Seattle’s Melissa Ruby wrote this for the Washington Institute of Technology magazine almost ten years ago. Then analyst relations manager for Intermec, the Honeywell business, Mel’s prior background at Edelman brought a strategic messaging approach to her AR work. Since then she’s deepened her reputation in the AR community as someone with a strong focus on demand generation and product marketing.
Myth #1: A Sales Presentation can be used as an Industry Analyst Presentation
Do not give a sales pitch; keep the presentation to a maximum of 15 slides. There are three essential components: business process, cost and implementation. Do not over-quote other analyst firms
Myth #2: Briefings guarantee a Report mention (The time was taken after all)
The goal of briefing industry analysts should not be for inclusion in reports or alerts. The goal should be to open the doors to awareness, advocacy and advisement with the analyst, whether the company has a subscription or not.
Since briefings should be thought of as information exchanges, the presenting company needs to actively engage the analyst with questions, rather than just dump information off thinking it will resonate. Analysts vary on their answers; some will offer advice on others in their organization to speak with, or provide direction on whom else to investigate for potential partners. However, do not anticipate obtaining in-depth competitive information or an analysis of the business or product plans.
Myth #3: Industry Analysts are Part of a PR Program
Analysts are not PR tools. Analysts are market and competitive intelligence-driven thought leaders where business development and sales should be key to their research and insight.
Myth #4: Ready to Launch, NOW let’s (confidentially) tell the Industry Analyst Community
Nearly all industry analysts operate under strict confidentiality and know their boundaries, many even honor non-disclosure agreements. However, the more trust that is shown an analyst, the richer a relationship can be. This can be done with quick updates via e-mail or phone on the product, comments on a recent news item or by attending an analyst executive conference and scheduling a one-on-one meeting.
