A SiriusView on Marketing Automation Platform Providers

Today, a press release announced that SiriusDecisions has published its first SiriusView™ on the marketing automation platform (MAP) market. This research study features reviews of 12 leading marketing automation platform vendors: Act-On, Aprimo, Eloqua, eTrigue, IBM Unica, LoopFuse, Marketo, Neolane, Pardot, Sales Engine International (formerly Manticore Technology), Silverpop and TreeHouse Interactive. They were scored on their depth of functionality, essential elements (services/support) and vendor strength.

Through the comprehensive 13-page document (including text, data grid and graphic visually depicting the vendors’ ranking), the differentiation points of each marketing automation platform are crystallized. The tumultuous nature of the marketing automation platform market was an area we chose not to examine in a granular manner. That noted, there are three key aspects of the marketing automation platform market – and specifically about the 12 companies we covered in this report – that I wish to draw out below.

During the last 12 months, out of the dozen companies we profiled: 

• Two received additional venture capital (VC) funding. Act-On took on $16 million, raising its total VC funding to $30 million, and Neolane secured an additional $30 million, bringing its total VC funding to $37 million.
• Three acquired another company. In March 2012, Silverpop acquired CoreMotives, a marketing automation solution operating completely within the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform; last April, Marketo announced its acquisition of Crowd Factory, a social engagement platform; and in May, Aprimo acquired eCircle, a digital messaging platform.
• Four were acquired or merged with another company. In June, Manticore Technology and Sales Engine International merged to form Sales Engine International. Four months later, Exact Target acquired Pardot; then, on Dec. 20, Eloqua announced that it signed definitive agreements to be acquired by Oracle. Most recently (Jan. 8), LoopFuse completed a merger with Nearstream (a social lead generation product).

The reason I highlight these three areas is that they display the speed with which the marketing automation platform market is growing, and the degree that the MAP market is simultaneously changing both in competitive landscape and competitive positioning. What does this mean for the market as a whole? Hyper-growth, increasingly complex partnership agreements, and very likely several more acquisitions and mergers before our next SiriusView on the marketing automation space is published.