10 lessons Analyst Relations needs to learn from 2011

The analyst relations community is slowly emerging from a prolonged battering. Budgets have been in short supply and spokespeoples' time has been fought for in many companies. At the same time, AR teams (both in-house and in agencies) have struggled to follow the changes in the analyst industry and in the best practices for influencing sales. To outline these changes, and to help AR people to reorient for the new year, Lighthouse sponsored a free teleconference on Tuesday November 29. During the call Lighthouse's managing director, Duncan Chapple, outlined:

1. - How has recession changed analyst influence?
2. - Why are the changes at Yankee Group a sign of the shift in the analyst market as a whole?
3. - How are mergers, acquisitions, affilate schemes and reorganisations accelerating the pace of change?
4. - Which analyst firms really drive sales?
5. - What's the best way for AR to relate to influencer relations?
6. - What strategies best help AR to integrate into marketing as a whole?
7. - How can vendors use analysts and their research to drive sales?
8. - What methods for measuring and evaluating analyst relations are most effective?
9. - Which approach to training, coaching and developing AR teams is best?
10. - What's the one single thing AR needs to do differently in 2012?