The Influence Quadrant identifies how companies’ profiles are rising or falling in industry analyst research.
From celebrating analyst relation triumphs at firms whose profile has rocketed, or documenting slips in a company’s status, we’ve looked to make the Influence Quadrant an easy-to-use tool. Anyone involved in analyst relations can use it to get ahead and develop successful influencer marketing programmes. In this industry, vendors’ share of voice in analyst research is strongly correlated with personal recommendations and mentions in te media – both of which help generate business leads.
So how does the Influence Quadrant work? Put simply an Influence Quadrant places firms from a particular industry into one of four segments: Spring (low profile, rising); Summer (High profile, rising); Autumn (High profile, falling) and Winter (Low profile, falling). By doing so, the Influence Quadrant maps out those firms doing well, those with potential and those in decline against one another. It clearly identifies who’s on the way to the top and who’s on the slide down.
The IQ works by regularly measuring how frequently firms have been mentioned in by analysts in reports. Currently, we track around 500 brand names in reports published by over 400 analyst firms. Many of these reports are global in scope, but our data can also segment research that is focussed on North America (where most analysts are based), Europe or Asia. Because of the enormous volume of research reports, however, the Influence Quadrant produces a picture that is objective, replicable and easily understood at a glance.
Whether the analysis is global or regional, we see who is rising or falling by comparing their profile over time. The further right a brand is, the higher its profile. The higher up it is, the more its profile has risen.
We track hundreds of firms, and they can’t fit comfortably into one chart. In the Influence Quadrant for Powerhouse firms, for example, we show firms which are followed by a lot of analysts and which have solutions that span the five different market segments we use (cloud, services, software, systems, and telecoms). The decision about which firms qualify as ‘Powerhouse’ is qualitative, and we continually review which segment each firm best fits.
So why is a tool like the Influence Quadrant needed and who’s going to benefit?
Well, it really boils down to the fact that AR is increasingly about the visibility connected to tracking metrics associated to influencers’ impact on purchasing behaviour. Even high-tech PR firms and investor relations experts are interested in gaining insight and seeing trends in analyst research since they anticipate trends in media and investor awareness.
The share of voice reflects the frequency with which companies are mentioned in the research. Research is often shared and mentioned in social media, and so online influencers are often amplifiers for analyst research. As a result, fewer mentions in analyst research also produce a smaller ‘signal’ to be ‘amplified’ through sharing and conversation in social media.
Because of its clear, metric-based approach, the Influence Quadrant is also an asset for those trying to tie industry analyst relations into public relations programmes and direct marketing. The high-tech influence model shows that analyst research is a powerful input into their activities. Because analyst research is widely cited in the media (and in media releases) is also used for content marketing and lead generation campaigns.
As a result, a wide range of marketing influencers are themselves shifted by how marketing and PR firms, and increasingly the whole advertising and marketing promotion programmes, use analyst research. In particular, that is because it mentions specific vendors in order to change buying decision behaviour.
If you want to know if your firm is sitting pretty or needs to pull its socks up when it comes to influencing the market then think of giving the Influence Quadrant a whirl. You can see where you stand and what steps need to be taken to stay at the top of the chart.
To get your hands on each new Influence Quadrant, or one in particular, please contact us.
