What are the best practices for allocating your analyst relations budget across different types of analysts?

1 Identify your key analysts

The first step is to identify the analysts who matter most for your AR strategy. These are the ones who have a high level of expertise, influence, and engagement in your market segment, target audience, and geographic region. You can use various criteria and tools to assess and rank the analysts, such as their research agenda, publication frequency, media mentions, social media presence, client base, event participation, and feedback from your stakeholders. Ideally, you should have a shortlist of 10 to 20 key analysts who cover your core topics and value propositions.

2 Segment your analyst tiers

The next step is to segment your key analysts into different tiers based on their priority and potential for your AR program. A common way to do this is to use a three-tier model, where tier 1 analysts are the most important and influential, tier 2 analysts are moderately important and influential, and tier 3 analysts are less important and influential but still relevant. You can also use other criteria to segment your analysts, such as their type (e.g., advisory, boutique, independent), their focus (e.g., strategic, tactical, technical), or their relationship (e.g., paid, unpaid, neutral, positive, negative).

3 Allocate your budget and resources

The final step is to allocate your budget and resources across your analyst tiers according to your AR objectives and available resources. Generally, you should invest more time, money, and effort in engaging with your tier 1 analysts, as they can provide the most value and impact for your AR program. You can use various tactics to interact with them, such as briefings, inquiries, reports, webinars, events, surveys, newsletters, and social media. For your tier 2 analysts, you should maintain regular contact and provide them with relevant information and updates, but with less frequency and intensity than your tier 1 analysts. You can use similar tactics as your tier 1 analysts, but with less customization and personalization. For your tier 3 analysts, you should monitor their activities and opinions and provide them with occasional updates and invitations, but with minimal investment and expectation. You can use tactics such as email blasts, press releases, blogs, and podcasts.

By following these best practices, you can optimize your AR budget and resources across different types of analysts and achieve your AR goals more effectively and efficiently.