Drone tech companies selling to construction, energy, insurance, and public safety face the same obstacle: a buying committee that demands third-party validation before signing a contract, while no one on the team has ever briefed an analyst. We create the briefing program, positioning narrative, and data set that put you into the conversations procurement teams genuinely trust.
The Challenge
You're not visible to the research firms your buyers actually follow
Enterprise procurement teams at utilities, construction firms, and insurers pull market landscape reports before they shortlist a vendor. If commercial drone and UAS market analysts have never heard of you, you don't exist in that first filter – no matter how good your product is. Most drone companies have never briefed an analyst because no one owns the relationship or knows how the process works.
You're approaching analyst relations as if it were press relations
Sending analysts the same press release you send journalists gets you nowhere. Analysts want data – deployment numbers, use case detail, customer references they can verify, technical differentiation explained in their vocabulary, not marketing language. Confusing PR outreach with analyst briefings burns the one shot most drone vendors get with a research firm each cycle.
Your competitors appear in vendor comparison reports while you don't
When a construction tech buyer or utility procurement lead searches for drone inspection vendors, comparison and landscape reports from enterprise robotics and geospatial research firms shape the shortlist before a single sales call happens. If a competitor is positioned there and you're absent, you're fighting for a spot on the RFP list instead of getting invited onto it.
You lack the data package analysts need to include you
Inclusion in a market report requires a specific data package: deployment counts by vertical, ARR or revenue band, customer segmentation, technical roadmap, and named reference customers analysts can call. Most drone companies have this scattered across sales decks, board updates, and someone's head – not packaged in the format a research analyst can act on inside a reporting cycle.
How We Can Help
We begin by auditing your standing within the analyst community: which commercial drone and UAS market research firms, enterprise robotics analysts, and vertical-specific research houses (construction tech, utility tech, geospatial and mapping) cover your category, which have already briefed competitors, and which ones your buyers reference in RFPs and board decks. Most drone companies have never mapped this landscape – they know their competitors by name but don't know which analysts influence the category narrative.
Using the audit, we assemble the data package analysts require before they'll invest time in you: deployment numbers by vertical, customer segmentation, technical differentiation expressed in analyst vocabulary instead of sales language, and a shortlist of reference customers prepared to take a call. This is where most drone vendors get stuck – the data is available, but it's scattered across three different decks and no one has normalized it into a format a research firm can use.
We develop the briefing narrative and lead the first round of analyst briefings with your team – usually your CEO or VP Marketing alongside a technical lead who can answer product and roadmap questions. The objective isn't a press hit; it's ensuring your company is accurately categorized and positioned for inclusion when that firm next publishes a landscape or vendor comparison report.
Because analyst relations takes time – most research cycles operate quarterly to annually – we integrate it into your wider [growth strategy](/services/strategy/) instead of treating it as a one-time PR push. The second briefing becomes easier because the relationship and data cadence are already established, while the resulting positioning language carries into [product marketing](/services/marketing/) and sales enablement, helping your team tell a VP of Operations the same story an analyst presents in a report.
We also create the reference customer program that most drone companies overlook – determining which deployed customers can speak with an analyst under NDA, preparing them around a consistent narrative, and managing the request without exhausting goodwill among your strongest accounts. Reference availability is often the biggest barrier to inclusion, even more than product features.
Everything we create – the positioning narrative, data package, and differentiation language – is produced once and repurposed across your sales and marketing materials. We also monitor RFP and shortlist mentions over time through [measurement](/services/measurement/), so you can see whether the program is advancing deals rather than merely generating briefings.
What we deliver
- Analyst landscape map – which commercial drone, enterprise robotics, and vertical research firms cover your category and which competitors they've already briefed
- Briefing data package – deployment numbers, customer segmentation, and technical differentiation packaged in analyst-ready format
- Analyst briefing narrative and Q&A prep for your executive and technical spokespeople
- Reference customer program – identifying, prepping, and managing customers willing to speak to analysts
- Ongoing briefing calendar aligned to major research firms' reporting cycles, with pre-briefing data refreshes each cycle
Procurement teams build shortlists from research reports before opening your sales deck – if you're absent from the analyst's data set, you're outside the buying conversation.
Our Methodology
Our 90-day analyst relations sprint begins with a 30-day research phase: mapping the analyst landscape that matters to your verticals, comparing your current data with what analysts generally request, and determining which reference customers could realistically take a call. Most of this work happens internally – extracting deployment and revenue data from scattered decks and consolidating it into one packaged data set.
Days 30-60 center on shaping the narrative and conducting first-contact briefings. We write the positioning story, prepare your spokespeople for the technical and business-model questions analysts ask that differ from journalists' questions, and arrange initial briefings with two to four research firms aligned with your primary vertical.
Days 60-90 are dedicated to creating a sustainable cadence – a repeatable briefing calendar aligned with each firm's reporting cycle, a process for refreshing the data package so you aren't rushing before every check-in, and handoff of the reference customer program so briefings can continue without a full external team leading every call.
Our Working Process
The opening 30 days focus heavily on the audit: we gather your existing sales decks, board materials, customer deployment lists, and any history of analyst or press contact, then compare them against the research firms operating in your vertical. Plan for several working sessions involving your CEO, VP Marketing, and a technical lead who knows the product roadmap well enough to answer analyst questions.
Days 30-60 move into execution: together, we write the briefing narrative, assemble the data package, and join your team for the first two to four analyst briefings, providing real-time coaching on how these discussions differ from a sales pitch or press interview. During this phase, we'll need access to two or three reference customers who may be approached about talking with an analyst.
Days 60-90 transition to handoff and cadence-setting: a documented briefing calendar aligned with each firm's known reporting cycle, a streamlined quarterly data refresh process, and a runbook that enables your team to conduct future briefings without us present.
Initial-build engagements generally last 3-4 months, with an optional lighter retainer for maintaining the briefing calendar and updating the data package every quarter – analyst relations is a relationship that compounds, not a one-time deliverable, and it deteriorates quickly when no one owns it after the sprint.
- A mapped, prioritized list of analysts covering your vertical instead of zero visibility into the category
- An analyst-ready data package your team can update quarterly without rebuilding it from scratch
- Trained spokespeople who can handle an analyst briefing without sales-pitch language leaking in
- A reference customer program that supports analyst inclusion without overtaxing your best accounts
If your drone tech company needs analyst relations leadership, we should talk.
Expand your marketing team output with our experts
Let us take a custom approach to your growth goals by assembling and leading the best-in-class marketing team to support your next stage.
Frequently asked questions
How does analyst relations differ from press relations for a drone company?
Press relations earns you a story written by a journalist for readers; analyst relations places you in a data set procurement teams review before shortlisting vendors. Analysts need deployment numbers, customer segmentation, and verifiable technical detail rather than a narrative pitch. The two disciplines draw on overlapping data but demand different materials, different spokesperson preparation, and different measures of success – a press hit appears immediately, while analyst inclusion emerges months later through an RFP shortlist.
How can drone tech companies be included in a market landscape or vendor comparison report?
Inclusion begins with an introductory briefing where you explain your company, product, and market position directly to the analyst, followed by a data package that includes deployment counts, revenue band, and customer references. Analysts generally produce these reports on quarterly or annual cycles, making it important to schedule your first briefing well before a firm's established reporting window. Reference customers prepared to speak with the analyst under NDA are often what determines whether you're included or left out.
Do we need to have an analyst firm relationship before working with you?
No. Most drone tech clients come to us with no existing analyst relationships, which is entirely normal – few Series A or Series B drone companies have a dedicated person for this work. We create the landscape map from the ground up, determine which firms actively cover your verticals, and handle first-contact outreach and the briefing request process within the engagement.
What does an analyst relations engagement cost?
A complete 90-day analyst relations sprint costs $15K-$25K per month and includes the landscape audit, data package development, briefing preparation, and the first round of analyst briefings. After the initial build, an ongoing maintenance retainer for managing the briefing calendar and quarterly data refresh generally costs $8K-$12K per month. That's materially below the cost of a full-time analyst relations hire, typically $140K-$180K loaded before a program even exists.
Can you guarantee our inclusion in a particular analyst report?
No, and any firm making that promise isn't being honest with you – the analyst and research firm control inclusion decisions, not us or you. What we can control is your level of preparation: a comprehensive data package, a credible briefing, and reference customers who are ready to speak. Companies that consistently deliver those three elements earn inclusion over time; those that avoid the preparation rarely do, regardless of how good the product is.
How soon will analyst relations activity appear in our pipeline?
The first briefings should occur within 60 days, but report inclusion and the resulting effect on RFPs or shortlists typically require two to four quarters because most research firms publish quarterly or annually. This is a compounding investment rather than a quick lead-gen channel – its value becomes visible over time in win rate and RFP inclusion, not through immediate inbound leads.
