Schaffer AR

Analyst Relations that move the needle.
If you need strategic and tactical solutions to your thorniest AR issues, look no further.
www.schafferAR.com

I provide three types of services:
- Building a program or revising an existing one.
- Consulting to tackle any kind of problem or project.
- Helping manage an AR program when you need an extra set of hands.

Principal AR Consultant

University of Edinburgh Business School

Provide consulting to companies looking to leverage the Analyst Observatory study of analyst advocacy.  The program measures opinions of brands and collects deep insight to allow those brands to improve their analyst relations programs.

Research Analyst, Analyst Observatory

SageCircle, LLC

Advisory Consultant

Collibra

- Established program with the most influential analysts in major research firms. 
- Represented company strategy with the analyst community, and analyst perspectives internally.
- Worked with sales on penetration of highly strategic opportunities through analyst engagement.

Director of Analyst Relations

UNIT4

Analyst and Influencer Relations 
- Built program from the ground up. Set strategy, objectives, and execution mechanics.
- Achieved more than 50% growth in analyst awareness, perceptions, and positive coverage. 
- Worked with C-level on action plans throughout the company based on analyst insights. 
- Led multiple analyst events, rated 4.5/5 by the participants.

Customer Advocacy
- Launched a comprehensive program to strengthen relationships with top customers.
- Created compelling ways to tell customer stories for marketing and sales purposes.  

Alliance Manager
- Managed the Microsoft alliance relationship, representing initiatives throughout the company.
- Worked closely with the sales organization to optimize co-selling.
- Drove all co-marketing activities.

Director, Strategic Relations

NICE Systems

- Built proactive AR program aligned with business priorities. 
- Drove activities to impact sales, enhance marketing, achieve thought leadership, and sharpen strategic and product planning. 
- Fostered strategic relationships between senior management and influential analysts who impacted company positioning.

Analyst Relations

- Led efforts between Marketing, Strategy and Product organizations to redefine company messaging. 
- Drove messaging strategy, Public Relations activities, and development of sales support materials.   
- Ran highly successful annual event attended by 700 customers, partners and associates. Developed theme, key messages and breakout session content.   
- Built a robust user group, including an online learning and collaboration environment, educational events, and a strategic Customer Advisory Panel. 
- Led large sales training events, delivered educational webinars, and delivered e-learning curriculum.
- Managed marketing and sales engagement for NICE’s partnership with SAS Institute.

Marketing Communications

AT&T

Strategic Marketing and Marketing Communications (1992-2004)
- Vertical Industry Strategy -- Led transformation from “Product” to “Vertical” marketing for the Financial Services, Retail, and Media industries. Built a holistic marketing program that increased perception, awareness, and revenue in these industries. 
- Knowledge Management Strategy --  Implemented a “Knowledge Ecosystem” among thousands of AT&T Sales, Product, Technical, Customer Care and Operations associates. Sped distribution of new information, and increased two-way dialogue between field and headquarters. Responsibilities included information architecture, content management strategy and development of communities of practice. 
- Delivered marketing and sales support for 5000 associates. Responsibilities included  customer events,, collateral, internal and external communications.

Strategic Marketing

Analyst Relations consultant helpng B2B tech vendors achieve radical results using innovative, pragmatic and highly effective methods. Expert on Gartner, Forrester, IDC. Author of THE book on analyst relations.  Leader of an award- winning analyst relations agency, Schaffer AR.

If you want to…
- Drive brand awareness
- Sharpen your products and strategy
- Get great results in Gartner, Forrester, IDC, etc, reports. 
- Use industry analysts to win more deals
- Grow coverage and mentions
Contact us.

We help vendors build robust AR programs and intensify the value of existing ones.  We can own the entire program for you, or provide hands and brains you need to execute flawlessly. We’re not for everyone. To explore if we’re a fit, book an discovery call at calendly.com/schafferar.

We work with B2B tech CEOs, CMOs, and product teams that leverage industry analysts in their most critical business objectives. Doing analyst relations for the sake of it is a waste of time, energy and brain cells. We make sure it really moves the needle. 

Let’s talk. Snag a spot on my calendar to explore if our approach to analyst relations matches your market opportunities.  Message me on LinkedIn or book an discovery call at calendly.com/schafferar. 

Specialities: Analyst Relations, AR, Gartner, Forrester, IDC.

robin@schafferar.com
908 421 5315

The Ultimate Marketing KPI Cheat Sheet. 

4 Key Parts of Marketing with 40 Marketing KPIs! 

Whether you’re an accomplished marketing professional.
Or a business owner looking to get ahead of the competition. 

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On a range of fundamental marketing topics. 

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1. Content Marketing KPIs:

 ↳ Content Reach
 ↳ Content Engagement Rate
 ↳ TOF Conversion Rate
 ↳ MOF Conversion Rate
 ↳ BOF Conversion Rate
 ↳ Funnel Drop-off Rate
 ↳ Page Views
 ↳ Average Session Duration
 ↳ Lead to Customer Ratio
 ↳ Content ROI

2. Social Media Marketing KPIs:

 ↳ Social Media Engagement Rate
 ↳ Click-Through Rate (CTR) on Social Media
 ↳ Social Media Traffic to Website
 ↳ Social Media Conversion Rate
 ↳ Social Media Share of Voice (SOV)
 ↳ Follower Growth Rate
 ↳ Brand Mentions
 ↳ Influencer Reach
 ↳ Influencer Engagement Rate
 ↳ Viral Coefficient of Social Content

3. Email Marketing KPIs:

 ↳ Email Open Rate
 ↳ Email Click Rate
 ↳ Conversion Rate from Email Marketing
 ↳ Email Bounce Rate
 ↳ List Growth Rate
 ↳ Email Forwarding Rate
 ↳ Unsubscribe Rate
 ↳ Email List Churn Rate
 ↳ Revenue Per Email Sen
 ↳ Email Share of Overall Revenue

4. SEO KPIs:

 ↳ Organic Traffic
 ↳ Keyword Rankings
 ↳ Backlinks
 ↳ Organic Search Conversion Rate
 ↳ Organic Click-Through Rate
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 ↳ Average Time on Page from Organic Search
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Robin Schaffer

Collaborations for the week!

I so love meeting with amazing people every week… this is another crop of great ones:

I belong to a social selling academy, run by Chris Taylor and Nicholas J.  that meets twice a week to educate and discuss how to use LinkedIn to get your name and brand out there. They have detailed processes and a lot of learning videos.  It’s changed my approach and is really, really helpful.  Very well done! Check out Pipeline 44 Group for more info. 

Claire Fry and I did final prep on the webinar we hosted on Thursday.  We had a great crowd for our topic:  Great Analyst Briefings: The Right Content Delivered the Right Way.  Unfortunately we had a recording snafu … but Claire and I are both happy to talk about either analyst briefing content or presentation/voice skills.  Reach out. 

Ophir Tal is a ghostwriter for LinkedIn… he’ll create your identity and post for you, saving loads of time and improving outcomes.  He helps unlock your strongest story.  Sharp guy!

Patricia Wind and Beth Torrie are analyst relations superstars I met with in separate conversations… both consultants with lots of years under their belt.  Loved trading stories and experiences with them.  We’re all after the same goal - spreading the secret power of AR to more B2B tech firms

Gary Ruplinger, founder of Pipelineology, talked with my about the science of filling one’s pipeline with solid opportunities.  We had a great chat.  He knows his stuff… and is a fellow ginger (well I used to be a ginger...really!)

Simone Severino is a fascinating chap that runs the $200k Club, a collaborative group of consultants and other entrepreneurs that meet weekly to chew on and solve real business challenges together.  He also has a group on What’s App that supports each other’s content on LinkedIn...it gives you a built-in, engaged audience.  He's a great resource that I will definitely stay connected to. 

Mark Evans, Fractional CMO, put up this post that triggered me - Are fractional CMOs a fad?: https://lnkd.in/eRFUFh7d  I jumped in, we talked online, shared and then decided we had to meet.  

Nicholas W.J. Biron is the head honcho at 3Sixty Insights, an industry analyst firm that focuses on the HR and Payroll software market.  We’ve had some great collaboration, together with analyst Pete A. Tiliakos, and are cooking up some cool ideas… coming soon!

I volunteer my time on the The IIAR> (Institute of Influencer & Analyst Relations) editorial committee, along with Ludovic Leforestier, Noelle C. Shipley, Sarita Kincaid, Tim Jennings, and Alan Rodger.  Together we’ve created excellent content for the members and aren’t slowing down any time soon. If you’re an AR mastermind and love to opine, join us.  

Seems like every week I shock myself with how many conversations I have.  I love my network!  Wanna chat?

#analystrelations #AR #CMO

Collaborations for the week!

Once again a busy week of meeting new people and mind-melding with some of those I know.  It was fun. And enlightening. 

In two separate, unrelated meetings, I connected with Eliezer Blatt and Helen Gottstein.  I believe I met both of them through the amazing Claire Fry (who is doing a fascinating webinar with me on Thursday https://lnkd.in/eu8TJAkf).  Eliezer and Helen are both teachers of the great art of public speaking, and both located in Israel.  So many people could benefit from their wisdom and experience.  I’m happy to call them friends now.

Our weekly analyst relations Mastermind Group met on Monday, led by Duncan Chapple and SageCircle.  I mentioned this group and the members last week, so I’ll just remention it as a super helpful resource for anyone in the AR field. This week we talked about promoting the value of AR internally, especially with executives. Talk to Duncan. 

Vivek Kumar and I talked about his startup, Teamforce AI.  It’s a fascinating, fast-growing company focusing on collecting employee voice in an organization. He’s smartly looking ahead at working with analysts in the future.

I caught up with the lovely Idit Aloni, a colleague from several lifetimes ago, and a very special human. Idit is branching out as a fractional CMO and expert on branding and messaging.  Need help? She’s a fabulous resource. 

Walter Charnizon, runs a hot tech startup expo, techdayhq.com, coming up in NYC on May 10. Walter is super friendly and loquacious, reminding me of my overly extroverted husband. I’m planning to go to the conference and probably exhibit there this year.  Seems like a great way to get the word out about the research project Chris Holscher and I run, the State of Startups and Industry Analysts (https://lnkd.in/gXnyciwE).  We’re just embarking on the 2024 research.  

Howard Kogan is the exciting and excited new CEO of ARInsights, the company behind the valuable analyst relations CRM, ARchitect.  He is new to the AR world and bringing his vast background in the VC world, as a CEO, and general all-around great guy.  I was really honored that he read my AR book (https://lnkd.in/eXu2i7qn) and wanted to pick my brain.  Happy to be picked. 

Jon Collins, a leading analyst at GigaOm, is always a treasure to catch up with. He is happy that they’ve crossed the chasm from “Who is GigaOm?”, to “I think you guys can help me.”  I’m happy for them!  We’re exploring some ways to work together.  

We had a really fun meeting with Debbie O'Brien, Chief Communications Officer at PagerDuty about their busy and successful analyst relations program.  Very impressive company!

Another great week of meeting and working with great people.  It’s an amazing world if you look in the right places.  

#analyst relations #AR #collaboration

Analyst inquiries can turn average vendors into fast growing superstars!  Are you using them with gusto?

#analystrelations #AR #startups

Robin Schaffer on LinkedIn • 3 min read

Wildly Effective Inquiries in 5 Easy Steps

My week of collaboration!

Great meetings this week with:
Nelson Hudes, communications and PR pro
Isaac Sacolick, digital transformation expert
Robert Geller, PR man extraordinairre
Amberly D., amazing analyst relations pro
Alex Christian and Chris Holscher, working together on the 2024 State of Startups with Industry Analysts (SSIA) research.  
Stephen Loudermilk, AR consultant
Codi Harris, Gartner conferences
Chuck Goldstone, leader of an amazing weekly networking group... and an author, speaker, teacher
Noelle C. Shipley and Ludovic Leforestier, my copresenters on an IIAR webinar about analyst advisory days. 

Whew!  Another great week.
I encourage you to reach out to any of these pals, and to keep your own collaborations going at full steam.

#analystrelations #collaboration

I am VERY excited to be co-presenting this webinar next week.

It's for anyone who presents their story to industry analysts (Gartner, Forrester, IDC, etc.), investors, customers, partners.  We are focusing on analysts, but the session will be valuable for anybody you present to. 

Many relationships start with excellent presentations. To stand out, B2B tech vendors must present impactful content with confidence and authority. 

Robin Schaffer, analyst relations expert, and Claire Fry, voiceover actor and presentation coach, team up to give you an exciting new way to approach both the content and delivery of outstanding and memorable presentations.

Join us on April 18 at 11:00 eastern for a must-see 30 minutes and come away ready to knock their socks off!

Register:

vocalconfidencetraining.com • 1 min read

Great Analyst Briefings: The Right Content, Delivered the Right Way | Vocal Confidence

The Seventh “Tasty Benefit” of Analyst Relations

Ever spend hours and hours getting your story perfect, then finding you’ve missed the mark?  

Telling the story about your company is hard.  You are most likely too close, too embedded, too biased. You get blind and deaf.  You can’t tell anymore what will hit home with buyers. 

Getting the ear of an analyst is a fabulous way to test the message.  You can look at an analyst briefing as a two-level opportunity:

Level 1:  Communicate to the analyst directly.  Tell them about your company in a compelling, impactful way.  (See my blog on briefings for great ideas and direction: https://lnkd.in/eZj9MDU8)  You want them to be engaged… and in the end, you want them to be really impressed. 

Level 2:  Use them as a proxy for customers.  An analyst briefing deck is different from a customer deck, but the core of who you are, the value you deliver, and how you are different is the same. You can specifically ask how they think your core story will resonate with the market.  (If you have a commercial relationship with inquiry rights, you can also review the customer deck with the analyst for more in-depth feedback on that.) 

Analysts hear all the stories and see the white space. They listen to your competitors. They understand buyer pain points. They have a unique feel for what will make you stand out.  

My recommendation for new clients is to start with “safe” analysts from smaller firms - NOT the ones who are writing the reports and influencing the buyers.  If it’s a new story, and you are new at telling it, tune your message first.  Analysts from second tier firms are more likely to be engaged and give you some feedback.  Even if they don’t give you specific feedback, their response tells you a lot.  Are they leaning in?  Do they ask good questions? Do they want to know more?  OR - do they seem distracted and uninterested?  You learn a lot and those learnings will help you tweak the message until you’re ready to brief the “big guys”.  

Bottom line, use analysts to nail your killer story.

Read the whole “10 Tasty Benefits of Analyst Relations” blog here: https://lnkd.in/ekBsC7kW

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to learn more - always happy for a chat: calendly.com/schafferar

#analystrelations
#AR
#startups


Webinar on analyst briefings - this Thursday!

It's for anyone who presents their story to industry analysts (Gartner, Forrester, IDC, etc.), investors, customers, partners. We are focusing on analysts, but the session will be valuable for anybody you present to. 

Many relationships start with excellent presentations. To stand out, B2B tech vendors must present impactful content with confidence and authority. 

Robin Schaffer, analyst relations expert, and Claire Fry, voiceover actor and presentation coach, team up to give you an exciting new way to approach both the content and delivery of outstanding and memorable presentations.

Join us on April 18 at 11:00 eastern for a must-see 30 minutes and come away ready to knock their socks off!

#analystrelation #AR

Register:

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