ExactTarget Email & Web Review

To echo my comments from my Marketo review, remember
that marketing automation is a strategy first and a tool second, and
that it is different for every organization based on your unique needs,
objectives, and technology environments. Before you begin searching for a
solution, gather the stated requirements of the prospective users of
the marketing automation solution--each requirement should be necessary,
verifiable, attainable, unambiguous, complete, consistent, traceable,
concise, and uniquely identifiable. As the project manager, it's your
job to distinguish “stated” requirements from “real” requirements. It's
also important to identify the specific ways marketing automation will
benefit your organization compared to the current processes, or compared
to implementing an alternative solution or existing solution. I recommend thinking of the benefits of a marketing
automation solution in terms of three main categories: 1) business
process efficiency improvements; 2) strategic benefits that are less
tangible, but nonetheless important to the organization; and, 3) cost
savings (if applicable).

We cancelled our subscription and moved to Marketo because at the time ExactTarget did not have marketing automation functionality. Given ExatTarget's acquisition of Pardot, and Salesforce.com's acquisition of ExactTarget, it's unlike I would make the same decision today.

The customer support was always first-class: detailed, knowledgeable, and fast.