Marketing Automation Tools
With the right solution to success
Marketing Automation Tools
Marketing automation is no longer optional for a modern B2B company. Those who delve deeply into this important topic know: At first glance, most solutions look similar. However, appearances can be deceiving. While many solutions have similar basic functions, they differ greatly in the range of additional features they offer and the extent of their capabilities for omnichannel or multichannel marketing.
This article provides an overview of various marketing automation systems as well as some tips on what to pay special attention to when choosing the right solution.
Integration possibilities as a key requirement for marketing automation systems
In online marketing, an increasing number of tools are being used for various tasks. Today, customers are active on different channels, which is why B2B marketing is moving more towards multichannel to omnichannel communication. There are specialized tools that focus on social media, for example, as well as solutions that are well suited for traditional channels such as email or websites.
Almost all of these applications log customer interactions. In order to efficiently utilize the collected data for campaign planning, an integrated central storage location is essential. This could be, for example, a CRM system or the marketing automation system itself. The goal is for all tools to be able to synchronize with this "Single Point of Truth".
The possibility of integration with internal or external systems is the most important requirement when selecting a marketing automation technology. This is also confirmed by a CDP Institute Member Survey that was done in September 2020. The majority of respondents stated for the first time that they use an integrated multi-system architecture consisting of multiple tools from different providers. When conducting your requirements analysis, you should pay special attention to suitable interface compatibility with your existing IT landscape in order to work as efficiently as possible with your systems.
Overview of Marketing Automation Systems
Suites vs. Stand-Alone Solutions
Marketing automation systems can be fundamentally divided into two categories: comprehensive suite solutions and specialized stand-alone solutions.
Suites
Suites are comprehensive solutions that integrate individual functions and components into a product bundle. They go far beyond marketing automation in terms of functionality and enable not only traditional campaign management but also the creation and maintenance of websites, e-commerce management, as well as comprehensive data collection and processing.
Suites offer a major advantage through their uniform operability and seamless data exchange between individual components such as the CMS and the marketing automation module. This enables extensive personalization options across multiple channels. In addition, the support effort is significantly reduced as you only need to contact one service provider.
Suites are complex software products that are characterized by a wide range of applications. However, this sometimes comes at the expense of depth of functionality in specific areas. Companies with very complex automation requirements may be better advised to choose a specialized solution. In addition, suites are usually associated with high investments due to their extensive range of functions and implementation effort.
Stand-alone solutions
Stand-alone solutions are specialized tools that focus on a specific application area such as marketing automation. These applications often have a significantly greater depth of functionality and are therefore well suited for modeling very complex use cases.
One advantage over suites is the simpler, more cost-effective entry. In addition, here you can specifically choose a tool that exactly provides the functionality you currently need. On the other hand, components such as a CRM system must necessarily be integrated to complement, which can lead to interface problems with the data streams.
For whom is which marketing automation system suitable?
Below, we have categorized marketing automation systems into three different groups to help you classify the many different solutions. Suites form their own group, while stand-alone solutions have been further divided into entry-level and specialized solutions for better differentiation. Please note: This is a general overview and transitions between the individual groups can be fluid.
Entry solutions
Often these are affordable solutions that mainly offer an application for email marketing. Examples of these are Mailingwork, Inxmail, or CleverReach.
These tools are suitable if you want to initially build an email distribution list and communicate systematically with existing contacts, for example in the form of a newsletter. However, due to their focus on only one communication channel, these tools are not multichannel or omnichannel capable. Entry-level solutions are well suited for the first steps in marketing automation. Even companies with only a few hundred to several thousand contacts can often use these solutions beneficially.
The data models of some entry tools only represent individuals. Separate entries for companies, to which these individuals belong, are not available in all solutions. This is usually not a problem in the B2C environment, but often complicates synchronization with the CRM system in the B2B sector.
Special solutions
Specialized solutions enable advanced activities in the field of marketing automation and email marketing. Representatives in this group include companies like dotdigital and agilic. These solutions include additional features such as live chat, surveys, A/B testing, or SMS delivery. In contrast to entry-level tools, specialized solutions offer extended, sometimes AI-supported tracking and reporting - usually also across channels. Another advantage is the deeper support and more comprehensive training provided by the service provider or certified partner.
The tool group is recommended for companies with a medium to large amount of data ranging from 5,000 to several hundred thousand contacts and with prior experience with marketing automation systems or email marketing.
Suites
Similar to specialized solutions, suites also enable advanced activities and include additional components such as content management or e-commerce. The main difference is that multiple areas of online marketing are comprehensively covered by the solution, aiming to map all digital touchpoints to the customer in one platform. This is why they are also referred to as. Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) called.
With DXPs, it is possible to carry out marketing activities across channels following the omnichannel principle. They are generally recommended for large companies with high budgets and a database of more than 100,000 contacts. They enable a deeper understanding of user behavior, as it is tracked across multiple touchpoints and can be used as a data foundation for email marketing activities or personalizations. This provides extensive opportunities that specialized solutions only cover in parts.
Suites are particularly suitable for large companies that want to manage their entire online marketing through a software and have a large customer base. With a well-implemented implementation, the efficiency of marketing and editorial teams in different business units will increase significantly, as internal workflow and approval processes are also supported by the solution.
| Know-how | Kontakte | Budget | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Einstiegslösungen | Gering | 0-5.000 | Niedrig |
| Speziallösungen | Mittel-Hoch | 5.000-100.000 | Mittel |
| Suiten | Hoch | >100.000 | Hoch |
Compliance with the GDPR as a crucial criterion
One of the most important points to consider when choosing your solution is the compliance of the respective service provider with the GDPR. After the European Court of Justice's ruling on the invalidity of the Privacy Shield in 2020, the issue has gained further importance. The origin of the provider is decisive. If the provider is based or has a branch in the European Union, it is obliged to act in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation. We recommend concluding a contract for order data processing (ADV contract) with the company to allow personal data to be processed by it as an external service provider. It is also important where this data is stored. Ideally, this should be done on servers in Germany or other countries of the European Union. Make sure that the marketing automation system offers options to work GDPR-compliant. This means that options for processes such as double opt-in, opt-out, cookie banner, and the mapping of data flows should be available.
Further criteria for selecting a marketing automation solution
Integration into the existing IT landscape: Features such as pre-built interfaces to existing systems can play an important role in your decision. If these are not available, the integration effort can be significantly higher.
Experience with marketing automation: Some solutions are very specialized and require a certain level of expertise to fully utilize their functionality. For companies with little experience, this can lead to inefficient use with relatively high costs.
Complexity of marketing: Companies that only want to send newsletters do not need as extensive functionality as companies that want to cover all their online marketing with one solution or automate complex e-commerce processes.
With more than 300 systems on the market, the choice is certainly not easy. We support you in the evaluation based on your individual requirements with a free consultation. Feel free to book a personal appointment for this.
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