Forrester just released their Email Service Provider report for Q4 (Forrester Wave™). The report is a comprehensive evaluation of 15 top-tier vendors, and analyzes products and services across over 70+ criteria and three dimensions, including “Current Offering,” “Strategy,” and “Market Presence.”
The leaders of the pack with robust and highly-integrated solutions were ExactTarget and Responsys. Liberty Interactive Marketing has been a long-time user and advocate for ExactTarget given a customers complex needs with regard to segmentation, dynamic content, and integrating with other marketing channels like social and mobile.
While clearly the 70+ points of criteria knocked out a lot of smaller solutions like Campaign Monitor and Blue Sky Factory, it doesn’t mean medium-sized businesses should discount these. Before selecting an appropriate email service provider, sit down and determine what your needs are, from customer database integration to segmentation. What assets are you working with and what shape are they in?
And if you thought email was a passe marketing tactic for 2010 and beyond, you’ll be surprised to know that 68% of those surveyed by Forrester said that they anticipate that email marketing’s effectiveness will increase in the next three years.
The main focus for marketers will be to understand who their customers are and how to market to them personally and with relevance.
To stay ahead of the pack or just catch up I highly recommend downloading this email marketing report from Forrester compliments of ExactTarget.