Customer Experience Matrix

APRIL 15, 2015

I actually found this concern a bit overwrought – there are other segments, most obviously B2B marketing automation itself, that support many dozens of similar vendors. This contrasts sharply with marketing automation, where many companies still buy the first system they consider and few conduct an extensive pre-purchase trial.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Automation Services Marketo Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

The Interwebs have delivered an unusually rich trove of data about the marketing automation industry in the past few weeks. Taken together, these provide a clearer picture than usual of the state of marketing automation. Here’s how I see things. They are vastly more likely than average to have a system in place.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

AUGUST 6, 2013

One of the main reasons that marketing automation has not been adopted more quickly is that too few marketers know how to fully use it. Instead, RightWave offers what it calls “marketing automation as a service,” gives each client access to staff members who will set up and execute campaigns for them.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

DECEMBER 18, 2012

But this time I was able to answer right away because I’ve just finished a white paper on the future of B2B marketing automation, sponsored by Leadformix and available here for free download. The question answered by the paper is “What will marketing automation vendors do next?” This is what’s covered in the white paper.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

The talk had turned to the industry in general and I was ticking through my usual list of trends – external data, predictive modeling, sales enablement, advanced attribution, adtech and martech integration, local/partner marketing systems, all-in-one systems, content creation support, and of course customer data platforms.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Top of Funnel Marketing Funnels Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

DECEMBER 4, 2012

One easily predictable trend in B2B marketing automation is that vendors will tailor their systems to specific industries. The reason may be that B2B marketing automation products have a narrower scope than B2C systems, meaning there’s less advantage in creating vertical editions. Integrations with ACT!

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Paid Search Agency Marketing Automation Advertising Agencies 120

Customer Experience Matrix

AUGUST 5, 2014

I finished the latest release of the B2B Marketing Automation Vendor Selection Tool (VEST) yesterday, which is always a great relief. In fact, if you count lead scoring and content testing as part of analytics, seven of the dozen items fell into that category. It’s a great cliché and all, but I am not a farm boy.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Marketing Automation Marketing Report 120

Customer Experience Matrix

AUGUST 13, 2013

As I noted in a post last year , there is a universe of specialized marketing automation systems for companies that sell through channel partners. Here are two more vendors with related offerings: NitroMojo focuses primarily on lead distribution and tracking. did they eventually buy? is there something else they might purchase?

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Advertising Agencies Marketing Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

AUGUST 23, 2012

final installment in my series of posts on leaders in the different B2B marketing automation sectors, as determined by the ratings in our VEST report. This covers a broad range of marketing users with widely varied needs. Most require the full set of marketing automation functions but apply these in simple ways.

Eloqua 120

Eloqua Act-On Marketing Automation Services Marketo 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 4, 2014

I’ve just published the latest edition of our B2B Marketing Automation Vendor Selection Tool (VEST), with updated entries on all your favorites and several new entries to boot. I added four new vendors to the report, all of which have just begun to market their products aggressively. mid-market leadership may be up for grabs.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Marketing Management Top of Funnel 120

Customer Experience Matrix

MAY 12, 2015

I briefly mentioned MDC Dot in an earlier blog post about giving sales people access to marketing automation capabilities. The system also can do basic lead scoring and assign prospects to sales funnel stages. This may not have done them justice since they are more specialized than that general description implied.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Microsite Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Let me start by saying that the 50% revenue increase I’m projecting for B2B marketing automation in 2013 is a very healthy one. What really got me thinking about this was prepping for a Webinar I’ll be giving next Wednesday on the future of marketing automation ( register here ). Why is this worrisome?

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

AUGUST 16, 2011

I’ve long believed that B2B marketing automation is just a passing phase: that, ultimately, B2B marketing automation systems will be absorbed into CRM systems instead of operating independently. At least two vendors have tried to hit it: Predictive Response and BizConnector , whose product is Lead Follow-Up.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

OCTOBER 17, 2012

It has a pretty low profile in the B2B marketing automation world, partly because it serves a mix of B2C and B2B clients but mostly because it started as a marketing operations management system. B2B marketing automation systems are built for lead nurturing and provide a foundation adequate for that purpose.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Vendors 120

Customer Experience Matrix

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

I wrote last month about Everstring ’s expansion to the world of intent data and account based marketing. The past week brought three more announcements about predictive vendors expanding beyond lead scoring. The system also has connectors to import data from marketing automation and Google Analytics.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Work Management Marketing Automation Services 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JANUARY 7, 2012

Research firm Gleanster released its free “Gleansight” report on marketing automation late last month. These asked why people implement marketing automation, what challenges they face, and what contributes to success. By contrast, marketing efficiency ranked fourth among top performers and much lower among all others.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Automation Work Management 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JANUARY 4, 2012

The list of independent marketing automation systems shrank by one yesterday when Leadformix was purchased by sales enablement vendor CallidusCloud for $9 million. The price is surprisingly low for an established marketing automation vendor. In particular, LeadFormix infers visitors' “intent” (i.e.,

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Marketing Automation Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

OCTOBER 22, 2013

Last week’s post on marketing automation and its discontents prompted several questions about whether the level of dissatisfaction is any higher with marketing automation than other systems. According to the G2 figures, marketing automation users are in fact more enthusiastic about their choices than almost anyone else.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Marketing Automation Lead Scoring 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JULY 10, 2013

sales enablement: systems to share marketing information with sales ( Genius , SalesFusion , LeadFormix , RightOn Interactive , Optify) distributed marketing: systems shared between central marketing organizations and local branches, dealers, distributors, sales agents, etc. That''s theme number three.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Automation Services Paid Search Agency Small Business Marketing 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JULY 3, 2013

It is clearly “all-in-one” sales and marketing software for very small business, combining marketing automation, CRM, and ecommerce along the lines of Infusionsoft and Ontraport (formerly OfficeAutoPilot). You can be certain that this is the first time “Boy Scout troops” has come up as a category of marketing automation users.

Small Business Marketing 120

Small Business Marketing Marketing Automation Services Communities Lead Ranking 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JULY 15, 2013

Even in the small business sector, that count would make Vocus one of the largest marketing automation systems. But Vocus doesn’t quite match the profile of standard marketing automation products. So it''s best to treat Vocus Marketing Suite as a class unto itself.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Social Marketing 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

New-ish marketing automation vendor NurtureHQ showed me its product recently. Clean interface, easy to use, all the standard marketing automation features. Definitely take a look if you’re in that market for that sort of product. But I’m beginning to think those marketers were really saying something else.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JANUARY 5, 2011

Summary: Here are my estimates for the size of the B2B marketing automation industry, broken down by customer segments. I've been working madly on my new report on B2B marketing automation vendors. Many are very small companies with just one or two marketing automation users. Services are also excluded.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management 120

Customer Experience Matrix

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Social media is arguably overhyped as a marketing trend: it gets well under 10% of marketing budgets (different surveys have figures from 3% to 8%) and results are questionable (it was rated the least effective content marketing tactic in a recent MarketingProfs study ). Results are summarized in the table below.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Social Media 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JANUARY 10, 2012

But the lowest price for Genoo with CRM integration is $599 per month, and I consider CRM integration a required feature in a B2B marketing automation product. This approach extends beyond most marketing automation products to incorporate full Web content management and marketing services. per month per user.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

One of first marketing automation systems I ever saw – this would be during the Reagan Presidency – was a custom-built dial-up network to distribute collateral to farm equipment dealers. Some of these channel marketing systems focus on lead distribution, some on locally-customizable promotion materials, and some on campaign management.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Advertising Agencies Work Management 120

Customer Experience Matrix

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

I’ll be giving a Webinar this Thursday on evaluating marketing automation software, sponsored by Neolane. Part of the content will be a list of Seven Deadly Sins of Marketing System Selection. It’s frightening how often I ask someone how they expect to use their new marketing automation system and am told they don’t know.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Automation Vendors 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JANUARY 22, 2013

Infusionsoft today announced it has acquired social lead generation vendor GroSocial. The system makes it easy for small business to generate leads through social marketing campaigns and track results. The system makes it easy for small business to generate leads through social marketing campaigns and track results.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Small Business Marketing Work Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

JUNE 16, 2010

Summary: here are some checklists to help select a marketing automation system. On June 29, I'll be giving a Webinar on “Matching a Marketing Automation System to Your Needs”, part of a day-long set of all-star lead management presentations organized by the Focus online business community.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Work Management Marketing Management 120

Customer Experience Matrix

SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

Summary: So you want some hard numbers to prove the value of marketing automation? A client asked yesterday if I had some benchmark information to justify the cost of her marketing automation project. Aberdeen Group has published many studies related to marketing automation. Here's a bunch.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Lead Ranking Marketing Automation Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Customer Experience Matrix

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

What I really care about is the implications for marketing systems. I’d say the ATG purchase lessens the odds of Oracle buying a marketing automation vendor. Since ATG itself provides substantial online marketing functionality, there’s a smaller gap for Oracle to fill with a separate marketing automation purchase.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Digital Asset Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

DECEMBER 13, 2011

The marketing automation industry continues to grow quickly, with many vendors announcing their client bases have more than doubled in 2011. But there’s also a growing realization that many marketing automation systems are used for only simple tasks – often no more than email, landing pages, and CRM integration.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Marketing Automation Automation 120

Customer Experience Matrix

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Now that I’m more or less finished launching the B2B Marketing Automation Vendor Selection Tool (VEST) , I can start catching up on the other topics. ClickDimensions does pretty much the standard marketing automation activities: email, landing pages, Web visitor tracking, drip marketing campaigns, and lead scoring.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation CRM Work Management 120

Customer Experience Matrix

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

CRM integration is a fundamental feature of marketing automation. Pretty much every system can send leads to Salesforce.com , but capabilities vary significantly once you start looking for more. Sadly, most marketers pay little attention to these nuances until they've already selected a product.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation CRM Features 120

Customer Experience Matrix

MARCH 4, 2011

Summary: Is stressing the need for process change making marketing automation too complicated, or a recognition of what it really takes for success? I’m not sure that whoever speaks for “conventional wisdom” would agree that marketing automation solutions must be expensive and complex. Eat your spinach.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Automation Loopfuse 120

Customer Experience Matrix

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

This is an enticingly huge market for marketing automation vendors, and one that seems largely untapped. The largest marketing automation vendor in the segment, Infusionsoft , has under 20,000 clients. There are about 3 million companies with revenue between $1 million and $5 million in the U.S.,

Small Business Marketing 120

Small Business Marketing Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services 120

Customer Experience Matrix

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

When I first wrote about ClickDimensions in a February, 2011 post , the concept was intriguing – a marketing automation add-on to Microsoft Dynamics CRM – but the product itself had been available for less than six months and claimed barely 50 clients. This is comparable to standard marketing automation products.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Automation Marketing Management 120