album-under-the-influence-of-giants

The role of Influence in Analyst Relations

I read a great piece recently by my friend Lisa Petrilli on Influence vs Empowerment. She raised some excellent points about the differences between the two and, more importantly, the effectiveness of the two. And in a pure social/commercial market, her points were dead on.

One of the more interesting notes in her post was the result of research by Steve Knox, CEO of Proctor and Gamble’s WOM Unit Tremor. They found that rather than “influencers” in any given market, there were actually “connectors” – people who linked people and ideas together (perhaps a much better, or accurate, description of influence!).

But in the world of Analysts and Analysts Relations, all too often the word “influence” is the yardstick by which people, initiatives and, ultimately corporate value, are measured: How much “influence” over a particular market, or a group of analysts or a group of [pick any category that involves at least one person who buys anything] does an individual actually have, and how can they improve that.

So with a tip of the hat to Lisa and the work of Steve Knox and the team at Tremor, I think that there are some very distinct ways that we can alter/change/improve the way that we “connect” people and ideas together with the ultimate goal of shaping (influencing) an analysts decision to recommend a product, or ultimately (and perhaps directly) a consumer’s decision to purchase a product, in favor of another vendor’s product. Ideally, this influence should be subtle enough to allow the analyst or consumer to feel that they have made the correct choice themselves, as a result of their own empowerment and selection process.

Here are a few things to think about – questions that are worth answering as we begin to consider just how much influence vs “connective ability” Analysts and Analyst Relations people actually have, and how they can improve it:

  • Can “empowerment” actually be used to shape an Analyst’s opinion of a vendor’s product?
  • Can a vendor’s Analyst Relations team go directly to an end-user, bypassing an Analyst, to both help shape an Analyst’s opinion AND drive direct sales results? And does this violate the separation of AR & Marketing?
  • Is there value in a vendor’s Analyst Relations team working directly with Marketing and Public Relations to help shape the way that a vendors customers (believers) can become connectors, and increase a vendor’s brand awareness
  • Can basic outreach techniques (blogging, speaking, etc.) be used by a vendor’s Analyst Relations team to help create a larger group of “connectors” (and thus influence) in a market?

Note: Image courtesy of the band Under the Influence of Giants self-titled album released 2006 on Island Records

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  • http://www.LisaPetrilli.com Lisa Petrilli

    Fred,

    Such complex questions you raise. I wonder if your chat participants found them difficult to grapple with?

    A few of my thoughts:

    1. I would think an analyst would resist being influenced – that they’d want their analysis to be based solely on their own criteria so that they can stand by it as “authentic” – and not affected by outside factors
    2. At the same time, the role the analyst plays is to give insight and information – both of which will naturally influence others’ purchase decisions. And I don’t see anything wrong with that…!
    3. The key to me is that the purchaser is empowered to choose – on their own – whether to listen to the analyst.

    I really appreciate your kind words about my post and the fact that you shared it with your community. Thank you so much for that! I wrote it from a place of wanting to feel more empowerment in my life… :)

    All the best, Fred –
    @LisaPetrilli

    • http://fredmcclimans.com Fred McClimans

      Lisa,

      Thank you for your comments. You are correct when you state that “an analyst would resist being influenced” and yet that is the job of an Analyst Relations professional – to subtly (or in some cases quite overtly) provide information that influences or shapes the opinions of an analyst, and there are clearly (from my own experience in the analytical field) analysts that are more malleable than others.

      To put this in perspective (with regard to your 3rd point), the top two analyst firms in the IT market generate nearly $2B in annual revenue “influencing” their user/client communities

      Of course not all analysts will be receptive to a vendor’s message, nor will all consumers be receptive to being influenced by an analyst (although that is often the case in certain market sectors – especially within the fast-moving IT market). With that in mind, it becomes important for Analyst Relations professionals to find ways to convey their message direct to the consuming public – not necessarily as a means to directly market (that is the job of Marketing – which should be coordinated with Analyst Relations), but as a means to ensure that the consumers (and especially the “influencial connectors) are hearing the same message as the analyst and thus can make their own informed/empowered decision.

      Thanks again for your comments. Looking forward to #LeadershipChat tonight.

      Fred

  • http://twitter.com/nancyshapira nancyshapira

    Thanks Fred–I would like to address 2 of your questions:
    “Is there value in a vendor’s Analyst Relations team working directly with Marketing and Public Relations to help shape the way that a vendors customers (believers) can become connectors, and increase a vendor’s brand awareness”
    I believe that all Marketing positions need to work very closely together–in fact if they dont-it compromises all facets of Marketing. Today more than ever Marketing is becoming more interconnected with its roles; you really cannot do PR today without Social Media and SEO inputs.
    “Can basic outreach techniques (blogging, speaking, etc.) be used by a vendor’s Analyst Relations team to help create a larger group of “connectors” (and thus influence) in a market?”
    Absolutely —Analysts are using Twitter, blogs and all types of social media today and they can be used very effectively to follow and engage with analysts in an informal way.

    • http://fredmcclimans.com Fred McClimans

      Nancy – Thanks for the feedback (sorry it took me a week to get back to you – tried DM to thank you).

      Your points are dead on and you raise an interesting point about Marketing. In essence, all “R” functions are essentially some form of marketing, we’ve just found different ways to differentiate & label the various sub-functions. But at the end of the day, it is all about promoting the brand, getting the message across and helping to drive awareness and sales.

      What was interesting to me was the feedback that I got in response to some of the questions “offline” (the post was originally done as a lead-in to #ARchat). There are still quite a few who don’t yet understand the value of an integrated and broad-based/well-coordinated structure. Perhaps some are protective of their turf?

      Again, thanks for the comments!

      Fred