What Is Analyst Relations? A Plain-English Definition

Analyst Relations (AR) is a strategic function focused on building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between B2B vendors and industry analysts. 

Industry analysts work for independent research and consulting firms (Gartner, Forrester, IDC, etc.) and provide research, insights, and recommendations that influence market perception and buyer decisions.

Buyers (of software or services) actively engage with analysts to capture insights and perspectives on specific vendors, as well as on the market as a whole. These buyers tap into analysts to help them build shortlists, vet contracts, and ultimately inform purchasing decisions about enterprise-grade tech/services.

Given that analysts are talking to your (the vendor’s) buyers, the goal for you is to help analysts understand:

• Who you are as a company
• Who is your ideal customer profile
• What your technology/service helps customers accomplish
• Where you see the market going

An analyst needs that information before they can confidently recommend your company to buyers, and analyst relations professionals provide that info to analysts.

A layer deeper: Who are industry analysts, and why do buyers trust them?

Analysts are independent experts in whatever market they cover. They’ve built their category knowledge in a few different ways:

• Former Practitioners: they've worked in the category, built technology, or worked at vendor companies
• Former Buyers: they've bought vendor technologies in the space they now advise on
• Extensive Researchers: they've grown up in research-oriented roles, studying a market category and the evolution of the technology/service

Analysts are an immense source of market knowledge. Every single day, analysts talk to vendors, their competitors, and prospective buyers. All of those calls and all of that advisory work inform their perspective on the market, which strengthens their ability to make recommendations. Most B2B buyers will engage with an analyst at some point in their buying journey.

So then how do analyst relations professionals engage with analysts?

AR practitioners are charged with building and developing relationships with the analysts that matter most in their space. In practice, that work breaks into five parts.

Discovery and strategy

The work starts with knowing which analysts are most relevant in your category and what their point of view is on the market. You learn this information by talking to analysts, reading their research, and asking them questions about you and your competitors. 

Analyst engagement

How you engage each analyst on your list is where strategy becomes day-to-day work:

• Briefings: one-way engagements where you tell the analyst about your company
• Inquiries: two-way conversations, where you ask the analyst about your product roadmap, trends in the market, how competitors are positioning themselves, or customer feedback
• Advisory days: deeper, in-person conversations to gather insights that feed your business strategy

Evaluative reports

A huge part of an AR professional’s role is managing evaluative (or ranking) reports. These reports plot vendors in a category on a two-by-two axis based on their current offering, market presence, strategy, and fit for the market (think Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave, etc.). Inclusion in a report is a primary outcome of AR, and doing so takes considerable coordination. The work of managing evaluative reports includes:

• Filling out substantial RFI requests
• Coordinating with internal stakeholders
• Delivering a product briefing and demo
• Supporting a customer reference component, which, in the case of Gartner, leans on Gartner Peer Insights data

Measuring success

For AR to receive executive buy-in, you need to measure outcomes. AR teams should set their KPIs at the beginning, then tie those KPIs back to the goals of the business. For example, if visibility matters most, you might track how often you show up in analyst research, or in AI search recommendations tied to an analyst firm.

Building the relationship

Analyst relations really does come down to a relationship game. Vendors should make each engagement beneficial to the analyst. If you do, they'll come to you more often. 

Analysts love good customer stories and product demos. The more you offer your point of view on the market, what you're hearing from customers, and direct access to those customers, the more likely analysts will seek you out when there's a time of need.

Common Misconceptions About AR

Is analyst relations pay to play?

A common misconception is that AR is pay to play, and that you can pay for placement in a report. This misconception stems from the fact that many traditional analyst firms require a subscription to access analyst advisory time and to read their research. Given the model, people assume you can buy your way in.

The reality is that analysts are independent regardless of vendor subscription status. Often, they don't even know whether a vendor subscribes. Their research carries a methodology that looks at many different factors of the business. Yes, a subscription can buy you more access, deeper and more strategic engagement, and a better understanding of an analyst's point of view on the market. But it doesn't buy placement on a report.

How is AR different from PR and investor relations?

Each of these functions focuses on an external audience. The biggest difference is which one:

• Public relations (PR): media and news outlets
• Analyst relations (AR): analysts who advise buyers
• Investor relations (IR): investor communities

The industry has come a long way, and AR gets confused with PR and IR much less than it used to. There are synergies, since analysts sometimes inform investor communities, and information an organization wants out in the world should use all three channels. But they're separate functions.

Interestingly though, more and more often we’re seeing AR professionals graduate to a higher level Influence role that oversees AR, customer advocacy (mainly peer reviews), and influencer relations, given there is meaningful overlap between these roles. Check out our recent white paper on Influence Orchestration.

Why does analyst relations matter?

Companies that ignore AR, especially in spaces that are widely covered or growing, tend to run into three problems:

1. Exclusion from buyer shortlists. Analysts only want to recommend vendors they know they’re confident in. Analysts understand the strategy, have seen demos, and know customers who use the product. If they don't know a vendor, they're less likely to recommend it.
2. Less influence over the category. Analysts play a large role in defining the market and where it's evolving, informed by their conversations with vendors and prospective buyers. If you don’t engage with analysts, your POV won’t be heard.
3. Weaker AI visibility. LLMs pick up on analyst commentary as a trusted cited source. Vendors who engage with analysts, show up in analyst research, and promote that research are more likely to show up in AI search recommendations. Even if analysts seem like old news, AI trusts analyst credibility.

When should a company start with AR, and what does a mature program look like?

You’re never too early to start learning from analysts. Understanding their point of view can help shape your strategy and product roadmap. 

Early-stage companies may not be ready to invest fully in the channel, though. Some good indicators that you're ready to engage:

• You have a fully formed point of view on the market
• You have a defined strategy
• You have a functioning product that customers are using

Each of these milestones are the proof points that show an analyst you're a reliable vendor they can recommend to buyers.

Mature programs treat AR as a strategic function rather than a siloed one focused only on visibility. They connect AR to product, sales, customer success, leadership, go-to-market, and marketing, and they use AR as a learning function: feeding analysts the latest on the company, and seeking insight back.

Getting started with analyst relations

If you're about to hire your first AR person or agency, start here:

1. Know what you want the program to do. How would you define success? Visibility is one goal, but consider the broader opportunity to feed the business.
2. Make sure you have the right access internally. AR both informs the analyst and learns from them, so you need connections across the business.
3. Hire for depth. Look for real AR experience and for someone who knows how to measure impact beyond a dot placement or a mention in a piece of research.

Spotlight works with B2B teams on analyst relations. If you're sorting out what a first program should look like, we're happy to talk it through.