Want To Win In Complex Buying Networks? Start With Analysts

Marketing leaders face a critical reality: Industry analysts hold significant influence over buying decisions. Buyers trust analysts more than vendor executives or sales teams, and that trust shapes every stage of the purchase journey. Ignoring analyst relations (AR) in your growth strategy means forfeiting a powerful lever for market impact.

Buying decisions today are complex and rarely made in isolation. They occur within interconnected networks of decision-makers, influencers, partners, and advisors. Analysts sit at the center of these networks — guiding buyers through complexity, validating vendor claims, and even accelerating stalled deals. Their influence extends beyond buyers to journalists, consultants, channel partners, and investors. If your organization isn’t actively influencing analysts, competitors likely are — and they’re shaping the narrative in ways that exclude you.

To capitalize on this influence, AR must move beyond transactional activities — such as briefings and inquiries — to become a strategic capability aligned with measurable business outcomes: accelerated deal cycles, stronger brand perception, and increased buyer trust. Sellers can design interactions with analysts that serve a clear purpose, earning advocacy that influences buyers and partners across the buying network.

Influence doesn’t occur by chance, and analysts value their independence. Part of AR’s role is to equip analysts with credible, differentiated information that enables them to confidently guide buyers. This requires disciplined engagement, compelling narratives, and proof points that resonate with individual analysts’ frameworks and priorities. Remember: Analysts interact with hundreds of vendors — without a clear and memorable story, your organization risks blending into the background.

Beyond influencing analysts directly, marketing leaders should amplify analysts’ voices across the market. Promote analyst research through owned channels, feature analysts at events, and integrate their perspectives into sales enablement. When analysts speak positively about your company, ensure that the message reaches buyers and partners. This approach transforms analyst advocacy into market momentum.

AR means the ability to influence strategically. By embedding AR into your marketing strategy, you elevate it from a tactical function to a growth engine. The imperative is clear: Every day without a structured AR program is an opportunity for competitors to strengthen their position with the voices your buyers trust most.

Forrester Decisions for B2B Marketing Executives clients can access our full report, A Marketing Leader’s Guide To Embedding Analyst Relations In Growth Strategy, on this topic. AR professionals who are Forrester Market Insights clients can also access that report, as well as Maximize Business And Career Value From Industry Analyst Relations, which is written for AR pros and discusses how to achieve professional excellence in AR. For a related discussion, clients can book an analyst session through these services.