Marketing Automation Platform

Satisfaction Survey 2018

Are marketing automation solutions still meeting the
needs of today’s marketer?
Contents
Introduction 1
Key Findings 2
Key Finding #1 4
Key Finding #2 9
Key Finding #3 14
Key Finding #4 17
Conclusion 19
Methodology 20
About Heinz Marketing and InsightSquared 21
Introduction

Marketers drive revenue. Yet, according to marketers, marketing automation platform (MAP)
vendors are no longer keeping up with their needs, particularly when it comes to reporting.
Executives expect marketers to prove their impact on revenue growth, but MAP analytics
solutions are failing to provide their customers with the insights required to demonstrate the
full value they provide to the business. As a result, MAP vendors themselves are at risk of
losing their grip on their customers.

First introduced more than a decade ago, MAP reporting appears to trail the sophisticated
needs of today’s modern marketer. MAP vendors continue to promote campaign reporting to
an audience that demands full revenue reporting. In other words, MAP vendors are providing
“first-generation” reporting to second- or even third-generation practitioners.

Top-of-funnel reports like email engagement and isolated campaign performance continue to
be necessary, but only for tactical decision making. For MAP vendors to earn the confidence
of marketing leadership, they will need to deliver strategic insights, such as comprehensive
attribution reporting.

Introduction 1
Key Findings

1. Analytics/Reporting capabilities is the most important feature considered when deciding

on a MAP, yet it ranks last in user satisfaction and trails perceived importance.
2. Modern marketers are increasingly accountable for driving revenue, but MAPs are
focused on email performance, lead acquisition, and campaign impact -- not post-
handoff metrics, such as pipeline created and bookings influenced.
3. Effective database management and good quality data are required to fuel effective
marketing operations.
4. The more experienced a marketer is, the more likely they are to be dissatisfied with their
marketing automation system’s reporting and attribution capabilities.

Key Findings 2
KEY FINDING #1

Analytics/Reporting capabilities
is the most important feature
considered when deciding on
a MAP, yet it ranks last in user
satisfaction and trails perceived
importance.

 3
 Key Finding #1

Actionable analytics/reporting is the most important feature considered when deciding on

a MAP, but users are least satisfied with it. Across the eight features we surveyed users on,
reporting is the only feature where the level of satisfaction trails its perceived importance.
MAP vendors are failing to innovate on their reporting capabilities and address user
expectations.

Feature Importance vs. Satisfaction

300
Most important
300
250 Most important
Satisfaction
250 200 Satisfaction

200 150

150 100

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Survey Question: What features/capabilities were most important to your organization when
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you chose your marketing automation vendor?

Survey Question: How satisfied are you with your MAP’s features?

Key Finding #1 4
Key Finding #1 (Continued)

The KPI most respondents are measured on is the number of opportunities created,
followed by the number of MQLs. Marketers have evolved into at least two different types
of practitioners. “First-generation marketers” focus heavily on marketing-controlled metrics,
such as top-of-funnel KPIs like lead generation and marketing qualified leads (MQLs).
“Second-generation marketers” are expected to deliver value beyond the sales handoff. They
are held accountable for influencing opportunity creation. Both groups are represented in this
survey response.

Using opportunity creation as the primary KPI shows many marketers have moved into
a second-generation focus, which prioritizes revenue creation over top-of-funnel lead
generation. This group is currently underserved by MAP vendors who have not yet delivered a
compelling bottom-of-funnel reporting solution. As a result, this group of marketers is turning
elsewhere for the very type of reporting they expect to receive from their MAP vendor.

Primary KPIs

Sourced revenue

Influenced revenue

Renewal/existing

Campaign channel attribution

Opportunities created

Number of MQLs

Number of SQLs
0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Survey Question: What are the primary KPIs you are measured on?

Key Finding #1 5
 Key Finding #1 (Continued)

Across all platforms, respondents rated actionable analytics/reporting as the most deficient
feature. Given the diaspora of “modern marketing solutions” that MAP vendors must
consider incorporating into their platforms, it’s understandable that these organizations have
large backlogs of product feature requests. As such, updates and improvements to reporting
may get deprioritized behind trendier offerings like account-based marketing (ABM) features.
However, our survey finds that actionable analytics / reporting is the most coveted feature of
all.

New and popular capabilities may be important for PR purposes, but MAP customers
clearly have higher expectations for reporting and analytics. This presents an opportunity
for vendors to prioritize improvements and innovate on existing capabilities which meet a
fundamental need: analytics that prove revenue impact.

Most Deficient MAP Feature

100
Act-On

80 HubSpot

Pardot
60
Eloqua
40
Marketo

20

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Survey Question: What feature/capability is most deficient in your current marketing

automation platform?

Key Finding #1 6
Key Finding #1 (Continued)

For years, marketers have reported on activity metrics without connecting them to revenue.
Now, we know more marketers are held accountable to revenue results than anything else.
Respondents feel deep, comprehensive reporting would increase executive-level confidence
in the marketing team—a resounding 2x over the next highest-rated capability. Reporting on
revenue requires capabilities that MAP vendors currently lack. Failing to supply advanced,
revenue-level reporting creates a vicious cycle for MAP vendors: CMOs don’t log into the
system, which limits the perceived value of the overall investment.

Increasing Executive-Level Confidence

Account-based marketing capabilities

Deep analytics and polished reporting

Machine learning, predictive/prescriptive capabilities

Database health and management

0 20 40 60 80 100

Survey Question: What new marketing automation platform feature or enhanced capability
would increase your executive team’s confidence in your marketing team?

Key Finding #1 7
KEY FINDING #2

Modern marketers are increasingly

accountable for driving revenue,
but MAPs are focused on email
performance, lead acquisition,
and campaign impact -- not post-
handoff metrics, such as pipeline
created and bookings influenced.

Key Finding #1 8
 Key Finding #2

The marketers we surveyed also cited multi-touch attribution as a critical feature. Marketers
need to understand how their efforts source and influence revenue, and they need to develop
complex attribution models. Because MAP vendors have yet to meet these needs, a niche
industry comprised of marketing attribution vendors has emerged, threatening cross-sell
opportunities for MAP providers.

80

70

60

50
Failed to Meet 40
Expectations vs. 30
Measured KPIs 20

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Most Important Marketing-sourced revenue

Analytics/Reporting
Marketing-influenced revenue
Capabilities
Sales cycle/velocity

Account-level/ABM reporting

0 20 40 60 80 100

Survey Question: Overall, has your marketing automation platform met your expectations?
Survey Question: What are the primary KPIs you are measured on?
Survey Question: Which analytics/reporting capabilities are most important to your organization?

Key Finding #2 9
Key Finding #2 (Continued)

Not surprisingly, the group that indicated their MAP “failed to meet most or all of their
expectations” are “likely to replace” their platform in the next 18 months. Replacing a MAP is
a time- and labor-intensive process that often redirects resources from marketing programs.
This complexity creates a level of “stickiness” for MAP vendors. However, respondents who
recognize they will not get what they need from their current tool are planning to churn from
their provider, despite the high cost of switching.

Failed to Meet Expectations vs. Likelihood to Replace

35

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Survey Question: How likely are you to replace your marketing automation vendor within
the next 18 months?

Key Finding #2 10
Key Finding #2 (Continued)

Of the group that indicated their platform has not met their expectations, analytics/reporting
is the leading feature respondents would like to add to their MAP – 2x more than the next
highest request (ABM capabilities).

Failed to Meet Expectations vs. Highest-Ranked Feature to Add

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Survey Question: If you could add any feature/capability to your MAP, which would it be?

Key Finding #2 11
Key Finding #2 (Continued)

Director and manager respondents voiced the highest level of dissatisfaction with their MAP,
likely because they are the primary users and thus feel the direct pain of having to deliver
the insights asked by executives. Smaller companies may lack resources such as dedicated
MAP administrators or analysts, so they need their solution to carry much of the load for
important analytics and reporting and overall ease of use.

50

40

30
Failed to Meet
Expectations vs. 20

Organization Size
10

0
<50 employees 51 - 200 201-1,000 1,001 - 10,000 10,001+

40

35

30

25
Failed to Meet 20
Expectations vs. 15
Job Role 10

0
Coordinator Manager Director VP+ Other

Key Finding #2 12
KEY FINDING #3

Effective database management and

good quality data are required to
fuel effective marketing operations.

Key Finding #2 13
Key Finding #3

MAPs appear to be meeting users’ expectations in regard to database and list management.
Clean, accurate, and organized data is the fuel that powers effective marketing operations.
Reliable data is made possible by third-party integrations and database/list management,
both of which top the list of features with the highest levels of user satisfaction.

MAP Feature Satisfaction

Number of third-party integrations (including CRM)

Database/list management
Overall usability
Lead/account scoring
Ease of landing page/email design
Vendor's sender score reputation
Sophisticated/multi-channel campaign capabilities
Actionable analytics/reporting
0 2 4 6 8 1

Survey Question: How satisfied are you with your marketing automation platform’s features?

Key Finding #3 14
Key Finding #3 (Continued)

Respondents also indicated a desire to add or improve database health and management
capabilities to their MAP. However, unlike reporting/analytics, marketers are not dissatisfied
with their MAP vendor’s database features, suggesting that this is an “evergreen” need given
that data is a decaying asset.

Feature/Capability Improvements and Additions

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Add

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Survey Question: If you could add any feature/capability to your MAP, which would it be?
Survey Question: If you could improve any feature/capability in your MAP, which would it be?

Key Finding #3 15
KEY FINDING #4

The more experienced a marketer

is, the more likely they are to be
dissatisfied with their marketing
automation system’s reporting and
attribution capabilities.

Key Finding #3 16
Key Finding #4

Reporting is the greatest source of pain for users of all but one marketing automation
system (Oracle Eloqua):
• Marketo users are most dissatisfied with analytics/reporting capabilities.
• Pardot users are most dissatisfied with analytics/reporting capabilities.
• HubSpot users are most dissatisfied with analytics/reporting capabilities.
• Act-On users are most dissatisfied with analytics/reporting capabilities.
• Oracle Eloqua users feel the most pain around ease of landing page and email design,
though they ranked analytics/reporting capabilities as the feature they’d most like to
improve.

Dissatisfaction with Features

50
Act-On

40 HubSpot

Pardot
30
Eloqua
20
Marketo

10

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Survey Question: How satisfied are you with your MAP’s features?
Survey Question: If you could add any feature/capability to your MAP, which would it be?

Key Finding #4 17
Key Finding #4 (Continued)

Advanced MAP users (those with 7+ years experience) cite actionable analytics/reporting
and sophisticated/multi-channel attribution as two of the three features with which they are
least satisfied. This dissatisfaction is likely rooted in accountability: Senior marketers report
to the executive team and possibly the board of directors. Reporting and attribution are
essential to prove one’s value to a leadership team.

35

30

25

20

15

10
Most Experience
5
vs. Dissatisfaction
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Survey Question: How many years of experience do you have with your MAP?
Survey Question: How satisfied are you with your MAP’s features?

Key Finding #4 18
Conclusion
Two classes of marketers have emerged: first-generation marketers who report on top-
of-funnel metrics, and second-generation marketers who report on revenue impact. MAP
reporting is failing to meet users’ needs, especially those who are measured on revenue
impact. This shortcoming normally would create a high risk for churn, but four out of five
MAP vendors share the same deficiency: analytics and reporting. There’s simply no other
MAP to for these marketers to turn to. The first MAP vendor to solve revenue reporting will
enjoy an enormous competitive advantage.

Conclusion 19
Methodology
To better understand what marketing automation users feel their platforms are missing, we
conducted a survey over 11 days in October 2017. The responses came from 410 marketing
and sales professionals who use Act-On, HubSpot, Marketo, Oracle Eloqua, or Pardot. Survey
respondents represented multiple industries and ranged in size from SMB organizations to
large enterprises.

How many employees work for your organization?

<50 employees

51 - 200

201-1,000

1,001 - 10,000

10,001+

0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

What is your position level within your organization?

Coordinator/associate

Manager

Director

VP+

Other (please specify)

0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Methodology 20
About Heinz Marketing and InsightSquared

Heinz Marketing is a B2B marketing and sales acceleration firm that delivers measurable
revenue results. Every strategy, tactic, and action has a specific, measured purpose. Instead
of focusing on the activities, we focus on the outcomes. What really matters is sales pipeline,
closing business, and accelerating revenue.

Want to learn more? Get in touch with us.

acceleration@heinzmarketing.com
877-291-0006
http://www.heinzmarketing.com
Heinz Marketing Blog
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InsightSquared helps revenue operations professionals break the cycle of spreadsheets by

equipping them with actionable, real-time reporting on virtually all sales KPIs. Fast-growing
technology companies like, Bazaarvoice, EverString, and Pendo rely on the company’s
solutions to forecast more accurately, better manage pipeline, tailor rep coaching based
on individual performance, and conduct data-backed planning and analysis. For more
information, visit www.InsightSquared.com.

About Heinz Marketing and InsightSquared 21