WEBINAR Use The Forrester Wave To Select The
WEBINAR Use The Forrester Wave To Select The Right Email Service Provider Rebecca Mc. Adams, Researcher Shar Van. Boskirk, Vice President, Principal Analyst September 22, 2016. Call in at 10: 55 a. m. Eastern time
We work with business and technology leaders to develop customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth. © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 3
Agenda › Market trends and current state › Leading email service providers (ESP) that enable enterprise clients to succeed › Recommendations © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 4
Agenda › Market trends and current state › Leading email service providers (ESP) that enable enterprise clients to succeed › Recommendations © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 5
$6 $15 © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 6
Email budgets continues to grow 70% $ 8. 3% Source: Forrester's Q 2 2016 Global Email Marketing Services Forrester Wave™ Customer Reference Phone/Online Survey © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Spending focused on strategy © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Marketers rely on email to help them move faster © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Marketers have experience with advanced personalization © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Cross-channel coordination isn’t widely done © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
And marketers still face challenges © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
How well do email vendors meet marketers needs today? © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 13
Marketers value ease of use © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Customer satisfaction plays an important role Oracle Epsilon Experian Yesmail -100 Smart. Focus IBM Acxiom © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited Adobe Selligent Salesforce
The vendors we evaluated © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Agenda › Market trends and current state › Leading email service providers (ESP) that enable enterprise clients to succeed › Recommendations © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 17
The wave methodology › Selected vendors participated in a kickoff call to review the wave process. › Forrester developed initial evaluation criteria and allowed vendor feedback. › Vendors responded to evaluation criteria in the form of questionnaire about their current offering, strategy, and market presence. › Forrester conducted 2. 5 -hour long, scenariobased in-person briefings with all vendors to demo their tools and process. © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
The wave methodology (cont. ) › Forrester conducted 30 -minute interviews with three-client references from each vendor. › Forrester surveyed seven clients from each vendor about their overall satisfaction. © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
This years criteria focused on › Current offering: technology, services, globalization, and customer satisfaction › Strategy: management team, corporate vision, and development road map › Market presence: annual email marketing revenue, global footprint, employee management, and customer retention rate © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
The score breakdown © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
The final Forrester Wave graphic © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Epsilon + Strengths: + Capable as an agency and an ESP + Its owned, third-party, and now behavioral data assets through its conversant network fuel agency work. + One of the most flexible technology platforms in the study + Dedicated to extending its strategic charter to include building brand strategy and digital experiences for clients - Weaknesses: - Has lower-end scalability - Primarily enables integration for data transfer and not to extend its platform’s functionality Suits demanding enterprise clients who want a flexible platform and excellent services © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited - Has a smaller account management function than other companies of its size in this study
Salesforce + Strengths: + Dynamic content, analytics and reporting, security, and support of distributed business models. + Boast the most satisfied customers we surveyed + Email leaders’ voices matter in the larger organization - Weaknesses: - Does not have heavy analytics or strategy consulting support compared to services-led firms - Usability of platform - While the management team is highly Technology company that is good for marketers of all shapes and sizes © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited experienced and has a long tenure with the vendor, the vendor was more aggressive than past experiences.
Oracle + Strengths: + Strong functionality, experienced leadership team, and a buttoned-up corporate vision just two years into its acquisition + Strong testing, integration, and creative services capabilities + Integration capabilities that extend the platform’s functionality - Weaknesses: - Sluggish account services - Campaign operations support (e. g. , campaign setup, deployment) is used by less than 35% of clients. For marketers who want best and class and you can pay for it © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited - Lagging in predictive analysis capabilities
Acxiom + Strengths: + Investment in developing a new email platform paid off + Capable segmentation, dynamic content testing, security practices, and support for distributed business model + High-performing campaign operations and technical services - Weaknesses: - Don’t expect the bells and whistles of more pureplay tech firms - Still a tech-plus-services approach - Usability of platform lagging behind other vendor’s platforms - Personalization stops at open-time or send-time frequency optimization. For experienced full service buyers who want best in class support and services and a capable platform © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited - User interface available in a limited number of languages for international communications
Adobe + Strengths: + Retained more than 95% of its customers in 2015 + Employee education + Robust testing environment to test the execution of dynamic content rule - Weaknesses: - Usability and personalization capabilities fall short. - Professional services offering needs work Best for firms using Adobe Marketing Cloud and who don’t need consulting support © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited Customer satisfaction scores averaged between 3. 5 to 3. 99. - Employee retention was lower than that of other firms in the study.
Experian Marketing Services + Strengths: + Dynamic content testing, predictive analytics, campaign operation, and tech services + Retained more than 95% of its customers in 2015 - Weaknesses: - Platform is functional but not intuitive. - Segmentation, personalization, strategic For multinational marketers who need help with day -to-day program operations © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited services, and integrations with third-party partners fall short compared with leader-level competitors.
Yes Lifecycle Marketing + Strengths: + Dedicated to employee retention with a handson approach to campaign operations + Expected to upgrade unexceptional functionality with new Yesmail 360/360 i product + Brought value to US-based challenger brand types - Weaknesses: - Unexceptional usability, personalization, dynamic content, and integration capabilities - Customers did not rate the vendor highly for creative services, a surprise given their servicesled approach. For marketers who need a hands on approach and basic functionality © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited - Not ideal for multinational clients
Selligent + Strengths: + Best-in-class for global account support, and international communications + Personalization capabilities which support predictive personalization + Launching new technology Q 1 2017 - Weaknesses: - In an in-between stage that doesn’t yet include the best features of its prior Strong. View/Selligent technology platforms - Usability, dynamic content testing, and integration capabilities, all scored below average. - Offer only limited professional services Best fit for lower enterprise and midmarket clients © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited - Retained fewer than 80% of its employees
IBM + Strengths: + Has large scale due to acquisition by IBM + This firm offers a predictive analytics environment accessible to non-data-scientists. + Universal Behavior Exchange (UBX) enables self-service data integrations. + Linchpin in IBM’s overall marketing suite strategy - Weaknesses: - Best suited for smaller-enterprise and selfservice marketers - Flexibility of its reports, campaign operations support, and creative services lag those of competitors. - Doesn’t have a loud voice within the larger big blue ecosystem Still best suited for smaller enterprise, self-service marketers © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited - This firm does not articulate its vision clearly.
Smart. Focus + Strengths: + Self-service predictive analytics environment where marketers can build their own advanced analytics models + Dynamic content capabilities + More than 30% of its staff dedicated to international account support - Weaknesses: - Comparatively low customer reference scores - Clunky strategic vision - Client references lament this firm’s lack of understanding and hard-to-reach, low-value account reps. - Employee retention below 84% in 2015 - Customer retention for this firm was below 90% European firm stumbling over what it wants to be © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited in 2015.
Agenda › Market trends and current state › Leading email service providers (ESP) that enable enterprise clients to succeed › Recommendations © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 33
Leverage the Forrester Wave excel sheet © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 34
A contextual understanding of consumers allows companies to deliver on the promise of customer centricity © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 35
© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Find differentiation › Vision › Data management › Experience © 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Thank you Rebecca Mc. Adams rmcadams@forrester. c om Shar Van. Boskirk +1 617 -613 -6662 svanboskirk@forrester. com
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