Following my last AR 101 edition, where I discussed industry analysts’ influence, we now look at how to implement prioritisation successfully and why it’s important.
Why is prioritising analysts important and how does it help to achieve goals?
Prioritisation is not just about focusing resources; it’s about achieving your goals. It helps companies concentrate on analysts who bring the most value to overall programme objectives, whether influencing market perception, driving sales, or gaining insights to support strategy.
Business objectives should directly impact the types of analysts a company should prioritise. If a company aims to influence the market and enhance brand visibility, it should engage with analysts contributing to high-profile industry reports. For gathering insights to help guide company strategy, analysts known for their expertise in technology and market trends would be the focus, as they provide strategic insight that helps shape long-term business strategies. On the other hand, when the goal is to increase sales, the priority should shift to analysts who frequently advise buyers, as their recommendations significantly affect purchasing decisions.
Ensuring you are focusing resources on the analysts best aligned to the goals of your analyst relations programme, ensures your team works effectively and spokespeople’s time is spent wisely.
Maximising impact with tiering
Prioritisation plays a critical role in shaping both the strategic direction and the tactical execution of analyst relations programmes. Businesses can create focused strategies that support their goals by identifying and classifying analysts according to their impact, level of experience, and relevance to corporate objectives.
Tiering is a crucial step for effective prioritisation. By categorising analysts into tiers based on their influence and relevance, businesses can concentrate their efforts on building relationships with the industry analysts who provide the greatest value. Segmenting analysts based on their market and buyer influence, relevance to the business objectives, and expertise, is critical.
For tier one analysts, those most closely aligned with your programme’s goals, frequent briefings, inquiries, and tailored communication ensure that companies build and sustain strong relationships with them.
Tier two analysts, while slightly less influential in helping to achieve goals, still require regular engagement, albeit less frequently, through periodic briefings and collaborative opportunities.
For tier three analysts, companies can introduce one-to-many interactions such as events, group briefings, or newsletters. These activities keep analysts abreast of your company’s latest business news without overextending resources.
Without tiering, structuring an effective programme becomes extremely difficult, leading to diluted efforts and missed opportunities. By tiering analysts, companies can allocate their resources effectively, ensuring the most impactful analysts receive the most attention while still engaging with others who provide essential support for long-term business growth.
CCGroup’s expert analyst prioritisation drives successful AR
Effective prioritisation turns an AR programme into a powerful driver of business growth. It enables companies to navigate the complexities of analyst influence with precision, making sure the company invests time in analysts who can help it achieve its objectives, whether sales support or insights gathering.
At CCGroup, we specialise in helping organisations develop and implement effective analyst prioritisation strategies. Our deep industry knowledge and longstanding relationships with analysts allow us to identify the most influential for different scenarios, ensuring your programme aligns with wider business goals. We leverage a tried-and-tested prioritisation methodology that combines quantitative data, such as analyst rankings, report contributions and influencer scores, with qualitative insights, including influence on buyer decisions and expertise in key market areas. This ensures that our clients focus their time and resources on engaging with the right analysts, building strong, lasting relationships, shaping market perception, and driving meaningful results.