Tailoring your analyst relations strategy

Katie Pesek is senior director at Merritt Group. 

Analyst relations isn’t just a communications tactic; it’s a powerful force multiplier for broader PR and marketing initiatives, especially in the sales cycle. However, successful AR programs require more than just scheduling a few briefings a year. They require a strategic approach that evolves alongside a company’s position in the market.

Here is a breakdown of the two distinct stages of AR engagement and how to tailor your strategy to succeed in each.

Creating or evolving a category (the education phase)

If your company is operating in an emerging space that isn’t yet clearly defined — perhaps you’re tackling a problem in a completely novel way — your AR strategy must begin with education.

At this stage, analysts don’t yet have a lens to assess your market. Your goal is to establish a credible market narrative that resonates with core buyers and secures early validation. Doing so means clearly defining the problem and opportunity, which can be achieved via:

Early education: Brief analysts on the customer need and why the problem matters, explaining how your solution fundamentally reframes current thinking. Consistent briefings — at least once or twice a year — help foster the relationship.

Early-stage reports: Focus on programs like Gartner’s Cool Vendor reports or early-stage Market Guides that are designed to identify and highlight emerging solutions and technologies.

Showing instead of telling: Analysts need to see tangible results. Providing early customer references and use cases is key at this stage, as they validate that your solution delivers real results and momentum, not just empty promises. Customer references are often a required criterion for securing a briefing.

Success in this early stage can be instrumental in defining the criteria for the entire category, allowing your company to influence how the space is shaped before competitors arrive.

Competing in an established category (the positioning phase)

In mature categories, where analysts already understand the space and numerous vendors are competing for attention, AR shifts from basic education to strategic positioning and differentiation.

Your job here is to reinforce your value and highlight traction through consistent briefings on customer wins, product evolution and technical differentiation. In order to do so:

Prioritize hard proof: To stand out, you must constantly reinforce your ROI. Provide compelling case studies, performance metrics and tangible proof points. Decision-makers want analysts to highlight a vendor’s strengths and weaknesses and technical differentiators.

Embrace enquiries: While briefings are vendor-led updates used to share news, enquiries are back-and-forth sessions where you can seek the analyst’s guidance on strategic challenges, messaging and go-to-market plans. This pressure-tests your positioning and provides valuable competitive intelligence.

Participate in reviews: Reports like Gartner Peer Insights or Forrester Total Economic Impact studies carry significant weight with security buyers. Participating in these demonstrates maturity and provides powerful, independent validation.

Treat analysts as long-term partners: Building relationships and cultivating deep trust and transparency is the cornerstone of AR. Ongoing engagement delivers candid feedback on your product roadmap, messaging and competitive standing — insights that are invaluable as markets mature.

The three pillars of a high-impact AR program

In both stages, remember that analysts are more than just researchers; many now operate as influencers in their own right, building large followings on LinkedIn, hosting podcasts and contributing to industry blogs.

To maximize your exposure and credibility, your AR efforts must align with a broader communications strategy that includes:

Analyst relations: Consistent briefings and enquiries to inform their core research and reports.

Media relations: Creating opportunities for analysts to provide third-party validation in media interviews and press content.

Influencer relations: Engaging with analysts and other credible, independent creators for thought leadership activities like co-hosted webinars, speaking engagements or joint whitepapers that amplify their content and strengthen your relationship.

Analyst validation, driven by a strategic and tailored AR program, sharpens your company’s positioning and supports both brand and pipeline growth. For cybersecurity vendors, earning the analyst stamp of approval is the clearest path to winning the trust of decision-makers.