Sarita Kincaid

Professional associations are a GREAT place for recent grads to network and learn about their field of choice. In my case, participating in PRSA meetings while I was still in college led to my first job as a client relations manager! Educational webinars, conferences, and mentoring are common programs offered through most communications-related organizations, and I recommend taking advantage of them throughout your career. In addition to PRSA and IABC, don't forget about alumni associations and other cohort groups.

There are several helpful sources to reference when staying current on AR tools and platforms. Here are a few of my go-to sources: - IIAR (Institute of Influencer and Analyst Relations): best practice papers, webinars, blogs, and peer interactions. Membership costs are nominal. - Forrester AR Council: a robust peer community with frequent best-practice sessions by members, bespoke content, and deep dive workshops led by AR industry analysts. Membership is an add-on to a Forrester Research seat. - ARchitect (by ARInsights): an industry-leading CRM for AR/Influencer professionals. The platform has many time-saving features like pre-built dashboards, project management capabilities, and even some marketing automation abilities.

In addition to the sage advice that Roger Beharry Lall shared about leveraging Marketing Automation landscape reports (MarketScapes, Waves, Magic Quadrants, etc.,) I'd also suggest speaking with the experts who wrote them. Industry analysts regularly interact with end-users, receive briefings and demos, and give guidance about selecting vendors and solutions tailored to your use case, company size, market, etc.

A critical determining factor for the success of a mentoring relationship, whether in-person or remote, is frequency. It's important to agree on how often you will meet with your mentee or mentor. Meeting too often might not allow enough time to work on ideas and suggestions teased out in the mentoring sessions. Meeting too infrequently isn't ideal either as the relationship and its potential to bring positive change is at risk (no continuity.) A good rule of thumb: employees new to a field likely need more input, so once a month is a good cadence. More experienced professionals might benefit from quarterly guidance.

Choosing the right platform to interact with your industry analysts is key to actively engaging with them on social media. For example, many industry analysts post on X/Twitter to share quick opinions and personal information (which is important to relationship-building). By contrast, LinkedIn has become the platform of choice for more in-depth and significant analyst content/commentary. LinkedIn has also emerged as a popular platform with industry analysts (and AR professionals) as they can host real-time live casts/events, which offer opportunities for participation and discussion.

Technical and domain-specific skills can separate great AR managers from good ones. Several skills are table stakes in any communications role (the ability to speak, write, communicate, and influence). However, great AR pros often have strong technical aptitude, increasing their ability to connect (and earn respect) from analysts and stakeholders alike. When mentoring young AR pros, the question usually arises about whether a strong technology background is essential. Understanding technology and having some domain knowledge is really important, but being curious and showing a passion to learn about the company, the product, etc., also goes a long way. Leverage AR resources like analyst research, data, and even inquiries to learn more!