Summary: Demand generation features often sound similar, but the different vendors do aim at different types of clients. If you're looking for a system, try to find a vendor who will match your company.
One of the audience members at the B2B Marketing University in Boston asked about demand generation systems for small businesses, and how to distinguish among the vendors in general. My brief answer was that the biggest difference was less functionality than the target markets the different vendors pursue. This has more to do with the degree of personal selling (and after-sale service) than anything else. I also promised a blog post on the topic. Here it is.
(Incidentally, there's one more B2BU session left this year, in Seattle on December 1. I'll be flying cross country to attend, so you could too.)
The table below presents a reasonably comprehensive list of demand generation (a.k.a. B2b marketing automation) vendors, with links to my reviews where I've written one. The vendors are divided into four categories based on my understanding of their target customers. I'm sure some of the vendors will tell me they're in the wrong place -- and since this ranking is based on their own perception of their target markets, I'll make adjustments when they do. (Clever of me to write this while they're all distracted by DreamForce, don't you think?)
- Micro Business: these products are aimed at companies where the owner does their own marketing, or perhaps one employee who does marketing along with other functions. The systems have very low starting prices tailored to low volumes. Most offer a CRM option (typically priced at $10 to $20 per seat per month) for companies who don't want to pay for Salesforce.com. The feature/function lists of these products are often comparable to systems aimed at larger companies, although there are certainly differences when you look at the details. (Note: I've put NurtureHQ into this category based on their price and what I can tell from the Web site. I haven't had a chance to review it personally.)
- Small Business: these products are sold to small businesses, often with just one or two people in the marketing department. Vendors keep costs to a minimum by selling largely online or over the phone, and through self-service approaches such as free trials and pay-by-month arrangements without contracts. Prices are a little lower than products in the Small/Mid Size category, but the difference isn't usually that large. Similarly, functionality is generally comparable although they may be less sophisticated at some tasks such as dynamic content generation (automatically altering an email or Web page based on lead characteristics) and branching campaign flows.
- Small/Mid Size: these firms sell to small and mid-size companies, and occasionally to divisions of the giants. Every vendor cites a different revenue range for its "sweet spot" but $50 million to $500 million might be typical. Starting prices are all over the map; I've assigned vendors to this category based on a combination of pricing, features and my personal sense of their business. Functionally, these are pretty sophisticated products, although they don't usually meet all the needs of very large marketing organizations, such as fine-grained security and advanced content management. (See the Vendor Usability Study on the Raab Guide site for a discussion of these features.)
- Mid/Large: these vendors have the features needed to serve large companies and large marketing departments. They also tend to have a broader range of supplemental capabilities, such as support for telephone call centers. Pricing tends to be higher and more complicated, allowing buyers to pay for specific components as needed. These vendors have geared their sales process to selling to large firms, with the in-person demonstrations, technical reviews, formal proposals and contract negotiations that implies. Of course, these companies will sell to mid-size firms as well.
Final Thoughts: I know it's a cliche, but you really do need to select a vendor that matches your own company needs. Considerations extend beyond feature checklists to include sales and support models, pricing structures, training requirements, consulting partners, and usability. This list should aim you at the right neighborhood to begin your search -- but don't be afraid to look elsewhere if you find a product that seems appropriate.
| vendor | link to my review | CRM option available | published price list | starting price |
Micro Business | ||||
| Infusionsoft* | blog | yes | yes | $199/month for 10,000 names, 25,000 emails |
| MakesBridge* | blog | yes | yes | $150 / month for 50,000 names, 5,000 emails, |
| NurtureHQ | yes | $295 / month for 5,000 names | ||
| OfficeAutoPilot* | blog | yes | $597 / month for 50,000 names, 100,000 emails | |
Small Business | ||||
| ActiveConversion | blog | $500 / month for 10,000 visitors (email not included) | ||
| Act-On Software | blog | yes | $500 / month for 5,000 active names | |
| Alsamarketing | blog | $750 / month for 10,000 names and 25,000 emails | ||
| Beanstalk Data | blog | yes | $1,500/month | |
| Genoo | blog | yes | $599 / month for 10 users, unlimited leads, up to 50,000 emails / month - other versions from $199 / month | |
| HubSpot* | blog | yes | $1,000/month for 10,000 names - other versions from $200/month | |
| LoopFuse | blog | yes | $350 / month for 10,000 names, unlimited email and pageviews - free version up to 2,500 names, 5,000 email / month | |
| Net-Results* | blog | $350 - $400 / month for 30,000 page views, 10,000 emails, 2 hours of support | ||
| Pardot* | blog | yes | $1,000 / month for 30,000 emails | |
| SalesFusion* | blog | yes | $1,500 / month for 25,000 names, 125,000 emails | |
| True Influence | blog | yes | $1,500 for 10,000 names | |
Small/Mid-Size | ||||
| eTrigue | blog | $1,000 / month for 10,000 names (unlimited email, page views, users) | ||
| Genius.com* | blog | $1,100 / month - free version up to 3,000 names, 10,000 emails / month | ||
| LeadFormix (was LeadForce1)* | blog | limited | $500 / month | |
| Lead Genesys | yes | $995 / month for 10,000 names, 20,000 emails, 25,000 page views | ||
| LeadLife | blog | $500 / month for 1,500 emails; $1,395 / month for 25,000 emails | ||
| Manticore Technology* | blog | $2,000 / month up for 10,000 names | ||
| Marketo* | blog | yes | $1,500 / month up to 10,000 names (lite); $2,400 / month up to 25,000 names (full) | |
| Marqui | blog | $1,000 / month | ||
| Right On Interactive* | blog | $1,700 / month | ||
| Treehouse Interactive* | blog | yes | $599 / month for 5,000 contacts | |
Mid/Large | ||||
| Aprimo Marketing Studio* | blog | $4,000 per month for the base version with up to 10 users and 250,000 emails | ||
| Eloqua* | blog | yes | typically starts above $2,500/ month | |
| Marketbright (out of business) | blog | $1,600 / month | ||
| Oracle CRM On Demand Marketing* | blog | $2,000 - $4,000 per month | ||
| Neolane* | blog | $5,000 / month | ||
| Silverpop Engage8* | blog | (not available) |
* also in Raab Guide
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