A common topic of discussion here at Bite is how the changing nature of information distribution and “consumption” is impacting the role and the methodology of communications professionals. The way people get their information today is very different than it was in 2001 when I started my career in technology PR, and I can only imagine that by 2015, the change from today will be even more dramatic. 
A few of us in Bite’s Analyst Relations practice traded emails recently about what industry analyst relations will look like in the future. Spurred by an inquiry from my colleague Finn Fitzsimons in Bite’s London office, a few of us here in San Francisco rang in with our thoughts:
In the future, I think AR is likely to evolve into influencer relations. The traditional lines of media/ industry analyst/ peer blogger/ etc. are blurring, and each company is going to need to evaluate regularly who is influencing their customers’ and prospects’ buying decisions, and whose commentary is impacting corporate reputation. This function could even split into two: sales influencer relations (aligned with sales enablement); and reputation influencer relations (more aligned with traditional PR).
Selling research is going to be a less sustainable business model as information becomes more freely available, so firms will need to rely even more heavily on consulting revenue. RedMonk is one firm that has gone ‘all the way’ – research/analysis is free and they make their money through consulting. Gartner and Forrester are experimenting with a mix of free (blogs) and paid analysis, and I would venture the blogs are driving consulting sales from a broader base.
I predict a much more consolidated analyst firm landscape in the future, as several of the smaller firms are struggling right now in this economy, making them ripe for acquisition.
The one significant change I believe will happen, and will help facilitate the shift in the market research model, is how research is delivered. It will be more personalized, geared toward the individual user, on any device, and through many media (print, video, podcast). These different views will range from vertical market, organizational role and product. Forrester has tried to do this with its role-based research, but it leaves the product piece out. IDC is trying to do this with its market share and revenue projections.
Jeremiah Owyang at Forrester posted how tools like Twitter are allowing more direct access for analysts, removing AR’s role as gatekeeper. Carter and Dave over at SageCircle have been thinking about how AR can respond to the analysts’ increasing use of social media, too.
So, what do you think? What’s AR and IT industry analysis going to look like in 2015?
{ 4 comments }
As a company spokesperson, I always keep our corporate communications director and analyst relations manager informed of any interactions I’m having with industry analysts online in the social media realm. I think the role of the AR leaders will continue to grow in importance because they do so much more than managing schedules and setting up interviews. The value of journalism, PR and AR lies in message creation and execution across many levels of integrated communications. When your company president blogs and Twitters, it’s important for the PR team to stay on their toes and assist in follow up opportunities. Many analysts like to follow the business leaders directly but will still value one on one live interactions. Nothing beats the personal touch.
Paul Lopez
Twitter
I think that the most signigicant change over the next few years will be in the business model for the Analyst Groups–affecting last, but not least, Gartner and Forrester. They will have to drop the subscription model in favor or more personalized value for each company. Whether they call it consulting or something else, they will need to prove their value to clients in more tangible ways, such as go-to-market strategies and tailor made advice for their clients.
I’ve already posted comments in other places about the inevitable merging of Extended PR (XPR) with AR.
The other side of that is that while B2C will continue to target the inbox, IT and technology marketing will lead a B2B trend away from the inbox and into the Reader. XPR/AR influencer relations will take on added importance.
The shortish explanation:
I know that content marketing is still alll the rage, but more and more, we’ll see people treating newsletters the same way that they treat magazines at home – put it aside and maybe read it later. The richer the content, the less likely it is that a recipient will drop everything and engage with your company. Bills, business and personal email will always have top priority.
In any case, email is a monolog, while dialog is more appropriate for lead nurturing and relationship building.
In some ways, that puts technology vendors back where they were 10 years ago. How do you get the attention of your target audience when you have to compete with so many other blogs and news sources?
I don’t know how they’ll monetize it yet, but influencers are going to be vital in driving that traffic.
Wish that I had stats to support this trend. There may be research about RSS adoption by industry and changing email habits in the workplace, but the metrics that I found were all about Reader share or overall adoption.
Thanks for the comments, Mika, Nancy and Paul. I think the common thread is that a personal touch will still be valuable into the foreseeable future — from AR to the analysts and from the analysts to their clients.
Mika, Forrester has some pretty good data on the influence newsletters and email have on purchase decisions of business tech buyers. Recent Technographics data says that word of mouth (there’s that personal touch again) influences the most buyers (84%), while email & newsletters (41%) and social networks (45%) rank lower. Industry analysts rank on par with social networks at 45%, which surprised me.
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