You’re wondering about it, aren’t you? Can you “buy” better placements in a Gartner Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave or other comparative report? Will paying analyst firms get you included in other reports as well, get you mentioned in speeches, and result in recommendations when analysts talk to buyers? You don’t want to insult analysts by asking… but you really want to know. 

Isn’t it all pay for play? 

The answer is 100 percent yes… sort of. If you invest in the firms, you will see an improvement in results. By “invest,” though, we mean invest your time and intelligence. Do your homework, and keep the right analysts in the loop with meaningful and recurring updates and intelligence. We have clients that have multiple analyst contracts and others that have none — in both cases, analyst relations (AR) professionals and their companies can invest their time wisely to drive program value.

Putting subscription dollars to use

When it comes to paying for services, analyst firms have ways for you to spend money and enjoy the benefits of their hard-won brand equity. In addition to purchasing seats, you can sponsor events, buy reprint rights, bring an analyst to your customer event, buy custom research and more. You cannot simply buy better representation in syndicated reports.

What you can do, though, is use your subscription to an analyst firm to increase your access to analysts, better understand their thinking, know what research they have coming up, and ask them what you need to improve to impress them (and by extension, your prospects). Or don’t sign a contract with a firm — but do the work required to help their analysts understand your market and business, including via briefings, so they can write and speak accurately about you. This is the outcome that pays the dividends that some think comes from a fat check/expensive subscription.

3 ways to increase visibility & improve analyst perception

If you want to improve your standing with the analysts, there are several ways to do so, and they all take some kind of investment (time and/or money):

  • Invest NO money and MINIMAL time. You are putting together marketing materials anyway, right? Do you have a list of analysts who cover your market? If not, get one, and package your content for them on a quarterly basis — sending it as a newsletter to those who would be interested. Not only will it keep key analysts up to date on your progress, but it also serves as an archive over time, so when a client asks an analyst about you, they can quickly pull together information to share.
  • Invest NO money, but a bit MORE time. All major firms will take briefings, even if you don’t have a contract. Put together a calendar of regular briefings, even if they’re just once a year, aligned to your core business areas and key analysts. Most firms have a form you can fill out to request a briefing, and it only takes a second with your favorite search engine to find them. Here are links to access Gartner’s and Forrester’s forms, for instance (both requiring free registration). 

In addition to informing analysts about your company, you can also use briefings to help foster a rapport between analysts and your executives. The personal attention of a senior executive is irreplaceable in building understanding between your company and an analyst — even if they disagree on some issues — and often leads to additional opportunities with the analyst.

Beyond offering briefings, some firms publish their research calendars on their websites. Knowing who is publishing what and when allows you to be in the right place at the right time when reaching out for a briefing or sending relevant content. 

Finally, some firms offer reports for free. Many other reports are available online from companies that purchased reprint rights. If you aren’t reading the insights, you are at a distinct disadvantage versus competitors that are. So, by reading relevant reports and keeping analysts up-to-date, you can make headway with analysts without financial commitments.

  • Invest money AND time. Having a contract with an analyst firm gives you far greater access to the analysts and their research plans. This is where your time commitment becomes substantial, but with far greater impact across many areas of your business. Contracts give you the right to regularly query analysts and read their reports. Plus, adding inquiries to your schedule of interactions means you can ask all of the burning questions you can’t in a briefing (which are primarily one-way conversations: vendor presenting to analyst). These questions might include “What are our competitors doing that we’re not?” “What research do you have coming up, and how can we help?” “Why didn’t we do better in that report?” “What do you think of our new offering?” “What are your thoughts on our latest messaging?” and “Can you review this video we’re working on for a new market/persona?” Let your imagination run wild. Very little is off the table.

You may note that, in the above list, we didn’t include “invest money but no time.” That would be a huge mistake and won’t result in increased visibility. Contract negotiations and maintenance are handled by a separate organization in the major firms, and the analysts won’t even know you’re a client if you don’t make use of the benefits offered by your contract. And while there are firms that allow you to sponsor reports and get content alongside research, that won’t change the analysts’ understanding of you, in and of itself.

So, yes, pay the analysts. Pay them with your time, attention and expertise. Pay them with access to your customers. Pay them with care in how you communicate with them. And if you can afford it, pay them for the access you can use to deepen their understanding of your company. 

The benefits go far beyond better placement in reports. You will have the benefit of hearing from people who talk to your prospects all day. You will improve your marketing, sales and product development. You will have better qualified leads and more of them. It’s the kind of play that’s worth paying for.