The most recent edition of SiriusView was released this week by SiriusDecisions and the topic was their analysis of the Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) market. SiriusDecisions defines a MAP as ‘a technology solution that helps enable the seeding, creation, nurturing and acceleration of demand within a new or existing customer base.’

The focus on this topic is very timely, with 20 percent of B2B companies having purchased and implemented a MAP and the expectation that this will rise to close to 50 percent by the end of 2015. Despite this aggressive growth, roughly 85 percent of B2B marketing leaders using a marketing automation platform believe they are not using the platform to its full potential (many are still using them as glorified email tools); clearly, there’s room for vendor evolution regarding their ability to deliver optimal process, support and skills expertise.

Each vendor was scored across three dimensions: functionality, essential elements and vendor strength. Each scoring dimension included two categories, as described below. All scores are on a scale of 0 to 5, the definitions of which are:

• 0 = Capability not present
• 1 = Far below what SiriusDecisions considers industry standard
• 2 = Below what SiriusDecisions considers industry standard
• 3 = Meets what SiriusDecisions considers industry standard
• 4 = Above what SiriusDecisions considers industry standard
• 5 = Far above what SiriusDecisions considers industry standard

Overall there were 3 standout platforms from this evaluation, Eloqua, Marketo and Aprimo. With Eloqua receiving the highest overall combined rating of 12.8 vs Marketo’s 12.6 and Aprimo’s 12.5. Eloqua came first or equal first in 5 out of the 9 categories.

One area not covered by the report is the importance of a vibrant partner ecosystem in terms of supporting customers and helping them get more from their MAP. MarketOne’s sole focus is on helping those 85% of users to harness the Eloqua platform and take their marketing to the next level. It’s a complex tool that is evolving all the time, and it’s our job as a certified Eloqua partner to keep pace with each evolution and to ensure that our clients can avail themselves of all the tools at their disposal.

They also didn’t take into account the importance of global presence, which would have worked in Eloqua’s favour, and is something MarketOne reflects with our offices in the UK, US, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Barbados. The ability to provide local support, advice and training for our customers is a key advantage as, even in this virtual era, face to face meetings deliver value at another level.

With the consolidation in the market, vendors are mostly looking to add functionality and integrations in the hope of owning more of their customers’ marketing technology stack. The study highlights social media integration as an area of recent focus, with MAPs building in social sign-on and the ability to post to social media platforms. This doesn’t always help companies who have legacy investments in ‘best-of-breed’ technologies for Content Management, Analytics, Social Listening and Enablement etc, and it is important that they are well-advised on what to incorporate and what to ignore, a line that the vendors themselves are unlikely to take.

Successful adoption of Marketing Automation Platforms doesn’t just require the deployment and integration of technology – it’s often a catalyst for an entirely different approach to marketing. The best partners are advising customers on re-engineering their organizational structure and processes to take real advantage of the hugely powerful tools they are paying for. That’s where MarketOne comes in.

If your business uses Eloqua, or you are considering Eloqua as a solution to take your B2B lead nurturing to the next level, why not contact MarketOne?