Analyst Relations can feel intimidating if you're an early-stage or smaller software vendor. But industry analysts are unavoidable in the B2B technology market: they influence the market, and steer purchase decisions, with more than two-thirds of B2B tech buyers consulting analysts in some form.

Analyst Relations (AR) audits provide an invaluable wealth of data, insights, and opportunities to any technology vendor that wants to engage with industry analysts. This post highlights some of the areas a vendor team can uncover through an AR audit

Good, worthwhile AR programs can’t exist in a vacuum. You can't develop an AR plan without management input or a view into the company's vision, mission, and direction. You can't plan to brief analysts without a view of product roadmaps and an understanding of dependencies, opportunities, and possible roadblocks. You can't map AR programs to support sales goals if you don't know what the sales plan is. Without common, frequent, and transparent discussions, you can't support marketing (or have marketing support AR).

If you’re a B2B technology vendor, it’s hard to ignore the industry analysts: If you’re a technology company, it’s hard to ignore industry analysts. Analysts watch the market, write about it, advise prospects on solutions to include in shortlists, and guide large companies as they evaluate technologies. We share some advice on where to start.