: From Incite comes Insight) recently: Analyzing the Analysts: Comparison of Gartner and Forrester and I thought it was too good not to cross-post. So here you go, what do you think?
One in-house AR who used to work in PR pointed out yesterday that for some IT firms, even getting on the radar of the industry analysts is of value, so perhaps I was a little harsh. While I accept his point, I contend that unless the initial awareness-raising is followed up with a systematic engagement programme, even a light one, it’s of very little real value in the longer term. Which leads me nicely into today’s topic: Level 2: AR as a Two-Way Conversation.
I generally contend that AR programmes can have three levels of sophistication. Today I will look at the most basic (and ineffective) level and I’ll follow it up with a discussion of more advanced AR over the next couple of days.
This second post on online influence looks at how one might measure influence using online metrics. Those do not measure whether a target community is influenced by online channels. So, if online metrics if they don’t, if they measure a vague notion of industry activity or sentiment, then do they really reflect the ecosystem of influencers that impacts decisions?
Gues post from John Simonds on his secret AR weapons: relationship, back channel, getting best spokesperson
So, are analysts influencing via online channels? How is influence really conveyed by analysts to decision makers? Has it moved mainly to online or is it still by telephone enquiries and face-to-face advice?
My take. SAP understood early on that traditional corporate communications has shifted from a message-based orientation to identifying, building, and nurturing relationships with influencers.
Despite the maturity and excellence of its program, however, SAP now faces competition in blogging relations from other enterprise vendors, some of whom are catching up quickly. To maintain its lead, SAP must continue to innovate and invest in this area.
The growth of enterprise blogging as a recognized form is great news for technology buyers, who rely on independent sources of information when making important technology and business decisions.
