Analyst houses set the tone for an industry, including the cyber security sector. They keep organisations informed about market trends and publish research about products and services, making them a highly influential advisory group. Unlike regular media pitching, analysts are interested in the product or services and how, why and where these can be procured, deployed or used in the wider market.
As with most things, there is no ultimate magic formula to pitching cyber security analysts, but below are some top tips to help you on your way to writing a successful analyst pitch and landing a briefing.
- Tailor your approach
With these types of pitches, it is important to first identify what analyst house you want to target and then specify which analyst in that analyst house is focused on your client’s market area(s).
Researching your analyst is key to knowing where, and to who you should send your pitch in order to maximise your efforts and get results. For example, if your client is a Cloud specialist, you should look at all the analyst houses that cover Cloud, then narrow it down to suitable individuals. This type of information is often publicly available, usually on the company website. If it’s not on the website, a deep dive on LinkedIn or even a Google search is always a good way to find your analyst and their beat.
Another way to find the right analyst match for your client is to network at events and tradeshows (when allowed) and look at the analysts speaking at that event. Putting a name to a face and having a personal connection always helps plus, you can verbally discuss what it is that analyst is really looking for, giving you good insight on what to pitch in the future.
2. Give your pitch a focus
Once you know who is best suited for your pitch, it is good to keep in mind that analysts’ time is precious. Getting straight to the point and keeping only the need-to-know information in your pitch is vital. We recommend keeping the pitch around the 500-word mark, to ensure you are not ‘waffling’ on.
3. Make the content engaging
Making sure your pitch is full of pertinent, focused and interesting information on the client is really important to pique interest and get your foot in the door. Showing that your client can offer unique and interesting services and solutions, that genuinely can help IT and cyber security workers is the crux of a pitch. Always remember to include the fundamentals: who, what, where, when, how and why.
4. Keep those relationships going
Once you start playing the field, so to speak, building and maintaining relationships with analysts is a great way to ensure future opportunities because chances are, you will need them again. You can do this by sharing client news, enquiring about upcoming research reports and making the effort to connect on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn.
By following these simple tips, you’re sure to have an edge when creating a well-crafted pitch that is going to land and get results for your clients. And with that said, happy pitching!