What are your recommendations for influencing analysts if there is no MQ in your category?

The MQ, or "Magic Quadrant" report is what Gartner calls their comparative report for specific markets. Each major analyst firm has their own comparative report (Wave, Marketscape, etc.). The existence of this type of report indicates the maturity of the market and number of vendors addressing it. If your market does not yet have such type of report, you have to continue influencing the analysts by:

- hosting quarterly briefings with them to showcase new capabilities of your product and the new customers you closed;

- scheduling regular inquiries (every other month, or quarterly, for example) to go deep into their latest report or discuss specific market dynamics;

- sending them an email when you publish new customer case studies outlining the customer challenge and how your solution is solving their problem;

- helping analysts gather data for an upcoming report, which generally involves introducing them to your customers.

I have been in this situation a couple times and by continuously engaging with the analysts, we were able to help form their opinion about the market, and also helped them focus on specific areas of that market which we thought were more relevant. As you do this, you will be well positioned to engage in a comparative report such as a MQ, Wave, etc. when it does get created. 

The best thing you can do to influence analysts if there is not evaluation report like an MQ or Wave yet is to start early and build a continued cadence of conversation. In this case, it is super important to put your customers in front of the analysts. The more you can show that you have customers doing innovative things in the area you want an MQ or Wave in, the better ammo the analyst has to take back to their management.

The big thing that analyst companies look to when thinking about launching a new Wave or MQ is client interest. So keep sharing your customer stories and get your customers to work on your behalf. They can also schedule inquiries on the topic with the analysts if they have licenses/seats or if they don't then you can make introductions and schedule conversations directly. The key thing is to keep up a steady drumbeat of interest. The analysts likely want to do an evaluation - they get great cachet internally and externally if they produce an evaluation that takes off interest-wise - so they are likely on your side. They just need your help to create that business case and client interest is one of the key factors the analysts' bosses will be looking for.

MQs and waves aren's static and evolve over time as new categories emerge and old categories get consolidated or unbundled away. Analyst firms like Gartner, Forrester, IDC know this and their analysts are always looking to stay ahead of the curve by talking to emerging technologies. They publish their thoughts in things like market guides, or cool vendor lists. They update the capability matrix of their usual MQ, or can point to emerging trends in the MQ write-ups. They can even talk about this informally on platforms like Linkedin. 

So the best way to influence analysts is to talk to them. Show them your product. Share your POV. Connect them with your customers (Who hopefully agree with your POV). Ask them for feedback and validation. Do large briefings with them. Sometimes that could lead to inclusion in an existing MQ as an emerging vendor. Sometimes, it leads to new MQs produced over time. This is hard, and sometimes could take 18-24 months but is totally worth the exercise, especially if you are fundamentally disrupting existing categories

1) Be realistic: how many other competitors are there in this space? A MQ is meant to show the main players and their market share. If the category is too nascent then it might not make sense to publish a MQ just yet. If that's the case, engage with analysts but aim to get an 'honorable mention' in existing reports. 

2) AR is a long game: build familiarity with your brand and product over time so that you're already in an influential position when the opportunity presents itself. Keep analysts in the loop about product and market developments so they can understand how your category has evolved vs. existing ones. 

3) Don't forget about customer evidence: Depending on the nature of the report there may be a hard requirement for customer evidence. Prime your successful customers to co-present with you. Depending on the segment you play in, don't forget about leveraging third-party review sites to drive word of mouth. 

You can identify other documents produced by Gartner in the segment in which you work and contact the analyst who produces them. MQs do not exist when there is no variation between vendors in each quadrant, it becomes meaningless to continue issuing them. However, there are other documents, such as Market Guides, Critical Capabilities and others. You can start there. There is the option of having product briefings with the analyst working on these documents and thus gaining visibility.

I'm sure this is something you've already asked, but do you know if they have a timeline for releasing a MQ? My point is, depending on their response, you may want to address your analyst strategy in different ways:

A) Let's say, they don't have one but they're preparing for one in the next year or so. In analyst years, you know and can assume that much of it is already in the works. So, you may want to start asking which are the parameters by which they'll be measuring vendors. Perhaps they won't share this right away and are super straightforward, but that's where your creativity comes into play to get them to either spill or point you to them. Then of course, once you have an insight on those parameters, as everyone else suggests, schedule demos, validation on case studies or any worthy content (touching upon those winning parameters), and even have them pitch in on some of your roadmap submissions (highlight potential features that strengthen your position under their eval. criteria). Tbh, a lot of it comes down to staying top of mind with your best foot forward (the exact foot they're looking to see).

B) They're not nearly close and they believe it may take a couple of years depending on how the market is moving (this was my case at one point). If that's the case, clearly you don't want to hold your breath for it, but as many other peers suggest, again, stay top of mind. Many of those round tables, webinars, or co-branded opportunities come at a pretty price, but there are other more casual tactics that can still get you a presence. For instance, another tactic that I liked to use was to discuss exploratory use cases for your technology. This can also open doors to other analyst engagements and many times this cross-collaborative work amongst themselves can help you a ton because they can internally claim this relationship growth/pollination, as opposed to your firm talking to one and just one analyst (they obviously don't want that). Again, how can you grow yourself in their minds...

I can tell you that one of the most rewarding experiences I had was when an executive at a top bank mentioned that Gartner helped them narrow down their list of vendors, and "of course, you were in there". I can't speak for others' experiences, but in Enterprise B2B, this reaffirmed our leadership why Product Marketing and Analyst relations were key for securing those whales.

Hope this helps 🙏

Speaking from experience, even if there’s no MQ in your category you should still engage with analysts regularly—if your buyers speak to them regularly. Here’s why:

1. Other than other research and publications remember - your analysts talk to buyers all day. Them knowing you well keeps you top of mind when they’re having these calls. We’ve had several leads coming in after engaging with analysts. They key here is of course to know your audience and who they’re speaking with.

2. Things change. If your market is getting crowded, maybe there will be a MQ one day. If not, there might be MQs for more specific use cases of it.

As in everything else, doing your homework prior to signing a multi-year contract with Forrester and Gartner is a must. If your ICP personas are talking to them, and if there’s an enough analysts that cover your area or areas where your solution fits naturally in. A good indicator for that would be if you’ve invested in thought leadership content on the same areas, especially if it’s also performing well.