CRM Vendor List

Context

The field of marketing automation began to take off in the late 90’s as a platform for managing, executing, and analyzing campaigns. Over the years the platforms have expanded to include multi-channel execution, sophisticated cross silo data aggregation, and robust statistical analysis, but at the core they are still about executing campaigns.

In the coming years, as the differences between above and below the line campaigns continue to blur it will be interesting to see how marketing automation platforms adapt. From my perspective, one thing I could readily see happening is the collision of marketing automation with content management; where automation becomes a vehicle for delivering personalized, consistent content across multiple channels. The emphasis won’t be so much on executing campaigns per se, but on delivering relevant content.

Another trend in automation platforms, as with many software genres, has been the emergence of software as a service (Saas) offerings. Since the introduction of apps on tap in the early 00’s, SaaS offerings have become much more robust. Now in addition to offering lower initial cost of ownership can support substantial enterprise deployments.

At the end of day, however, marketing automation platforms still need to be evaluated on their ability to integrate data, analyze data, and execute campaigns.

Capability Pyramid ^TM

Vendor Summaries

In this analysis I have focused on standalone vendors and have not evaluated offerings from Oracle, SAP, Netsuite, or SalesForce, although all have marketing automation capabilities.

2Organize

One of the few European vendors to make the list; 2Organize has developed a decent campaign execution platform that they bundle with a solid PSG offering that focuses on ROMI, customer valuations and insights, and research.

Active Conversion

From a platform perspective, the most comprehensive ROMI, continuous improvement platform. A smaller firm that has rightly chosen to specialize, but this does limit their appeal for firms who need rich multi-channel execution.

Alterian

Certainly is ahead of the curve in terms of pushing engagement versus interruption campaigns which is really a credit to their marketing team and bodes well for future direction of the product. Now, with that said, they aren’t quite as robust in terms of analytics or data integration as some other enterprise caliber platform.

Aprimo

Another leading contender in the space; Aprimo really excels at scalability and data integration. Not quite as strong with analytics, but has integrated workflow and some content management capabilities.

Eloqua

Demonstrates how a Saas platform can deliver enterprise class capabilities. Similar to Unica in many ways; certainly a leader in the space.

Epiphany (Infor)

Once upon a time Epiphany did laps around geeky, data based products like Unica. Over time, however, substance has replaced flash along with the ability to deliver results. As a result Epiphany has somewhat slid off the map while Unica basically defines the space. This is not to say Epiphany is not a valuable solution, they still cover all the bases and have a very viable solution.

FirstWave

Has some unified campaign capabilities, but does a very good job of digital lead generation.

InfusionSoft

While they are light on analytics and some of the delivery channels, what Infusion has done very well is create a workflow engine known as drip marketing, or automated response. What the system does is enable a user to support a greater number of customers by crafting specific treatments predefined for customer segments. If you are headcount constrained, or have interlinked treatments they are someone worth checking out.

LoyaltyLab

Are they an execution platform? Operational CRM? Marketing automation? They seem to be shooting around the notions of relationship marketing, but don’t seem to have the story fully pulled together yet. While they may rate hire in other categories, like with their PSG, from a marketing automation perspective they are not quite up to speed.

IQAdvantage

A few years back IQAdvantage was a real innovator in deploying new digital campaigns. They built their own platform and had some unique capabilities, but have since fallen behind the curve.

Manticore

SMB, b2b blended SFA, marketing lead generation tool. Most compelling aspect is its tight integration to SalesForce.

Market2Lead

Another tailored b2b automation tool that blends SFA and marketing. Market2Lead has a vertical specialization in high tech.  Market2Lead is also built upon a very sound technical platform.  They have the bones to grow into a very robust, full featured application.

MarketBright

Campaign execution, but robust integration into transactional systems enables them to do ROMI and continuous improvement analysis that you can’t with virtually any other platform. If data analysis is important for you then they should be on your list.

Marketo

What sits at the crossroads between SFA and marketing automation? A hybrid offering like Marketo which is tailored to driving b2b2 prospects through the funnel using both sales and marketing tactics. Tailored to mid-sized enterprises, or divisions, they have a well executed program. One thing that bodes well for Marketo is its founders, who were some of the original brains behind the success of Epiphany.

Marqui

Along with Percussion is redefining what marketing automation is going to look like. Percussion may have a little bit of a lead, but Marqui has a very strong offering.

Neolane

A little light on the data integration and analytics, but is very well mapped to the needs of the marketing organization. They cover most of the important channels and package their analytics into formats common to marketers. End result, your marketing team should be able to get up and running with Neolane very quickly.

Pardot

Is one of the very few automation vendors with robust analytic and continuous improvement capabilities. In a b2b environment they may even edge out fellow analytics specialist MarketBright.

Percussion

Of all the vendors I’ve looked at Percussion is most on key with my vision of the future where marketing automation is headed. Really they are defining a new space, something more like engagement management than just content management or marketing automation. Even if you went with someone else for marketing automation I would recommend you investigate Percussion.

SmartFocus

You may now have heard of SmartFocus, but they have been delivering automation solutions to named brands in Europe for some time. While their solution isn’t as full featured as Enterprise counterparts, they’ve developed a very rich analytic environment very much tailored to the needs of messaging and measuring engagement. They, like Alterian, are very hip to engagement versus interruption.

TargusInfo

Targeted, customer centric analytics coupled with dynamic channel execution capabilities combine to make TargusInfo a very interesting solution. As with Percussion and Loyalty Lab, maybe not spot on as an automation platform, but a vendor very much worth investigating.

TFC - The Marketing Automation Company

Comes at automation with an above the line agency flavor. They push performance analytics, but really focus on insights and alignment with advertising strategies. They may be a better consulting partner than they are as a platform.

Unica

Excellent data integration, comprehensive analytics (cross channel, predictive, web, etc.) capabilities, multiple outbound channel modules, and a deployed, scalable architecture make Unica a leader in the marketing automation space.

Valtira

Similar offering as Marqui and Percussion delivered on a smaller scale. May not have all the functionality as their larger rivals, but for a SMB business the price may be right to get you into a cutting edge environment.

Vtrenz

Marketing automation from a lead management perspective. Limited channel, and limited data integration doesn’t bode well for this SMB player.