Identify and work with the people who influence your marketplace.

It is a deep regret that I can’t join the IIAR’s panel discussion today – see my personal blog if you’re interested in knowing why I’m not in London today. It was a great honour to be invited to join the panel – I know most of them pretty well and have great respect for them.

Anyhow, because I was invited to be on the panel, I was given advanced notice of the approximate agenda. Not wishing to be a thunder-stealer, I think it’s only fair that I get Buzz’s point of view across – after all, Buzz Method was the only ‘agency’ to be represented.

First of all, I don’t think I’ve made any great secret of the fact that I think AR as a concept is long dead.

Both words need to change in order to move with the times:

Firstly, Industry Analysts are not alone in advising decision-makers as to what they should buy or where they should locate their factories/call centers, etc. The list of what we call ‘influencers’ is fairly long and includes:

• Lawyers
• Academics
• Advisors
• Consultants
• Financial Analysts
• Event organisers
• Etc.

Industry analysts are, however, super-influencers because they have access to so many parts of the tech ecosystem, so it can be argued that they are a special case.

Secondly, ‘relations’ implies a one-way conversation – not from its dictionary definition, but by the way he has become synonymous with PR within the communications (marketing, PR, Marcomms and so on) industry.

Engagement is relatively untainted and properly describes what vendors should be looking for: a conversation that allows them to learn as well as explain the benefits of what they are offering.

Onto the discussion panel agenda:

How each of the panel is using SM in regards to their own company and why?

Buzz is about to launch two new websites to distinguish between the different offerings and representing the three different companies in the Buzz family:

• Buzz Method Ltd: Influencer Engagement
• Buzz Tools Ltd: Online/mobile applications
• Buzz Method Learning Ltd: Combined language/professional skills training

What types of social media do they find most useful, twitter, blogs, FB etc?

Each company will have its own LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook pages. These are the social media platforms that are currently both popular and relevant. We will keep a constant eye on developments, however, because social media is subject to very rapid change.

Each company will also have its own blog, which will focus on giving away knowledge/insights – this is an important factor in successful social media management for all sectors and can help elevate a small company by demonstrating expertise where larger competitors (dinosaurs) have a tendency to firewall what they know.

Which analysts and analyst firms do you think use SM very well?

In short, those who embrace it and do not appear to be scared by what is basically only a means of distributing data.

Social media is the great equalizer: big no longer means best. Business gurus have long been expounding the greater efficiencies that exist in small teams – digital communications via the internet mean that their theories have become a reality. Small organisations do not require hierarchies that demand approval at every level and many industries, particularly services, are astonishingly inefficient and political, given that what they do is basically speak, write and draw pictures.

Among the analyst firms, some are doing a great job, some are getting there and others still appear to be scared stiff of this brave new world.

One of the first things I did when I started out in AR was described by a colleague as “a right old ding-dong” with the inestimable Peter Sondergaard, then merely in charge of European research at Gartner.

I explained to Peter that by not giving details of his analysts on its website, Gartner looked as though it was scared of losing its star analysts to rival firms. I still think this is the case, although it is heartening to note that Gartner has opened up a great deal.

Of course, the big firms do lose a percentage of their stars as a consequence of being more open, but they were going to leave anyway – enough of the big names enjoy life as part of a major brand that this is never going to be a real issue, provided they continue to innovate and reward their people… nothing special about that – any organization that doesn’t move with the times is heading the way of the dodo.

What examples do you have where social media has impacted your research or any other interesting or funny stories?

Free research is always useful and it helps to raise the profile of individuals and firms in front of senior executives who might otherwise ignore them.

In my previous job, I organized a series of analyst dinners for the UK CEO of a major IT firm. He told me that he was stunned by the level of insight that he gained from these small-scale events, but that he was particularly impressed by two particular firms, which was most certainly not the one that insisted on meeting him alone.

One of these firms is quite sizeable and might be expected (by those new to this game) to be the most insightful, the other is typically described as a ‘boutique’. What made these individuals stand out was their willingness to challenge his thinking and share their insights in front of their competitors. He was able to take this back to his firm and feed back to his peers. It made him look good and arguably helped the company make better policy decisions.

Funny stories? Too many to recall and/or none that I want to put in writing, although anyone who reckons that knowing an analyst’s email address/phone number constitutes ‘intellectual property’ is bound to make me guffaw with laughter.

• Intellectual: requires brain power, not the ability to open the Yellow Pages or scoot to a website
• Property: something you own (see above)

How should AR practitioners use SM to communicate with the analyst community?

Firstly, use Twitter and LinkedIn to listen to what the analysts are doing. Just like analysts, AR pros who broadcast more than they listen are thought of as pundits – they can be useful, but risk boring their audience. At the same time, use the tools out there to share useful information – it benefits the industry and promotes you at the same time.

Where do you think SM is moving in terms of the technology industry?

How long have you got?

I don’t have much, so: SM allows the automation of menial tasks, which have traditionally cost lots of time and money. Watch this space for how Buzz Tools is planning to exploit IT.