Maybe you’ve decided you need to invest in a marketing platform. Perhaps you have decided to modify or upgrade your existing solution. Over the past five years, the MarTech Replacement Survey has identified marketing automation platforms as the most replaced solution in the martech stack. In either case, the next step is to research suppliers and their capabilities.
Here’s how to get started:
Make a list of all the marketing automation features you currently have (i.e. sending email campaigns), which ones you would like to have (i.e. rating (predictive or recommendations) and those you can’t live without (i.e., plug-and-play). CRM integration). This last category is essential and could help you avoid a costly mistake. Research vendors using this list to see which ones can meet your needs. Then send them a list of what you need and set a deadline for them to respond. Decide whether you need to engage in a formal RFI/RFP process. This is an individual preference, but be sure to give each provider the same list of features to make comparison easier.
Our new original research, “Marketing Automation Platforms: A Guide to Marketing» is now available for free download.
The most effective RFPs request only relevant information from suppliers and provide plenty of information about your business and its needs. Let the vendor know how you plan to use marketing automation, including your high-level strategic goals and KPIs, and how you will measure the success of your marketing automation efforts. Include details on timelines and existing digital technology you have deployed.
When written correctly, a request for proposals will facilitate the sales process and ensure that both parties reach an agreement.
a shared understanding of the intended project objective, requirements, scope and structure
purchase. From the responses to the RFP, you should be able to narrow your list down to three or four
demonstration platforms.
Before choosing a vendor, check out its online community and review sites, and talk to one or two customer references, preferably someone working at a company like yours. The vendor should be able to provide you with references, but you should also ask around on professional discussion forums or at in-person conferences and networking events.
Arrange demonstrations within a relatively short period of time after receiving RFP responses to facilitate relevant comparisons. Make sure all potential internal users participate in the demo call or in-person meeting, and pay attention to the following:
Is the platform easy to use? Does the vendor seem to understand our business and marketing needs? Are they showing us our “must-have” features? If we ask a specific question, can they demonstrate the answer on the call?
Questions to ask each supplier include:
How easy is it to integrate this software into my organization? What is the onboarding process? How long does implementation take? What types of support and training are included in the base price? What does your community of partners and developers look like? How can I maximize adoption in my organization? Will we have a dedicated account representative available to us? Are current customers using all features? What new things are you focusing on for the coming year? Can we do a test for a few days on our own (i.e. free trial)? The most effective RFPs request only relevant information from suppliers and provide plenty of information about your business and its needs. How to protect and secure customer data? Do you have a roadmap for what you would do in the event of a hack or denial of service attack?
Request a demonstration of the specific capabilities you identified in your RFI/RFP. Consider requesting product demos showing basic tasks and demonstrating basic reporting such as:
Create and edit a new email from scratch. Import and segment data using all available AI or machine learning capabilities. Options for managing, cleaning and enriching master data. Create and edit a new landing page from scratch. Run a simple campaign with one email, one mailing list, and one landing page. View a report showing email opens, clicks, and landing page conversions. View a report showing web traffic and/or specific leads for an email campaign. Organizational and campaign level ROI dashboards and reporting. Campaign attribution options and capabilities.
This is an ongoing relationship: it’s important to feel like your questions are being answered.
For more details on choosing a MAP provider, download the latest edition of our free report, “Marketing Automation Platforms: A Guide to Marketing.“
Marketing Automation: An Overview
Why we care.. For today’s marketers, automation platforms are often the at the center of the marketing stack. These aren’t shiny new technologies, but rather reliable pillars that marketers can rely on to help them. stand out in a crowded inbox and on the web amid a deluge of content.
How they have changed. To help marketers win the battle for attention, marketing automation providers have moved from a reliance on static email campaigns to offering dynamic content deployment for email, landing pages, mobile and social media. They have also integrated features that leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence for functions like lead scoring, in addition to investing in user interface and scalability.
Dig Deeper: What is Marketing Automation?
