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Analyst Relationships
Analyst Relationships
3 answers
AVP, Product Marketing, Quantum Metric • July 28
This is a great question and top of mind for me right now.
For your executives, their primary goal may be to get into a Forrester Wave or
Magic Quadrant. Yes, that would be the ultimate win, but it can be a long game
AND there are many other ways to measure success over the life of a program.
There are two buckets of goals to measure success:
1. Drive awareness, pipeline, deal acceleration of your solution (outbound): I
measure this through research mentions and perception audit.
Analysts publish regular vendor guides. These are not evaluative but are
important ...
Director, Retailer Product Marketing, Instacart • March 22
Analyst relations programs are best run as a partnership between PR/Comms teams
and PMM. The PR and Comms teams will be helpful in driving longer term thinking
and time horizons. How do we start to influence the narrative in the market
today for the future, how do we position the company today for where we want to
be in 3-5 years, those type of questions. For PMM, the value is in getting
feedback on how you’re positioning products for buyers today, and driving
awareness especially for enterprise buyers (CxOs) with the analyst community on
what you have to offer. The best way to really do it...
Head of Product Marketing, Narvar | Formerly Iterable, HubSpot, IBM • August 4
Great question. First of all, make sure you set expectations up-front that
results will take a while to see.
Overall count the incremental wins, and show the milestones your crossing as a
way to share that progress. Have a great conversation with an analyst where they
told you a key piece of insight? Share that amongst your executives and PMM
team.
Also, make sure you -- or your executive team -- are regularly talking with
analysts. If you're responsible for AR, or have an AR team, you should be
meeting with various analysts (not just the core group who drive reports!)
regularly. As ...
3 answers
Chief Marketing Officer, Hopin • January 28
It may be a controversial pov, but my perspective is that the analyst community
is getting disrupted by DTC user review sites like G2, TrustRadius, and the
others. Customer voice is just as powerful as it's ever been, but now, there are
increasingly more and more ways to access that customer voice in context of
making purchasing decisions.
In 7 years of building Gainsight, I think the only value we had from working
with analysts was sponsoring a thought leadership paper with Forrester. It was
expensive (~$100K) but allowed us to leverage the brand equity of a trusted
brand in the market to...
VP of Product Marketing, Observe.AI | Formerly Clari, Vendavo, Amdocs • May 29
Analysts will not endorse any vendor directly. Your goal with AR is to help
shape their POV about the market, especially if this is a new category and
ultimately get well positioned on MQs and Wave reports. Shaping their POV means
showing analysts how customers are getting value from this new type of solution
and what critical capabilities that are required to be successful. Do this by
building a personal relationship with the analysts, sharing insights, connecting
them with your customers, and keeping them updated about your roadmap and
product innovation.
Head of Product Marketing, HiredScore • July 29
I recommend creating a more high-level analyst stategy that outlines your actual
need for analyst partnerships. Once you and your stakeholders are aligned on the
need, you need to carefully select analyst partners who will drive the desired
results. Do your research. Ask for references. Be critical of their proposals
and scope of work. Get involved in the research. Ask questions. Good luck!
6 answers
VP of GTM & Strategy, Novi • December 20
If you’re looking for specific titles, I think the approach you laid out makes
sense. The screener survey is super important for making sure you’re find
representative folks to talk to (based on your customer base or intended
customer base), and not wasting your time. For sourcing the initial list, I try
to make them a mix of current customers (sourced from our database) and
potential prospects. For prospects, I use an intercept on some of our web
content, and sometimes tap into panels like Google Surveys. For specific
titles, you could also try LinkedIn targeting which I think allows ...
Director of Product and Customer Marketing, CallRail • June 15
Respondent.io is great tool for this - you can target specific job titles in any
number of industries and weed out interviewees based on a survey. We typically
ask things like company size, job function, whether or not they're already using
our software, etc. We just redid all of our personas and Respondent.io was
amazing.
I also sent out a survey via PeopleFish which is another great (and typically
cheap-er) way to get intel outside of your customer base.
Head Of Product Marketing, 3Gtms • March 29
First things first, I believe that a representative sampling of non-customers
can actually be a better source of information than current customers, so you're
in a good position there. However, I wouldn't start with a survey. I would
instead start internally (product and sales) to understand who this was built
for, what it can do for them, why they should care and how they react when
presented with it.
Quality interviews with product and sales should help you figure out your "who"
for profiling. When it comes to the interviews themselves, my best advice: Ask
colleagues for introductions...
Senior Director, Product Marketing, Twilio • December 2
Based on your question detail, it sounds like you are targeting some specific
persona details. If you have the time and capacity to take the approach you
described, then it's a good way to do it.
The other is to use a third party. I've used a few in the past, SurveyMonkey and
Respondent.io. They were both pretty easy to use and got us the insight we
needed without the hassle of prospecting.
VP of Product Marketing, Observe.AI | Formerly Clari, Vendavo, Amdocs • May 29
If you're going after a whole new market, consider using services like G2G where
you can provide the desired profile including industry, companies, titles, and
areas of expertise. Then you'll get scheduled interviews where you can ask very
specific questions. Set aside some budget for these interviews and be selective
because they are costly.
Director of Product Marketing, Indeed • July 25
This is a great approach. It's best if you get as specific as possible to
identify prospects (ie. country, company size, verticle/industry, job title) and
get clear on where you want to focus.
I shared in another answer that we partnered with a leading thought leader for a
specific vertical (retail) and conducted a survey with their audience, who was
our target person (retail execs). We used the survey results to share industry
trends and insights and used this asset for lead generation, which drove a ton
of interest!
Always consider, what's in it for them? I'm always pleasantly surpr...
3 answers
AVP, Product Marketing, Quantum Metric • July 28
In general, a good flow for an introductory briefing deck is:
1. Introductions, and why you're here: I always like to start the conversation
with a little context on why you've requested a briefing with the analyst.
So I'll have a slide or just a few talking points on their specific research
that sparked my request for a briefing.
2. Company overview: Before you jump into what you do, it helps to give
analysts a bit of context and be very direct. This isn't a sales pitch.
Analysts want to know a few basic things about the company like primary
buyers, funding, si...
An option here also is to really start with a point of agreement around how the
market is changing and as a point of discussion. If it intersects with their
research then all the better. Then use that as a setup to flow into why you
exist are different/better. Finish with all the customer and company metrics to
end on a strong note:
1. What has changed in the market.
2. Why current-state solutions are no longer a fit given this.
3. Founding vision and why your solution is different/better than the current
state
4. Some detail to show that it's not BS.
5. How your GTM is different/bett...
Director, Retailer Product Marketing, Instacart • March 22
I think the mistake here is making it too long. I’d suggest an inverse triangle
approach, and keep it short depending on the length and purpose of your
briefing, probably no more than 5-10 slides. My typical lay out is:
1. Company slide (founded in, team, key logos, etc)
2. Market context (TAM/SAM/SOM as needed)
3. Problem statement: Key persona & pain points
4. Unique perspective: What’s your thesis/why you
5. Product overview: Perhaps a traditional marchitecture slide to start and
then some screenshots or even better a 10min product demo walking thru a
fictional user problem...
5 answers
Product Marketing Director, Eightfold • January 10
Afraid that this is a confidential item I can't share---sorry! A few thoughts
though about how we do this well (and I have to credit a colleague, Michael
Dunne, who does this work and is an exceptional AR expert).
1) Sales slides: If they're good enough to sell with, they should be good enough
for the analyst.
2) Growth & leadership: Show your momentum, your success, your profile in your
market. Anything you'd show to a potential investor here too. Be bold without
lying...
3) Format like the analyst: See what the analyst has published themselves and
structure any custom slides i...
I've been on both sides of the table. Before you set pixels to powerpoint...
#1 - What questions do you have for the analyst to help validate or refute your
assumptions about the market?
#2 - Can you describe the customer problem and your offering clearly enough that
when a customer who fits your ideal target calls the analyst, the analyst thinks
of you.
#3 - Do you have a unquie perspective or better yet data on customer behaviors
that would help the analyst do their job more effectively?
#4 - Have you read the recent research of the key analysts you will be briefing?
#5 - ...
AVP, Product Marketing, Quantum Metric • July 28
I covered the basic flow of an introductory briefing deck in another question.
I'd be happy to connect with you 1-1 to walk through yours and share a bit of
mine :) Find me on LinkedIn!
I've found 3 things that have really helped me have good analyst briefings.
1. Being very thoughtful and very direct about why I've requested a briefing
with that analyst. This gives the analyst context on why they should care
about your solution, i.e. if you do a good job connecting the dots. As an
example: You wrote X in Y report, and that's exactly what our customers tell
us we solve ...
Vice President, Product Marketing, Samsara • February 6
The best analyst briefing decks that I've either seen or helped build are not
filled with marketing messaging. They clearly layout what analysts typically
care about, which could include the following: trends you've observed in market
you operate in, the challenges your product(s) solves, overview of your growth
trajectory, industries you touch plus key use cases for each, unique
differentiators, and insight into the product & (high level) GTM strategy and
company vision.
Other elements I'd suggest: Include customer success stories, lay out the
ecosystem that supports your products (ie. p...
Director, Retailer Product Marketing, Instacart • March 22
I think the mistake here is making it too long. I’d suggest an inverse triangle
approach, and keep it short depending on the length and purpose of your
briefing, probably no more than 5-10 slides. My typical lay out is:
1. Company slide (founded in, team, key logos, etc)
2. Market context (TAM/SAM/SOM as needed)
3. Problem statement: Key persona & pain points
4. Unique perspective: What’s your thesis/why you
5. Product overview: Perhaps a traditional marchitecture slide to start and
then some screenshots or even better a 10min product demo walking thru a
fictional user problem...
3 answers
AVP, Product Marketing, Quantum Metric • July 28
This is the situation we're in right now. Our AR program is three years old and
it's an ongoing initiative to identify and vet the right analysts, build
relationships, and education/inform/influence their research roadmap. Here are a
few tactics I'm using:
1. Identify the analysts who (will) write the vendor guides that are relevant
to your category. These usually precede a Wave or MQ.
2. Write out your Wave or MQ criteria. Plot out your company and your
competitors. Keeping those close to your chest :) Having this formulated and
vetted internally can keep you and your e...
Director of Product Marketing & Demand Generation, ESO | Formerly Fortive • August 2
Treat it as a category creation opportunity! Analyst firms have their place, but
they can also hamstring your creativity when it comes to positioning your
offering and differentiating from competitors. You don't currently have that
anchor to carry. Enjoy your extra flexibility! I’ve even seen some companies
effectively create their own market landscape framework to create commanding
buyer’s guides and compelling ad creative.
Director, Retailer Product Marketing, Instacart • March 22
Honestly, this is a GREAT problem to have. If there’s no Wave or MQ for your
category, then all the more reason for you to be in the top right quadrant once
one comes out :)
The first thing I would recommend is identifying which analysts are covering
your space generally. Whether or not it’s specific to your category matters
less, but having a mapping of who the 2-5 analysts are who might care about your
space, and ultimately who might be the ones to create a Wave or MQ is what
matters. Next, understand their research. Get your hands on whatever material
you can, sign up for a license, a...
4 answers
VP, Product & Operations (WooCommerce), Automattic • October 4
Ideally, your product roadmap reflects long-term strategy, narrative, and
investment. If you are confident in your roadmap, you shouldn't need a rule that
automatically places more weight on negative reviews than positive or neutral
reviews. Feedback is very important - but it's equally important to avoid
knee-jerk reactions and keep Product, Dev, and Marketing teams focused on the
plan.
Generally, I try to balance negative reviews with understanding that (a) we're
not necessarily marketing to everyone and (b) product is a journey - some will
follow and others will not.
Negative rev...
Group Product Manager, Zendesk • January 12
This is a really interesting question. Leadership typically look at a number of
factors when determining what goes in the roadmap. For example, at Zendesk we
look at industry trends, innovative use cases, new market expansion, our
competitors, partners, and of course customer feedback.
For customer feedback we run a robust “Voice of the Customer ” program that
looks at feature requests across all our customers and then ranks them based on
a number of factors including revenue opportunity, churn risk, number of votes,
and alignment with long-term strategy. I don’t think damaging negative re...
Head Of Product Marketing, Redox • April 6
Our team always looks at negative feedback and incorporates it in product
roadmap decisions... BUT there is one rule that myself and my teams always use
in these feedback sessions. 1 is not a constant, meaning that if it is just one
negative feedback we don't use it, as this doesn't mean scale, this could just
be an issue with this customer and no one else is feeling it. So we look at
critital mass of feedback or reviews around the same topic. As a Product
Marketer you need to take the good with the bad and you can find great learnings
and growth in negative feedback. My favorite custmers a...
Group Product Marketing Manager - (CIAM / API Products), Wiz • April 29
For the definition of reviews, I will consider analyst product evaluations also
as reviews. It is also important to know that not all public reviews have the
same weight.
From my own experience, well articulated, attributed - negative feedback can
have the right impact on product roadmap decisions. It allows the PM-PMM team to
even reach out for further investigations and understand the key gaps for the
customer. It also gives the team a chance to respond to the feedback by
providing acceptable work arounds or provide product roadmap guidence.