At last year’s AR Summit, I co-hosted a session entitled, “Communicating AR’s Value through Metrics & Reporting.” In the session, we explored a space analogy that compared Earth (the pale blue dot) to a dot on a ranking report, suggesting there’s much more that exists in the universe than just the pale blue dot. At Spotlight, we understand there’s an entire universe of metrics to demonstrate the ROI of analyst relations – much more than dot placement alone. Demonstrating ROI in AR can be a challenge, but by tapping into the under-leveraged or reimagined metrics that we can track today, “ROI” becomes the three letters we learn to LOVE.

Spotlight’s Metrics Maturity Model

So, what are these reimagined metrics that can demonstrate ROI you ask? Let’s break it down. Spotlight’s metrics maturity model outlines how your organization can start to think about moving beyond the ‘dot’ and tapping into advanced or world-class metrics.

But, it’s not as easy as it looks, which is why we recommend leveraging a prioritization matrix to help you prioritize what you measure based on two factors: 1) your ability to execute the metrics and effectively measure them, and 2) their impact on your business. 

Don’t know where to start? Check out my recommendations for the world-class metrics that can make a significant impact and demonstrate ROI for your stakeholders.

• Analyst-informed decisions and actions The most powerful metrics at our disposal! Analyst insights have the power to drive strategic decisions for the most senior-level decision-makers. Implement a cadence with your stakeholders to share high-impact insights that inform leadership, product, go-to-market, and customer strategies. Demonstrate how taking action on the insights could positively impact your business (i.e., a strategy for EMEA could generate new revenue). And once the action is taken, report back the impact that the analyst insight had on the business.
• Competitive insights and sales enablement A strong AR program has a strategy for collecting and analyzing deep competitive insights that are often collected across multiple data sources. By creating ready-made battlecards and activation deliverables, AR can arm the sales and field teams with insights to help inform pitch messaging and positioning, ultimately driving more closed deals.
• Sales pipeline influence If we’re nurturing our analyst relationships effectively, we’re creating analyst advocates. Simply tracking who the advocates are doesn’t drive ROI. However, you can track how and when analysts are involved in deals. We know that enterprise buyers are engaging analysts in decision-making, so create an internal process for tracking when and how analysts are influencing those deals. An easy first step is to include analyst questions in your win/loss survey.