Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Marketing Automation Reliability


In selecting marketing automation software, there are considerations that go well beyond features and functionality. In this short but information-packed video, Abe Wagner, co-founder and V.P. Engineering with Eloqua talks about what he would look at if investigating a marketing automation or demand generation software investment.

Abe discusses a number of key considerations, such as reliability, security, and email deliverability. Having worked with his team at Eloqua to build the most reliable and scalable marketing automation platform on the market, Abe knows what to look for in making an evaluation. Watch this video to learn more:





(If this video does not load, click here to watch the video on marketing automation reliability)

For each consideration, he talks about why it is a critical consideration, and then discusses what he would look for, and the tough questions he would ask if he was in the evaluator’s seat.

Reliability – Abe talks about why system reliability is critical to the success of your marketing initiatives, the relationship between scalability and reliability in marketing automation software, and what questions you can ask or 3rd party audits you can look for if you are evaluating a system’s reliability.

Deliverability – There are many components involved in getting your email messages to your intended recipients. Abe talks about the investments that he would want to ensure were present in a marketing automation software platform, both in terms of maximizing email deliverability, and also evaluating and understanding current deliverability of your emails.

Security – Whereas many organizations don’t have the resources to perform a full audit of a marketing automation platform’s security, there are ways to ensure that your selected solution has the security you need. Abe talks about the tough questions to ask, the 3rd party certifications to look for, and the ways to ensure your marketing database is in the most secure hands possible.

As someone who has been on the other side of the table when it comes to evaluating potential marketing automation software vendors, Abe knows what to look for and what questions to ask. By making sure the needed investments have been made, you can be sure that your system will work reliably, your data will be secure, and your emails will be delivered.



For those unsure of how the uptime statistics that SaaS companies quote translate into real minutes of downtime, see the chart to the left.

Those seconds or minutes of downtime are important in that if your marketing automation software is not able to show your prospects a landing page, and capture their information off a web form, due to downtime issues, you may waste nearly your entire investment in that marketing campaign.


For anyone considering an investment in marketing automation software, Abe's short video is well worth watching.
BOOK
Many of the topics on this blog are discussed in more detail in my book Digital Body Language
SOFTWARE
In my day job, I am with Eloqua, the marketing automation software used by the worlds best marketers
EVENTS
Come talk with me or one of my colleagues at a live event, or join in on a webinar

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