Download Marketing Software Smackdown

Marketing Software Smackdown:
Product Suite vs. Individual Solutions
BRIDGELINE WHITEPAPER SERIES
© Copyright 2014 Bridgeline Digital Inc. | Bridgeline.com | 1-800-603-9936
INTRODUCTION
Marketers are continuously asked to accomplish what feels
like an insurmountable, almost unattainable, goal: Do more
with less. There is nothing tautological about this task; you
don’t do more with less, you do less with less.
So, marketers look outward to fill holes causing inward
inefficiencies – mostly in the form of business software.
Perhaps, that’s where we’ll begin. Before going any further,
here’s a brief overview of common enterprise-grade solutions
necessary to help marketers, of all kinds, fight the good fight:
Content Management System to power a
A
company website
eCommerce capabilities to manage your digital
storefront.
Email Marketing software to execute highly
personalized campaigns that capitalize on every
client communication.
Web Analytics that peel back the curtain and
provide insight into what web content is working,
what’s not, and suggestions on how to improve
overall effectiveness.
Social Media tools that allow marketers to engage
with customers and measure sentiment.
Marketing software can be the ace up a digital strategist’s
sleeve. More specifically, the most innovative software
will empower non-technical users to meet organizational
objectives; in effect, allowing marketers to be marketers again,
all while proving out ROI.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Sure it does. But “Business Utopia”
doesn’t exist, because technology is … well … complicated.
So, the truth is, as a marketer, you’re forced to infuse your
creativity within your company’s technology, and challenged
to understand the complexities of how software can -- or
cannot -- integrate with one another in order to steer your
team toward success. In the end, you’re faced with a choice
while creating a digital engagement strategy: Should you
select individual products or an all-encompassing product
suite that combines the aforementioned capabilities to power
your Digital Marketing initiatives?
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After examining use-studies, industry research reports, and more, we’ve identified
5 reasons why a product suite puts your organization in the best position to
succeed in both the immediate and long-term future.
1. Assured Implementation success
2. Easier Adoption & Usability
3. Modules That Speak The Same Language & Play Well Together
4. Streamlined Troubleshooting
5. Easier & More Efficient Selection Process
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1. ASSURED IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESS
It’s no secret that a product or service fails to perform to its
potential without initial implementation success. If you go
the route of disparate solutions, your business is taking on
considerably more risk. There is a troubling history, particularly
within the CMS community, of thousands of cautionary tales
that bemoan failed technology projects which were derailed
long before even going live.
The primary cause?
Companies outsource their implementation processes to thirdparty vendors. Instantly, red flags emerge: Do these third-party
vendors know the software? What’s their track record with
meeting deadlines? How about staying within the project’s
budget? These questions, among others, are important to ask
during your selection process.
By selecting a product suite, your company avoids these risks.
More often than not, vendors touting multi-module platforms
perform thousands of implementations every year. They’re
experts at this process since they know the product better
than anyone else.
The takeaway: With a product suite, you’re dealing with
one, holistic product. Therefore, one implementation …. and
mitigated risk.
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2. EASY ADOPTION & USABILITY
Let’s fantasize, just for a minute, and live in Business Utopia.
Suppose your implemntation partner comes through; without
any mishapps, your solutions are each properly installed.
Unfortunately, even if this is the case, knowing how each tool
will integrate with one another gets real hazy, real fast. This
dynamic plays into what the consensus of industry analysts
consider to be the most important factor to consider when
weighing which methodology to take on at the outset of a
business software selection -- a product’s usability.
From basic properties – like a single sign-on login screen
– to more important aspects, with a product suite, Digital
Marketers are only dealing with modules that work in tandem
and conjunction with one another.
Usability, over any other intangible, is what separates a
product suite from disparate solutions. Think about one
navigation pane, serving up an a la carte menu, featuring the
components and capabilities every digital marketer needs.
Here, users can jump from content editing capabilities on
their website, to examining their most recent A/B email test, to
measuring conversion rates and other KPIs through reporting
mechanisms embedded within their eCommerce solution, all
the way to monitoring customer sentiment on Social Media
websites.
And guess what? Not only do you have a 360 degree view of
your digital marketing progress, but by leveraging a product
suite, the learning curve is reduced. After mastering a product
suite’s CMS, core components of the email management,
analytics, social media, and eCommerce modules should
come naturally.
Furthermore, the software is typically taught through detailed
training classes offered by the vendor, who (again) know the
technology better than anyone else.
All told, compared to understanding the ins-and-outs of
individual products that have completely different mainframes,
dashboards, and user processes, the adoption cycle of a
product suite is significantly curtailed.
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3. MODULES THAT SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE
AND PLAY WELL TOGETHER
Still not convinced? We’ll stay in our Marketing Nirvana, the Business
Utopia, for aguement’s sake. Let’s pretend you survive multiple
implementation processes unscathed and manage to
get all your technology live. You even learn how to
leverage each separate solution’s feature-set.
Believe it or not, despite these efforts, your
Digital Marketing processes could still easily
become fragmented by using disparate
solutions. How?
Individually speaking, disparate
solutions may work just fine, but
when combined together, there’s
no telling whether a data point
in each software will speak the
same language as the other(s).
For instance, instead of easily
extracting reports that measure
your efforts, your team could be
stuck struggling to piece data
of a massive, multi-campaign
puzzle together. Reconciling
information and dealing with
unnecessary headaches is the last
way your team should be spending
its time.
With a product suite, you’re guaranteed
that the software will seamlessly flow to
execute your digital marketing strategies as
well as measure success. Customer journeys are
(accurately) documented on your website. A conversion
through an email campaign is automatically reflected in your
analytics and eCommerce solution – meaning, not only are your
processes streamlined, but the integrity of important data is maintained.
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4. STREAMLINED TROUBLESHOOTING
We’ve all been there: You’re trying to record your favorite
television show and come up empty handed. The next day,
you call the cable to company to address the shortfall, but they
tell you the problem is your internet connection, while your
internet provider cites a malfunction on your TIVO. Suddenly,
you’re dealing with five different companies, who each have
plenty of excuses, with little accountability... Or answers.
With a product suite, you’re dealing with one company who
knows their solution better than anyone else. Given that
expertise, there tend to be less broken promises, and if errors
do occur the root issues are easier to resolve and manage
going forward.
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5. EASIER & MORE EFFECTIVE SELECTION PROCESS
Our last reason helps this whole debate
come full circle. Before any implementation
is even discussed, training time allotted,
or stakeholder interviews occur, your
organization must initially deploy a team –
or committee – of employees to decipher
the pros and cons as well as total cost of
ownership for every tool you plan to utilize in
order to meet your objectives.
An onerous selection process may seem like
a foolish reason to revamp your approach to
digital marketing software; however, keep in
mind, each capability has a specific market
that needs to be examined – which ultimately
drains resources. On the other hand, only
researching one, all-encompassing suite
alleviates the selection process.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT BRIDGELINE DIGITAL’S
INTEGRATED IAPPS PLATFORM
These five reasons are just some of the benefits of choosing a
full-scale product suite, replete with all your digital marketing
needs, including website management, versus individual
products. At Bridgeline Digital, we’ve developed the iAPPS
platform, an award-winning product suite with capabilities in
content management, eCommerce, email marketing, analytics,
and social media.
In its 2013 Vendor Landscape report,
Info-Tech Research Group recognized
the iAPPS platform as a “Champion”,
touting its ability to equip enterprise
businesses with easy-to-use tools that
optimize digital assets and capitalize on growing trends in
Digital Engagement.
If your organization is in the process of selecting a digital
marketing solution, you’re undoubtedly sifting through copious
amounts of research and analyst reports about various
products. If your business is considering a .NET-based solution
and SaaS licensing options, the iAPPS platform should be on
your shortlist.
For more information on the advantages of using a full-scale,
end-to-end product suite, to power your businesses web
assets, please visit bridgelinedigital.com, email info@bridgeline.
com, or call 1-800-603-9936.
Award Winning iAPPS Product Platform
A Digital Marketing solution that deeply integrates Web Content Management,
eCommerce, eMarketing, Social Media management, and Web Analytics to help
marketers deliver online experiences that attract, engage and convert their customers
across all digital channels. Bridgeline provides end-to-end Digital Engagement solutions
and boasts an award-winning team of interactive services professionals across our 11
offices worldwide.
Stay up-to-date with trends
Contact Bridgeline Digital
blog.bridgeline.com
[email protected]
bridgeline.com
1-800-603-9936
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