2015 Marketing Automation & Social Technology Marketplace Analysis

Please note: You must be subscribed to the DMT research stream(s) to download this advisory. Please log in if you're subscribed to any of those research streams. Otherwise, see subscription details here.

In the last few years, the marketing function’s dependence on technology has increased so much that we now almost always speak of the CIO and the CMO in the same breath. Even while the IT spending in other categories remains flat or declined, the marketing function’s spending on technology has held up — even through the recessionary environment.

At the same time, there’s been a rise of alternative media and channels; consumer attention and time is spent on social media and user-generated content, including rich media. The mobile screen is increasingly the gateway to commerce and content. Through all of this, there are vast amounts of digital data that’s generated and available to the marketers, but effectively making sense of it all calls for considerable expertise and — of course — technology-platform help.

Not surprisingly, vendors of all hues are attempting a major land grab in the marketing technology segment. Mergers and acquisitions are the order of the day. Unfortunately, as a customer, this means a lot of moving parts, and you need to understand both the antecedents of the technology as well as its future roadmaps. This Reality Check provides a current snapshot of the key players in the digital marketing technology marketplace to help you navigate this dynamic arena.