The AR Compass - An IIAR webinar - Charmaine Chan & Ludovic Leforestier
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This AR Compass shows the benefits of Analyst Relations across four axes. Read on to find how influencer relations can impact sales, support marketing, help organisations gain insights and drive opinion.
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The AR Compass - An IIAR webinar - Charmaine Chan & Ludovic Leforestier
- 1. Plan your analyst relations programme with the AR Compass An IIAR Webinar based on an IIAR Best Practice Paper 30 May 2013 Charmaine Chan @charmainechan Ludovic Leforestier @lludovic Mike Myers @m_myers
- 3. Having the right conversation with... • Product management and marketing • Business and sales leads • Strategy and business development • PR and communications
- 4. Introducing the AR Compass Strategy Opinion Marketing enablement Sales
- 5. What it means Strategy • Validate product and sales strategy • Test messaging Opinion • More than 70% of UK trade articles quote IT analysts • Media follows IT analysts’ opinion with ca. 4-month delay Sales • 40-60% IT decisions are influenced by IT analysts Marketing Enablement • Analyst firms are seen as independent and have built powerful brands
- 6. How it works • Framework • Workshop • Gamification
- 7. Planning your AR programme • Situation analysis • Objectives • Strategies and tactics • Target analyst groups • Measurement and analysis • Timeline and budget estimates • Critical success factors
- 8. Real life scenario Set objectives with business leads Generate coverage (opinion) Analyse go- to-market positioning and approach (strategy) Organise webinar for product launch (marketing) Generate leads with advocates (Sales) Evaluation and measureme nt
- 9. Reasons to use the AR compass • Provide a more structured method to align AR to business needs • Standardise the measurement criteria (can also be adapted for PR and marketing) • Plan resources, delivery timescale and budget • Deliver long and short term benefits and success that meets expectations at every stage • Transform AR into a consultative and value-add function, not just a diary scheduler
- 10. For more information… • Read the full AR Compass IIAR Best Practice Paper on Huddle: • http://my.hdle.it/23495340 • (IIAR membership required)
- 11. Thank you Next webinar: A practical guide to measurement on the 13th June 2013 http://analystrelations.org/2013/05/17/iiar-best-practice- webinar-a-practical-guide-to-measurement
Editor's Notes
- MIKE
- CHARMAINE The role of an AR professional is to make sense of the business. The number one priority is to be able to explain how and why AR can deliver value for the business. Most of the time this is about having the right conversation with management.This can be anyone across the whole organisation, including C-level execs, business strategy, sales or marketing. This is why we have developed the AR compass, to help you navigate your way through a business and develop a structured programme that delivers true value to each stakeholder involved.At the end of the day, the value of AR is really in the eye of the beholder. And you need more than coverage clippings to justify your role. AR result lacks direction. No seen as strategic or adding value
- CHARMAINE
- LUDOVIC
- LUDOVICIT Analysts value add to IT vendorsSTRATEGY: analyst are often used to validate product and sales strategiesAnalysts routinely help vendors by assessing the relevance of future products for the market, validate strategic choices and provide a sounding board to test messaging and usually are a good indicator of which features / business benefits will hit customers’ hot spots. These activities are usually carried out as WW (read US) paid engagements. EMEA analysts are brought in to balance views and at a later stage to advice on channel strategy and help with product launches.OPINION:Analysts are opinion leaders and shape media and customers perceptionSALES:Analysts influence 40-60% of sales >$200k (source: Kensington group)Analysts can help sales to adjust their sales tactics by providing a feedback loop, competitive intelligenceAnalyst firms can be engaged for benchmarking costs and value, typically for SO projectsMARKETING:Analysts have very strong brands and are seen as independentsThey can deliver white papers to support announcement and position offerings, case studies
- CHARMAINEThree use cases:1. Use as a framework to discuss business goals with an exec or client, then set AR priorities accordingly2. Use to structure a workshop3. Use a gamification strategy to engage with a larger group
- CHARMAINE Refer to other papers in the IIAR library
- LUDOVIC Maturity and executive conversations The AR Compass is particularly useful for setting-up new AR programmes or for meeting with new stakeholders. At this stage, AR practitioners might want to explain that they’ll focus on generate some coverage (Opinion), when they first initiate relationships with analysts. When the AR programme matures and if the company reorganises, for instance, it might be interesting to hire an analyst to carry out an audit of the company’s solution portfolio and go-to-market strategy. This can act as a sounding board that can then be contrasted to the internal opinions and consensus within the management team (Strategy). This sounding board will not only keep the conversations grounded but also help reinforce the need for change. Another example of the AR Compass in action would be to pre-brief analysts before a product launch and then use them in webinars to support the actual launch as an external endorsement (Marketing). Finally, when an AR programme is going well, it is quite common to get leads via analysts (Sales).
- LUDOVIC
- MIKE to open up for questions