0 B2B and B2C Marketing Automation: Understanding the Differences

As you might have guessed from my recent list of B2C marketing automation systems, I’ve recently been spending some time helping consumer marketers to select vendors. This is more a return than a departure: although I’ve written mostly about B2B systems for the past few years, my earlier work was largely in consumer marketing. Like any traveler, I’ve returned home with some new perspectives. Here are some observations

- consumer marketers have to build databases; B2B marketers don’t. You can file this under “things so obvious that it feels stupid to even mention them”, but it’s still an important difference. In setting up a consumer marketing system, the primary discussion is always around where the data will come from and how it will be managed. This accounts for most of the work and most of the cost. By very sharp contrast, B2B marketers rely primarily on their CRM system (that is, Salesforce.com or a competitor) as the primary data source, and complement that with information captured directly by the marketing automation systems’ own landing pages and Web tracking tags. The CRM integration can be set up in days, if not minutes, and next to no time is spent worrying about the marketing database design or update processes.

On the whole, this situation is an advantage for B2B marketers, since they can direct their attention to other issues and can start using their systems almost immediately (for simple tasks, at least). But it also means that B2B systems are much less flexible than B2C marketing automation systems, since the B2B systems are built around a fixed data structure that is derived from the CRM data model. Only a few B2B vendors can add custom tables to systems and I doubt any could accommodate a fundamental departure from the core CRM data structure.

The main practical implication of this is that consumer marketers would have a hard time using a B2B system. (So do the largest B2B marketers, who also need specialized data structures and update processes.) This is frustrating for consumer marketers, who see the huge variety, slick features, and attractive pricing of the B2B systems. Some B2C systems offer similar features and pricing with the same Software-as-a-Service business model. But the total costs are still higher because someone has to build and maintain the underlying database.

- B2B systems include landing pages and web behavior tracking; most B2C systems don’t. It’s technically possible for B2C systems to offer these features, and some do. But many B2C products leave them out. I’d guess the reason is B2C marketers more often have the capabilities available from other sources, such as a Web content management system or Web analytics product. We can probably expect more B2C systems to add them as vendors see that marketers like having them integrated with their primary system.

- B2B systems are cheaper. B2B marketing automation systems start around $750 per month, or under $9,000 per year, and a typical B2B installation probably runs under $30,000 per year. By contrast, it’s pretty much impossible to imagine a B2C system that costs less than $50,000 per year. As I mentioned earlier, that’s really frustrating for B2C marketers.

- B2C deployments are easier. This might spark some debate. But B2C marketers don’t have to deal with marketing-sales alignment, can usually measure results directly, and are often already running the same types of campaigns they expect to run with marketing automation. This means there’s less need for process reengineering, program design, content development, and the other changes that often trip up B2B marketing automation projects. Of course, the exception is building that new marketing database, which I’ve already noticed is much harder for B2C. But the need for the database is obvious from the start and plenty of experts are available to help. So I’d say the risks of a failed deployment are much lower for B2C.

These are simply the differences that pop out as I look at consumer marketing systems with fresh eyes. Further thought might reveal others.  What’s intriguing is that B2B marketers, often considered less sophisticated than their B2C cousins, may actually be more advanced in some ways. It’s worth putting aside the old attitudes and considering what each group can learn from the other.

0 List of Mid-Tier Business-to-Consumer Marketing Automation Systems

The world clearly has more B2B marketing automation vendors than it needs – my master list of demand generation products includes two dozen. By contrast, mid-tier consumer marketers often have a hard time finding good options. The major B2C marketing automation vendors -- IBM/Unica, Teradata/Aprimo, and SAS are more attuned to the enterprise market. Here are some others, in rough order of industry familiarity:


Alterian – extends beyond multi-channel campaign management to include Web content management, Web analytics, and social media monitoring.  It offers both hosted and on-premise options and uses a proprietary analytic database engine for key functions. Many marketing service providers manage Alterian systems for their clients.  (Alterian was purchased in December, 2011 by language technology and Web content management vendor SDL.)

Neolane – provides multi-channel campaign management, realtime interactions, and marketing resource management. Clients can choose hosted or on-premise deployment, or a “mid-sourcing” option where the system is run by the client but email is sent by Neolane.

Decision Software Inc.  – offers MarketWide, a very powerful campaign management tool. Can be deployed on-premise or hosted and managed by the vendor.

ExactTarget – originally an email service provider, it now also supports mobile, social, Web pages, and Web analytics. Recently introduced its “Integrated Marketing Hub” which offers more advanced campaign management and can support a more complex marketing database. Only available as a service.

Entiera – a hosted system that offers outbound campaigns and interaction management. Entiera also builds and maintains the client’s marketing database. (Enteria was purchased in May 2012 by credit scoring and analytics vendor FICO.)

MarketingPilot – started as a marketing resource management system and has steadily expanded.  It now offers true campaign management on a real marketing database. Can be hosted or on-premise.  (Acquired by Microsoft in October, 2012.)

ClickSquared – originally a marketing services provider but now repositioning itself as cloud-based campaign management software. Just launching a new version of its system, snappily named “Cross-Channel Marketing Hub”.

Portrait Software – purchased by Pitney Bowes in July 2010 and now part of the Pitney Bowes Business Insight group, along with former MapInfo and Group 1 Software products. Provides outbound campaigns and real time interaction management as well as advanced analytics.  The campaign management portion is based on the Million Handshakes system purchased by Portrait in 2008.

Conversen – a hosted system that offers a mix of campaign management and multi-channel output generation.  Recently enhanced to support complex marketing databases as well as simple lists.  I recently wrote a white paper about their approach.  (Acquired by Experian in May 2012.)


RedPoint – a suite of tools for database building, campaign management, and analytics. Can be hosted by a service provider or run on-premise by the client. Highly scalable and mature – the company has been growing quietly for six years and has some very large clients.

SmartSource Online –  offers hosted email, content management and Web forms, backed by a workflow engine that allows multi-step campaigns and daabase management.  Specializes in custom applications and support for other marketing service providers.  (Acquired by Extraprise in April 2013.)


Selligent –  offers tightly integrated outbound and interactive campaigns, with hosted or on-premise deployment.  Based in Belgium with plans to enter the U.S. market in 2013.  Well-established among European retailers and publishers.  Sold mostly through agencies and marketing service providers.

Final Note: this post also originally listed SmartFocus as an option.  But Emailvision, which purchased SmartFocus in April 2011, is no longer selling it as a stand-alone product.  The SmartFocus interface will survive as a front-end to the Emailvision email system.

0 Act-On Buys Marketbright Assets

Act-On Software announced last week that they had purchased the assets of Marketbright, a pioneering marketing automation vendor that has struggled in recent years. Marketbright’s problems have been obvious for months, so that they would vanish is not news. The interesting question is why Act-On made the purchase.

I discussed this last Thursday with Act-On CEO Raghu Raghavan. Part of his answer was because they could: having raised $10 million in June, Act-On can now consider acquisitions of less-well-endowed competitors. Beyond that, Raghavan cited several narrow benefits, including the chance of converting Marketbright customers to Act-On, the business knowledge and skills of key Marketbright employees, and some design features of the Marketbright system. He made clear that the actual Marketbright software will not be merged into Act-On because they are built with different technologies.

In other words, the Marketbright acquisition was a tactical measure to pick up some modest assets at a modest price. It is neither central to Act-On’s current strategy nor a shift towards a new strategy.

That strategy has remained remarkably consistent. It boils down to providing an easy transition between basic email systems and full-scale marketing automation. Raghavan said that Act-On has now deployed a consistent sales process to convince marketers they can benefit from replacing multiple point solutions with a single Act-On installation, even without the major process reengineering or staff training recommended by other marketing automation vendors.

This is clearly a successful argument: Act-On just added its 350th client, and is on pace to triple its total over the next twelve months. Most buyers are small businesses, and many are in financial services, insurance, retail, healthcare, and education rather than high-tech. Installations at large companies are often used by small groups who want an alternative to the existing corporate marketing automation system. The system’s $500 per month starting price and no-annual-contract policy encourage such casual implementations by reducing the financial risk.

In fact, the risk is so low that Act-On has actually reduced its free trial period from 30 days to 14 days and eschewed the freemium offers used by competitors Genius and LoopFuse. Raghavan argues that marketing automation systems are too complicated for freemiums to work well. (For what it’s worth, Genius and LoopFuse seem satisfied with their freemium results. Beyond inducing trial, freemiums can also attract long-term users who will move up to the paying version when their needs expand. Agencies who use freemium versions at small clients may also use the same product for larger clients who will pay for the system.)

If it sounds like my discussions with Act-On have centered more on strategy than product features, that’s correct. Raghavan argues marketing automation vendors' success is now determined less by product features than repeatable, profitable processes for sales, deployment, and support. He said Act-On has developed these processes and can now safely accelerate its growth with predictable results. One change the company plans is to expand its managed services, such as help with deploying campaigns. Some of these services will come from Act-On and others by agency partners.

Although Act-On sells the product as a replacement for existing point solutions, the company says clients do use additional features fairly quickly. The most popular are drip marketing, anonymous visitor identification, sales integration, and Web traffic analysis. Complex nurture campaigns and lead scoring are used much less. Under-utilization of advanced features is common across all marketing automation systems, but it may also reflect Act-On’s sales pitch that clients don't need extensive changes to their marketing processes. Similarly, it's tempting to argue that clients' demand for managed services reflects the company’s deploy-first, change-later approach, but that’s also something that clients of all vendors consistently request.

In short, Act-On is doing quite nicely by ignoring the industry conventional wisdom that process change and planning are necessary for marketing automation success. But that doesn’t mean the conventional wisdom is wrong. After all, Act-On’s main sales proposition isn't about marketing automation: it's about making existing tasks easier. It also helps that Act-On is selling to small, consumer-oriented firms, whose marketing automation needs are genuinely simpler than at larger, B2B marketers. In fact, although Act-On is selling to slightly larger companies than micro-business specialists Infusionsoft and OfficeAutoPilot, its resembles them in several ways.

The real test of Act-On comes after clients have gained experience with it and find they do need marketing automation training and process change. So long as Act-On has the features and services to support this – which I believe it does -- the clients should be happy and renew. But if they find they’ve outgrown Act-On because they need more change more than they originally realized, they’ll have to look elsewhere.