email vs marketing automation platforms for az martech meetup

Email vs. Marketing Automation Platforms

Email vs Automation Marketing Platforms for Small Businesses

by Mike Jones

for Marketing Technology Arizona | January 7, 2016


Who is Mike Jones?


Branding & Experience Design Team

Who is Mike Jones?


Solution ArchitectManaging Partner

Who is Mike Jones?

Brand Strategist


Our Current Email Marketing / Automation Stack


EMAIL MARKETING PLATFORMS

MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORMS


MARKETING AUTOMATIONPLATFORMS

EMAIL MARKETING PLATFORMS


PLUS / MINUS


Email Marketing Platform Pluses (+)

+ Mature platforms

+ Email deliverability

+ Template creation & management

+ List management

+ Decent UX/UI - easy to use

+ Nice-to-have, email-specific features

+ Low entry cost


Email Marketing Platform Minuses (-)

- Lacking action-based automation

- Journey mapping usually non-existent

- Difficult to integrate services

- Usually requires a lot more dev to build outwhole system with CRM and more robust automation (though do-able)


Marketing Automation Platform Pluses (+)

+ Automation-first philosophy

+ Journey mapping

+ 3rd-party integrations out-of-the-box


Marketing Automation Platforms Minuses (-)

- Email-specific features can suck (e.g. templates)

- Complex feature set complicates UX/UI

- Significant up-front investment

- Have to buy into the whole ecosystem and drink their Kool-aid...ahem, Hubspot


So, what can you have?


LIMITED OPTIONS:

1. All-in on marketing automation platform

2. Hope email marketing platform catches up

3. Frankenstack it


1. All-in on marketing automation platform

a. Good for businesses ready to fully automate

b. Drink the Kool-aid

c. Minuses? Suck it up.

d. Hire a strategist and integrator

e. Be ready to shell out up-front


2. Hope email marketing platform catches up

a. Good for early-stage automation businesses

b. Easier roll-out

c. Hold your breath for deeper features

d. Have a plan to jump to a marketing automation platform in the future


2. Frankenstack it

a. Best of both worlds

b. Management is not easy

c. Have very, very clear processes

d. Need strategy & implementation expertise to be effective


What you really need.


Journey mapping and triggers independent of email delivery and templates.


A word to Marketing Automation Platforms:

Please get templates and delivery right.


joins


Thanks!

[email protected]@resoundcreative