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Practical IT Research that Drives Measurable Results Vendor Landscape Plus: Lead Management Automation Info-Tech Research Group 1 Executive Summary • Understand the technology: Lead management software automates key marketing processes to generate new business and retain clientele. • Assess appropriateness: LMA is for B2B or B2C organizations whose core marketing task is generating sales leads. • Navigate an increasingly complex vendor landscape: • Selecting a vendor has become increasingly complex due to the plethora of vendors that have entered the market. • Focus on pure-play vendors for robust and rich LMA capabilities. • Start with your requirements to weed out unnecessary functionalities. • Identify leading vendors and compare capabilities. • Engage vendors in RFPs and demos to pick the tool that will enable the specific use cases you defined at the outset. Info-Tech Research Group 2 LMA is appropriate for B2B or B2C organizations whose core marketing task is generating sales leads LMA is appropriate for organizations that meet the following criteria: Generating sales leads is a core marketing task. Ideal LMA Candidates • B2B or B2C organizations The organization has 1 or more FTE in marketing. • Sell large ticket item(s) • Have complex buying process • Have high lead volume Marketing spend on lead acquisition is greater than $10,000 / month. A CRM system is already in place. • Have long sales process • Web site is the main point of prospect generation and conversion • Direct sales force or call center is where all leads are assigned to The corporate website and/or e-mail is the primary client communication vehicle. Info-Tech Research Group 3 The LMA market is largely fragmented, but slowly maturing Info-Tech has segmented current LMA solution providers into four groups: Pure-Play Cross Channel CRM Niche Info-Tech Insight Fragmentation and clutter in the LMA marketplace makes it a ripe buyer’s market. When all else is equal, most vendors in the space must compete on price, resulting in greater value for end-users. Info-Tech Research Group 4 Only Pure-Play vendors focus on providing a complete LMA solution Cross Channel, CRM and Niche vendors offer limited LMA functionality in comparison to their Pure-Play counterparts. Lead acquisition, generation, scoring and nurturing Pure Play Cross Channel Mature B2B & B2C solutions that focus on campaign management and execution, not on gathering and nurturing leads. CRM Large consumer management systems, such as Salesforce.com, that offer LMA as an add-on to their current feature set. Niche Vendors that lack a complete LMA solution but instead focus on specific aspects of lead management, such as lead acquisition. Completeness of LMA solution Fragmented systems that perform disparate LMA functions Vendors that focus on lead generation and nurturing, not long-term management of ongoing customer relationships. Info-Tech Research Group Pure-Play vendors are the focus of this Info-Tech solution set due to their offering of a solution that can generate, score, and nurture leads throughout their lifecycle. Vendors in the Cross Channel, CRM, and Niche segment will also be covered, albeit briefly as their LMA offerings are slimmer and are often part of a larger Marketing Automation solution. 5 Vendors were scored on a number of specific criteria, and ranked accordingly Features Affordability Usability Vendor Viability Geography Support Manticore Market2Lead Marketo Pardot Eloqua RightOn Interactive Silverpop Marketbright Info-Tech Research Group 6 Pure-Play vendors can be segmented into four distinct groups based on affordability, usability, and breadth of features Champion Contender Vanguard Emerging Star Info-Tech Research Group Have significant presence in the market and invest regularly in R&D to be trend setters. Offer excellent value-forperformance in features, high quality support, competitive pricing – or a combination of these. Provide a comprehensive product suite, support their product with regular updates and may or may not compete on price. Competitors have the potential to become future industry leaders. Service niche segments of the market, or are rising stars in the industry. They have identified certain core strengths, or product innovations, that act as their competitive advantage. Less established vendors who are starting to gain a foothold in the marketplace, these vendors are still considered “bestof-breed” and thus included in the vendor landscape. 7 Marketo offers a tightly integrated Salesforce.com solution and invests heavily in internal R&D Champion Employees: Headquarters: Website: 75 San Mateo, California www.marketo.com Overview • Founded in 2006, Marketo services mid-size and enterprise level customers across the globe. • Major industries include High Tech, Financial Services, Healthcare, Communications, and Professional Services. • The price and scope of the functionality Marketo provides makes it a great fit for organizations with marketing spend in excess of $500,000. • Marketo recently raised $18 million in new funding to pursue its goal of scaling the business to meet the needs of larger enterprises. Strengths “ “ People are just more successful using Marketo. [Marketo] grows their buisness, and they will tell their friends about it – which grows our business. -Marketo • Marketo is viewed as a thought leader in the industry, evidenced by the fact that the organization’s resources receive 85,000 visitors a month. • According to client testimonials, Marketo’s usability is unmatched in the industry. • The company is growing quickly, and Info-Tech estimates it currently has 25% of the market share in LMA. • Salesforce.com integration is much deeper than that provided by other vendors, especially in terms of managing custom form fields. Weaknesses • Marketo suffers from a 50% churn rate in the industry as its functionality lacks the depth of vendors such as Pardot and Eloqua. • Marketo lacks the backing of larger technology companies as the solution has only been available for 2 years. • More stringent on price than its competitors, the solution is not available for less than $14,400/year and costs can scale quickly. Info-Tech Research Group 8 Silverpop provides a robust product offering with a complicated user interface that will require end-user training Contender Employees: Headquarters: Website: 380 Atlanta, GA www.silverpop.com Overview • A legacy player in the e-mail marketing space, Silverpop launched its LMA solution in 2007 with its flagship product, EngageB2B. • The organization currently caters to 250+ clients, primarily in the enterprise category with greater than $25 million in revenue. • EngageB2B is a larger, more robust offering than smaller players in the LMA space, but comes with a steep learning curve and greater time to value. Strengths • Recently eliminated the need for an IT professional to aid with field mapping through Salesforce.com. • A large set of APIs allows Silverpop to connect with almost any CRM product. • Ability to import zipped folders including images, and text documents directly into the solution for campaign creation. • Unique functionality, such as send time optimization, has proven to generate significant results for clients reliant on e-mail marketing. • Content creation pages provide embedded links and resources, especially in terms of marketing best practices, guiding users towards optimal creation. • Integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media campaigns, allowing recipients of marketing campaigns to automatically publicize promotions. Weaknesses • Contracts are offered on an annual basis, and ramp up with increases in the lead database, resulting in an increasing operating cost over time. • Pre-populated templates are not available, resulting in a slower time-to-value, especially for smaller customers. • Support is lackluster, further decreasing the time-to-value for potential clients. Info-Tech Research Group 9 Your chosen vendor should reflect the goals of your organization; use these scenarios to guide the selection process If you are… Most interested in a simple user interface Most interested in Salesforce.com integration while retaining maximum functionality Most interested in Salesforce.com integration at a low cost Concerned about support and implementation Concerned about data checking and multiple language support Interested in having maximum functionality at unlimited cost Then consider… Pardot, Marketo Marketo, Silverpop, Eloqua RightOn Interactive Manticore Market2lead Silverpop, Eloqua Looking to minimize integration time with a CRM provider Marketbright, Silverpop Concerned with vendor strength and viability for the long term Manticore, Eloqua, Pardot Info-Tech Research Group 10 Conduct product evaluations to assess the viability of a solution with your organization Request for Proposal Template Issuing Request for Proposals (RFPs) is an important step in the software selection process. Info-Tech’s "LMA RFP Template" comes pre-populated with examples to assist you. Info-Tech Research Group 11 Scoring RFP responses puts hard numbers behind vendor claims LMA Vendor Evaluation Matrix Gathering and judging the various responses to your RFPs can be difficult and time consuming. Use Info-Tech’s “LMA Vendor Evaluation Matrix” to: • Determine which features are desirable and provided in the solution. • Determine each feature's level of importance to your organization. • Document cost information from each vendor. • Score and compare potential Lead Management Automation solutions. Info-Tech Research Group 12 Have finalists demo their products for you LMA Software Demo Script RFP responses alone will not give you a sense of the look and feel of a product (i.e. ease of use). This template contains suggested demonstrations in the following categories for a Lead Management Automation solution: • Campaign Setup • Landing Page and Form Creation and Optimization • Segmentation • Lead Scoring • Reporting • Data Validation Lead Management Automation product demonstrations enable selection teams to think of product features and functionality within the context of their organization and to get a feel for products, ensuring a more educated evaluation. Referral calls are a critical aspect of getting some “real” information about a vendor’s performance. Push vendors for client contacts and, if possible, source your own referrals to expose discrepancies in claims about support, functionality, and cost. Use Info-Tech’s “LMA Software Demo Script” Info-Tech Research Group 13 Summary • LMA solutions automate key marketing processes to generate new business and retain clientele. • The LMA market is highly fragmented, and each vendor segment provides a unique level of LMA with varying levels of CRM integration and usability. • Pure Play vendors offer the most complete LMA functionality and provide the organization with the ability to: • Generate leads through prospect driven actions as well as other marketing campaigns, such as e-mail distributions. • Nurture leads through the sales funnel by automating communication. • Score leads and pass them through the funnel towards the organization’s sales representatives. • Cross-Channel, CRM, and Niche vendors, conversely, offer limited LMA functionality, and provide the organization with only a few of the aforementioned lead capabilities. • Pardot and Marketo lead the vendor landscape thanks to their favorable cost structures and ease of use. • Ensure shortlisted vendors are brought into demonstrate products Understanding an LMA product’s interface and capabilities is critical to successful campaign creation further down the road. Info-Tech Research Group 14