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"Composable" is becoming the operative word across the DXP marketplace. And rightly so: a composable platform has huge benefits, enabling users to build dynamic web and app experiences more efficiently by reusing content and other components that can be personalized at scale. 
Composable systems also allow for more iterative testing across multiple variants, enabling marketers to optimize performance and gather critical insights faster than ever. We've seen a number of platforms embrace this "composable revolution" over the last few years, and it seems to be paying off. 
Now, Acquia – a leading DXP – on Gartner's Magic quadrant – has announced major updates to its <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/digital-experience-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Open Digital Experience Platform</a> (DXP) that aim to accelerate the development and optimization of composable digital experiences. According to the company, these innovative new features will weave together the workflows of once-siloed digital marketing and development teams in a single platform, making composable strategies more extensible. 
<h2>Expanding the composable value with Acquia Open DXP</h2>
The Acquia Open DXP is an umbrella brand that comprises both the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud" target="_blank">Acquia Marketing Cloud</a> and <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud" target="_blank">Acquia Drupal Cloud,</a> integrating their combined capabilities – including AgilOne, Mautic, and Cohesion – with its existing core. 
This pairing was designed to bring marketers and developers together in a comprehensive, easy-to-use platform powered by machine learning features in both Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud – making it faster and easier to launch new websites, applications, and marketing campaigns with modular components.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/acquia-dxp.png" alt="Acquia Drupal and Marketing Cloud Diagram" />
Acquia started making its move to composable enterprise back in July by <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-introduces-composable-enterprise-features-in-latest-version-of-dxp/" target="_blank">introducing composable features</a> in its last version of its DXP.
"The movement toward the composable enterprise is growing as organizations look to gain agility with plug-and-play services, and velocity with simpler application development and delivery," said Dries Buytaert, creator of Drupal and co-founder and CTO of Acquia. "Executing on this strategy requires a new technical architecture and way for teams to work. Acquia is connecting and automating organizational workflows, spanning content and data, to speed development of digital experiences at scale." 
<h2>What is a composable enterprise?</h2>
The concept of a "<a href="https://www.akana.com/blog/composable-architecture" target="_blank">composable enterprise</a>" is becoming more popular as digital transformation enters its next wave. And it makes sense: leading up to Covid, digital stacks were already becoming decoupled and less monolithic, all driven by the rise of the <a href="https://www.openapis.org/" target="_blank">open API</a>. Much of this investment in a composable enterprise is driven by the rise in composable commerce and its impact on the application landscape. 
Gartner defines a composable enterprise as:
An organization that delivers business outcomes and adapts to the pace of business change. It does this through the assembly and combination of packaged business capabilities (PBCs). PBCs are application building blocks that have been purchased or developed.
Gartner also predicts that by 2023, organizations that embrace composability will <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3986490/composable-commerce-must-be-adopted-for-the-future-of-ap" target="_blank">outpace the competition by 80%</a> in implementing new product features. This underscores the rapid adoption we're seeing across the market for more composable architectures and frameworks – something the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> has been focusing on from an industry perspective. MACH is an acronym for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless, which crystallizes the core tenants of the modern composable enterprise. 
<h2>What else is new in the Aquia DXP Cloud?</h2>
<h4>Drupal Cloud upgrades accelerate digital experience development </h4>
Updates to the Drupal Cloud developer experience streamline and connect workflows to empower fusion teams with no-code/low-code solutions that span DevOps, WebOps, ContentOps, and ExperienceOps. All new products and features are available on <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/introducing-acquia-cloud-next-kubernetes-native-drupal-hosting-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Next</a>, the newest version of Acquia's cloud platform. Key innovations include:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud/code-studio" target="_blank">Acquia Code Studio</a>: A new, 100% cloud-based development environment that integrates with GitLab and Acquia Cloud IDE. Developers can now log into Acquia Cloud Platform, spin up an IDE and then click to connect to GitLab (the platform of choice for application development) using frameworks such as <a href="https://reactjs.org/" target="_blank">React</a>, <a href="https://angularjs.org/" target="_blank">Angular</a>, or <a href="https://vuejs.org/" target="_blank">Vue</a>. With Acquia Code Studio, developers have all the tools they need to plan, build, review, test, and deploy any Drupal application—all from a familiar GitLab environment.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://docs.acquia.com/customer-data-platform/actions/" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Actions</a>: A new, collaborative release management system that automates the process of deploying and managing code to the Acquia Cloud environment. Once development teams write code, Acquia Cloud Actions manages the build, test, and deploy phases to get code into production. By eliminating manual processes, Acquia Cloud Actions fuels faster digital innovation at scale.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.acquia.com/why-acquia/acquia-digital-commerce" target="_blank">Acquia Digital Commerce Integrations</a>: Powered by the no-code Acquia Site Studio, pre-built integration components make it easy for anyone to assemble digital commerce experiences leveraging Acquia's DAM and PIM. Support for <a href="https://graphql.org/" target="_blank">GraphQL</a> and Node.js allows developers to easily extend and enhance Acquia's pre-built integrations with any MACH-compliant commerce vendor and cut the time required to deliver experiences to as little as 90 days.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Marketing Cloud enhancements increase efficiencies and insights across hybrid teams </h4>
Acquia is announcing key innovations to its Acquia Marketing Cloud, including several features focused on composable machine learning, analytics, privacy, and multi-tenant distributed marketing to empower teams across CampaignOps and MLOps. 
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/customer-data-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Customer Data Platform</a> (CDP) now has several new capabilities that drive citizen data science and analytical insights across the organization. Building on Acquia CDP's world-class data modeling and analytics platform, Acquia now provides more intelligence, ROI insights, and ML-driven efficiencies across more teams and in more ways than any other customer data platform on the market. New features in this release include:
<ul>
<li>Multi-touch attribution: As the first attribution solution built on top of a CDP, this new capability allows marketers to visualize campaign performance through a range of attribution windows and timeframes to understand the true ROI of marketing investments.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ML Studio: A first-of-its-kind, low-code/no-code machine learning workbench that enables data scientists to build custom ML models on top of unified data, all within Acquia CDP.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ML Launchpad: As part of Acquia CDP analytics, Launchpad surfaces ML-driven insights into a visual and highly intuitive dashboard for non-technical marketers, so they can see at-a-glance key insights such as audience propensities, recommended actions to take, and more. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Privacy Management: This new tool supports compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and more by allowing faster data erasure.</li>
</ul>
Acquia is also introducing new capabilities in Acquia Campaign Studio and Acquia Personalization, including: 
<ul>
<li>Multi-Tenant distributed marketing automation: This first-of-its-kind capability enables brands using Campaign Studio to scale centralized campaigns across multiple brands, geographies, and teams while adhering to compliance and governance requirements. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Visual email and landing page builder: An extension of WYSIWYG capabilities in <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/campaign-studio" target="_blank">Acquia Campaign Studio</a>, this drag-and-drop interface makes it easier than ever to build emails and landing pages for campaigns.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Enhanced A/B testing: Acquia Personalization now has more powerful A/B testing capabilities, including automated self-optimization, which auto-promotes winning variants without requiring any time or effort from marketing teams – and increased website conversion and revenue. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Growing validation with analysts</h2>
Acquia has been named a Leader on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) for two consecutive years. Additionally, International Data Corporation (IDC) has recognized the usability, extensibility, and enterprise-grade capabilities of the Acquia platform and recently named Acquia a Leader in the inaugural <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/idc-marketscape-content-management-systems" target="_blank">IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Content Management Systems for Persuasive Digital Experiences 2021 Vendor Assessment</a>.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
Acquia empowers the world's most ambitious brands to create digital customer experiences that matter. With open source Drupal at its core, the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers, and IT operations teams at thousands of global organizations to rapidly compose and deploy digital products and services that engage customers, enhance conversions and help businesses stand out. Learn more at <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">https://www.acquia.com</a>.

Acquia Upgrades Open DXP Capabilities to Expand Composable Enterprise Features

paris-tuzun

Acquia logo against a composite background of Tetris-like pieces fitting together, reinforcing the concept of composable DXP

The concept of a "<a href="https://www.akana.com/blog/composable-architecture">composable enterprise</a>" is becoming more popular as digital transformation enters its next wave. And it makes sense: leading up to Covid, digital stacks were already becoming decoupled and less monolithic, all driven by the rise of the <a href="https://www.openapis.org/">open API</a>. 
Add a global pandemic, and the hyper-accelerated pace of transformation resulted in more systems "talking" to each other – and integration driving innovation. 
In the simplest terms, composable enterprises are building digital solutions that leverage the <a href="https://www.mulesoft.com/resources/api/what-is-an-api-economy#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20API%20Economy,created%20by%20differing%20software%20platforms.">API economy</a>. This means businesses are assembling their offerings together in a highly modular way – breaking down components into smaller <a href="https://microservices.io/">microservices</a> or packaged business capabilities (PBCs).
I know, I know... more acronyms. But this is a good one because PCBs are becoming a bigger deal. <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3976170/innovation-insight-for-packaged-business-capabilities-an">According to Gartner</a>, they encapsulate the concept of composable commerce and how fixed applications are becoming a thing of the past.
And that leads us to the latest news from <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a>, a leading Drupal-based digital experience platform. They just announced major updates to their Acquia <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/digital-experience-platform" target="_blank">Open Digital Experience Platform</a> (DXP), which is powered by their Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud ecosystems. By embracing a new set of component features, Acquia is advancing the composable enterprise by enabling marketers, developers, and IT operators to assemble and deploy digital experiences for every point along the customer journey.
<h2>A tale of two clouds</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/acquia-dxp.png" alt="Acquia Drupal and Marketing Cloud Diagram" />
As part of an <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">ambitious growth plan</a>, Acquia is hanging its DXP hat on a bifurcated strategy with their Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud. While the former focuses on building and enhancing digital experiences, the latter provides a sandbox for personalizing and orchestrating campaigns and assets with cross-channel capabilities. 
In an age of composable enterprises, this approach is allowing businesses to focus resources while connecting data. Acquia's new version features enhancements to both of their cloud layers – each with its own composable attributes.
Acquia also announced a new <a href="https://www.acquia.com/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-launches-china-managed-services">China managed services offering</a> with in-region security and support as part of their update package. 
<h2>Drupal Cloud updates focus on scalability</h2>
Acquia's improvements to Drupal Cloud are focused on helping companies build and scale their experiences in a number of key areas. This includes enhancements to the HR and employee experience, container-based hosting, advanced search functionality, and developer support. 
"With the accelerated demand for digital experiences, businesses need to continue to scale at greater capacities and speeds," said, Kevin Cochrane, Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at Acquia. "They need to be confident that their digital infrastructure and teams are able to perform without fail no matter when or where they're needed." 
The updates to Drupal Cloud include:
<ul>
<li>Employee Experience Platform: Acquia's new <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/powering-digital-workplace-employee-experience-platform" target="_blank">Employee Experience Platform</a> (EXP) is an HR-centric modern intranet powered by Drupal. It combines employee systems in applications via the API framework of Acquia's Open DXP. Acquia's EXP integrates HR applications with dynamic site-building and hosting capabilities – creating a one-stop-shop for benefits and payroll, information access, discovery, cross-team collaboration, and more.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Acquia Cloud Next: Acquia made significant updates to their <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud/cloud-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Platform</a> services to create <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/introducing-acquia-cloud-next-kubernetes-native-drupal-hosting-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Next</a> – an enterprise-grade, Kubernetes-native Drupal hosting platform backed by Acquia's collaboration with AWS. With Acquia Cloud Next, customers benefit from the improved application and site performance along with nearly limitless storage volume, enhanced security and resiliency, and optimized resource utilization. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Fully Managed Search: Enhanced Apache <a href="https://solr.apache.org/guide/7_0/">Solr 7</a> search capabilities are now integrated into the Acquia Cloud Platform and fully managed by Acquia. Searches are faster across multiple servers and provide better results to keep site visitors engaged with content.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Acquia Cloud IDE and Developer Support: <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud/cloud-ide" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud IDE</a> improves developer productivity with a new cloud-based, fully integrated workflow between development, staging, and production environments. It provides a full stack of optimized development tools – including PHP, Composer, and Drush – readily installed and configured for a fast and simple onboarding process. As a browser-based source code editor and Drupal development stack based entirely in the cloud, Acquia Cloud IDE will help developers accelerate writing and deploying code without adding maintenance or security issues. Best-in-class support enhancements include a new <a href="https://docs.lando.dev/">Lando</a> plugin and support for both <a href="https://www.php.net/releases/8.0/en.php">PHP 8</a> and the latest version of Drupal.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Marketing Cloud gets new Unified User Interface</h2>
Enhancements to Acquia's Marketing Cloud will provide a simpler, more intuitive way for marketers to understand their business. New features are designed to help users build personalized experiences for customers and scale both operational efficiencies and smarter workflows across their organizations. 
The <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-marketing-cloud-introduces-new-ui-enhancements-unified-marketer-friendly-experience" target="_blank">new Unified User Interface (UI)</a> for Acquia Marketing Cloud makes it easier to leverage the combined capabilities of <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/customer-data-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Customer Data Platform</a> (CDP), <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/personalization" target="_blank">Acquia Personalization</a>, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/campaign-studio" target="_blank">Acquia Campaign Studio</a>, and <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/campaign-factory" target="_blank">Acquia Campaign Factory</a>. The main navigation provides a single view over all Marketing Cloud solutions, supporting a streamlined workflow across teams and regions. This will allow marketers to elevate their control and visibility – and run more effective, data-driven campaigns. 
Some of the other updates to Marketing Cloud include: 
<ul>
<li>Golden Template in Campaign Factory: To help marketing teams effectively govern their campaigns across hundreds or even thousands of brands, websites, and business units, Acquia Campaign Factory is introducing a "Golden Template." This feature will enable users to change all downstream child instances across email, segments, complete campaigns, and more – saving time and accelerating updates.</li>
<li>Machine Learning Center ("ML Center" ): Acquia's new Machine Learning Center gives marketers and business leaders a dashboard that unifies all ML-driven intelligence into one view and allows marketers and business users to understand the impact of their campaigns (both online and offline). The new Metrics Launchpad dashboard provides easy-to-understand visualizations and is enabled for all Acquia CDP customers who use machine learning as part of the platform. </li>
</ul>
To learn more about Acquia's Digital Experience Platform, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">click </a><a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">here</a>.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a> is the open digital experience platform that enables organizations to build, host, analyze and communicate with their customers at scale through websites and digital applications. As the trusted open source leader, Acquia uses adaptive intelligence to produce better business outcomes for CX leaders.

Acquia Introduces Composable Enterprise Features in Latest Version of DXP

In another dramatic shift to the content management and digital experience landscape, Episerver <a href="https://www.episerver.com/company/press-room/episerver-to-acquire-optimizely-the-worlds-leading-experience-optimization-platform">has announced</a> its plans to buy Optimizely. 
Episerver, the customer-centric digital experience platform, is recognized as a leader in the <a href="https://www.episerver.com/reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a>. With the acquisition of Optimizely, an innovator in experience optimization, Episerver appears to be ramping up its competition with enterprise DXP players like <a href="https://www.adobe.com/marketing/experience-manager.html">Adobe</a>, <a href="/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">Acquia</a> and <a href="/sitecore-updates-experience-platform-and-experience-commerce-releases-new-sitecore-content-hub/">Sitecore</a>.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gartner-magic-quadrant.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/09/gartner-magic-quadrant.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/09/gartner-magic-quadrant.png 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/09/gartner-magic-quadrant.png 1432w" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.episerver.com/reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a></figcaption></figure>
In today’s data-driven market, experimentation has become essential. Today's brands need to adapt to consumer changes faster than ever and create more personalized experiences based on data. By combining Episerver’s content and commerce capabilities with Optimizely’s experimentation and optimization, marketers will now be able to build custom digital experiences that get smarter over time and drive more purchases and conversions. 
<h3>Better control of layouts, logic and more</h3>
Together, Episerver and Optimizely will enable organizations to run better experiments across both frontend layouts and backend logic with easy-to-use, tailored recommendations. According to Episerver, the combined power will give organizations the ability to optimize the entire experience across multiple touchpoints while increasing revenue, improving productivity, and realizing cost savings. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/layouts-and-logic.png" alt="Layouts and Logic" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/09/layouts-and-logic.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/09/layouts-and-logic.png 785w" /><figcaption>Layouts and Logic</figcaption></figure>

<h3>Improved Outcomes</h3>
A/B testing has long been an established practice for marketers, helping teams to develop more unique, highly targeted digital experiences for each customer – while scaling to thousands. These "experiments" can help drive transformation, enhance customer engagement and improve brand differentiation.
Embracing a culture of experimentation is driving improved outcomes for many brands, particularly those leveraging the enhanced capabilities of a digital experience platform. Leading platforms like Adobe and Sitecore have integrated deep personalization and analytics into their offerings, and testing has become a key pillar of the experience optimization stack. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/outsized-results.png" alt="Measure the outcomes of every action" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/09/outsized-results.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/09/outsized-results.png 785w" /><figcaption>Measure the outcomes of every action</figcaption></figure>
That said, companies are no longer limiting their experiments to A/B testing, and instead are expanding their efforts (A/B, C/D and so on) across all aspects of the digital experience. Episerver's move to incorporate Optimizely into their platform demonstrates a growing demand for more insight around consumer data, as well as greater speed and control over adapting the digital experience. 
<h2>Optimizely: A Proven Platform</h2>
Optimizely is a leader in experimentation and progressive delivery. Founded in 2009, it became synonymous with A/B testing, subsequently building a broader suite of testing tools for marketers. Its proven platform has run over 2 million experiments across the user journey to optimize the customer experience for some of the world’s most prominent brands like Peloton, Nike and Uber.
The union of Episerver and Optimizely will combine an advanced set of customer-centric digital experience capabilities with more freedom to experiment, enabling digital teams to replace guesswork with evidence-based outcomes.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/dLMqzpXcZNNUoM1_OxXHAQW1ztCKyaZL4aVhaJAVs1_UVxT0KktqrmanWkG0uW0SU0QF346MtL2UJUhVp2dv5XCrDERdCgK9E-lUEC6ns7owJUTODlJOOsATD1DccyehEvOnINOn" /></figure>
<h3>About Optimizely</h3>
<a href="https://www.optimizely.com/">Optimizely</a>'s leading platform offers a complete set of digital experience optimization technologies – including AI-powered personalization and experimentation – which encompasses A/B testing, multivariate testing, and server-side testing. Optimizely enables brands to deliver more relevant experiences driven by data, including Gap, StubHub, IBM, The Wall Street Journal, and many more. To learn more, visit optimizely.com.
<h3>About Episerver</h3>
<a href="https://www.episerver.com/">Episerver</a> empowers businesses to scale through the most customer-centric approach to digital experiences. Its Customer-Centric Digital Experience Platform™ features best-in-class content management and robust commerce, both backed by AI-powered data and personalization solutions. The platform has consistently earned industry, analyst, and media recognition for its vision, capabilities, and customer commitment. Episerver’s 900+ partners and 825+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 8,000 brands enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue, and grow their brands.

Episerver To Acquire Optimizely, Adding Experimentation And Optimization To DXP

If you’re a digital marketing professional, you’re probably familiar with the <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/">Martech 5000 “Supergraphic”</a> that’s published annually by Chiefmartec.com. It depicts the complete landscape of marketing technologies across a range of categories such advertising, content management, eCommerce, and more – all with tiny, painstakingly positioned logos.
Now, if you haven’t seen this graphic before, consider yourself warned: you’ll never look at digital marketing technologies the same way again.
The 2020 edition of this mindboggling compilation was released a short while ago, and while the persistence of COVID-19 has consumed every facet of the daily news cycle, it’s worth a hard look. Why?  Because once again, the field of technologies has ballooned at an unimaginable pace.
According to Martech Conference Chair Scott Brinker (the “Chief Martec” and creator of the graphic), the entire landscape grew by 13.6% to a total of 8,000 tools. In addition, 1 in 5 of the solutions were new to the diagram since last year, which is nearly the equivalent of the entire 2015 Martech landscape.
Perhaps the most compelling metric? Since 2011, the landscape has swelled by a remarkable 5,233%.
Brinker also reported that the churn rate – which might include a technology being acquired, sunset, or going out of business – was 8.7%. 615 tools were removed since last year’s 7,040 count, but even with that, the growth of net new tools was 24.5% with 1,575 new tools added.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1600/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 1600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w2400/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 2400w" /></figure>
What’s New in the 2020 Martech 5000 Supergraphic
Let’s start with the obvious: for the first time, the graphic looks like a piece of abstract art. Or maybe even a map of the Kingdoms of Westeros.
Regardless of your interpretation, this new design is a marked departure from the previously structured compositions, which accentuates the organic nature of the ecosystem. It also reflects how fluid and amorphous the industry has become, and how the shape is constantly shifting.
The concept of a map is perhaps the best metaphor, with the technology logos being organized compactly into six “continents” with a number of sub-categories as “countries.” These include:
<ul>
<li>Advertising &amp; Promotion: SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and Social Media Advertising</li>
<li>Commerce &amp; Sales: Sales Automation, Customer Support, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management)</li>
<li>Content &amp; Experience: CMS (Content Management Systems), SEO, and Marketing Automation</li>
<li>Data: Data Analytics and Web Analytics</li>
<li>Management: Project Management Software and Communication Software</li>
<li>Social &amp; Relationships: Social Media Management</li>
</ul>
The other big change is where the growth is happening across these categories. Below is how much each has grown since last year:
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/martech-category-growth.jpg" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/06/martech-category-growth.jpg 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/06/martech-category-growth.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/06/martech-category-growth.jpg 1600w" /></figure>
While stalwarts like Advertising and Promotion appreciated modest gains, Data lead the way with double-digit growth. Specific areas such as Data Governance and Privacy, Video Marketing, Conversational Marketing and Chat, and Project and Workflow management saw the highest percentages of change, signaling that companies with mature stacks are now focused on harnessing their data assets and optimizing their investments.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Martech
Brinker’s 2020 research was collected before most of the world had ever heard the word “coronavirus.” The Supergraphic was published in the thick of the COVID-19 lockdowns – and while many areas of the world have reopened, resurgences in places like the U.S. continue to stir uncertainty in the markets.
In his article supporting the 2020 Supergraphic, Brinker taps his crystal ball, forecasting that the marketing technology industry will remain strong despite the effects of COVID-19. While he believes there will be short-term damage, the long-term outlook is positive.
While the future is always a little foggy, the pandemic has further obscured the prospects for the Martech landscape. First and foremost, companies may be more risk-adverse, pushing off digital transformation projects to meet budget cuts. Additionally, venture capital investment may be more difficult to secure, putting more pressure on startups.
On the bright side, this challenge has forced brands and organizations to pivot their operations to digital. Consider <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/21232401/zoom-300-million-users-growth-coronavirus-pandemic-security-privacy-concerns-response">Zoom’s jump from 10 million daily users to over 300 million</a> since the beginning of the lockdown; this ripple effect was felt across many categories as a direct result of the crisis. As companies continue to embrace digital operations – from collaboration to eCommerce to service – Martech may continue to experience broad growth.
An Interactive Martech 5000 Database
Including 8,000 logos inside a graphic is not an easy task. And if you’re trying to decipher the various players from a printed page, you might need a magnifying glass.
The good news is the Martech 5000 Supergraphic also comes in the form of an interactive database, making it easier to browse the companies along with their domain names, year founded, headquarter location, and even their Linkedin and Twitter handles if available.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/martech5000-database.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/06/martech5000-database.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/06/martech5000-database.png 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/06/martech5000-database.png 1209w" /></figure>
You can sign up to see the database <a href="https://martech5000.com/about">here</a>. To read the Chiefmartec article and download the Supergraphic in all of its glory, <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/">click here.</a>
About Chiefmartec.com
<a href="https://chiefmartec.com/">Chiefmartec.com</a> is a leading online authority for marketing technology. Started in 2008 by Scott Brinker, the blog offers deep insights on strategy, management, and culture – as well as articles and interviews with Martech leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Scott also serves as VP platform ecosystem at Hubspot.

Marketing Technology Landscape Grows 13.6% in 2020, Supergraphic Now Features 8,000 Tools

Check  the product out at the store. Buy it online. Have it delivered at the  doorstep of your home or office. The omni-channel retail experience is  becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and businesses are going all out to  develop smarter, more seamless engagement strategies for the  ‘post-digital’ world.
More  and more retailers are beginning to understand that merely having a  presence on multiple channels is no longer enough to woo new markets.  Brands are boosting omni-channel engagement by creating personalized,  on-demand content that enriches the customer journey across channels by  offering contextually relevant information and experiences.
In  fact, a powerful omni-channel strategy that delivers a unified brand  experience can unlock new markets and increase your customer base - and  that’s why it’s important to have a strong foundation in place from the  start. Here are 5 essentials that go into building a modern omni-channel  strategy.
<h3 id="data-management-for-consistency-and-convenience">Data Management: For Consistency and Convenience</h3>
Having  a single source of truth or a “golden record” of product information,  i.e., a consolidated, well-defined version of all data entities present  in an organizational ecosystem, is at the heart of effective data  management. This helps you create richer brand experiences by ensuring  that every customer touchpoint offers relevant and consistent  information for every product, thereby letting customers seamlessly move  from one channel to another in their buying journey.
<h3 id="unified-connected-systems-power-omnichannel">Unified, Connected Systems Power Omnichannel</h3>
Siloed  systems and disparate workflows are anathemas to any omni-channel  strategy. To create a seamless customer experience (CX), you’ll need to  deploy APIs to accelerate data transfers and smoothly integrate  mission-critical applications needed to improve your technology  landscape. This way real-time inventory can be synchronized between  physical/online stores with integrated customer data and dynamic  workflow engines. It further makes sure optimum omni-channel enablement  on customer touchpoints like IoT devices, point-of-sale, kiosks, and the  likes.
<h3 id="shared-workflows-help-everyone">Shared Workflows Help Everyone</h3>
It’s  hard to execute omnichannel retail if you don’t have shared workflows  between your stakeholders. Shared workflows make it easier for employees  and third parties to access product information that’s most relevant to their  role. For example, a digital marketer may not need to know the product’s  expiry date or it’s temperature threshold for spoilage, but a logistics  operator could very well find this information essential. Over the  years, several Product Information Management (PIM) solutions have made  it easier to accurately distribute relevant information throughout the  retail landscape. By storing this information in a master file, and  enabling access via API calls, PIM platforms act as a key enabler of any  omni-channel strategy and helps your stakeholders to effectively  contribute to enriching the customer experience.
<h3 id="product-attributes-and-rich-media-integration">Product Attributes and Rich Media Integration</h3>
The  importance of having product attributes assigned to each inventory unit  within your database simply cannot be understated. Not only do product  attributes offer your customers a richer, more relevant view of their  prospective purchases, they can also help nudge them along their buying  journey. Through videos, images and accurate product descriptions, it  can be made easier for warehousing and in-store staff to acquire better  product visibility, which helps them in creating a more compelling  retail experience for the buyer.
<h3 id="segmentation-and-targeting-are-essential">Segmentation and Targeting Are Essential</h3>
If  you aren’t using your customer data to create personalized and relevant  experiences for your customers, you’re not taking full advantage of  your analytics. According to a study by MarketingSherpa, <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Please-Dont-Unsubscribe-Why-Consumers-Email-Fatigue/1015219">more than 20% of customers</a> opt-out of brand communications due to receiving irrelevant content.  This demonstrates how important it is to segment your target markets and  tailor unique content that is relevant to each section of customers  that engages with your brand. For example, millennials may like  receiving vibrant and contemporary content on their smartphones, while  specific, offer-based emails may appeal to an older audience.
<h2 id="to-summarize">To Summarize</h2>
A  good omni-channel strategy has the potential to exponentially grow your  customer base and revenues. The Harvard Business Review recently  conducted a study showing that <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works">73% of shoppers used multiple retail channels.</a> This statistic supports a study by the Aberdeen Group, stating that retailers with a powerful omnichannel game retained <a href="https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/12/31/why-omnichannel-strategy-matters/">over 89% of their customers</a> – which is staggering, to say the least.
To  truly master the omni-channel ecosystem, you’ll need to engage in active  experimentation. It’s not enough to just hit fire-and-forget on your  automation workflows - you’ll need to constantly tweak and re-engineer  product experiences on different channels to see what works best for  each of your target audiences.   
Based  on this article, consider how well your enterprise has executed  omni-channel and whether there are any glaring gaps that need to be  filled. Also, consider investing in a solid product information  management (PIM) and master data management (MDM) strategy that can help  you address all of the above without breaking a sweat. And remember, at  the end of the day, CX is what makes or breaks any omni-channel  strategy. That’s why it’s important to continually deliver new customer  experiences that aren’t confined to a single platform but can instead be  uniquely experienced across a plethora of touchpoints.

5 Key Factors That Go Into Building Unified Omni-Channel Experiences

dietmar-rietsch

Marketing isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
Go around and survey a bunch of business owners, and they’ll undoubtedly tell you how critical marketing is to building consumer-brand trust and building a solid relationship with their customers. This is because marketing and sales go together like mac and cheese, and is the foundation that keeps companies strong and able to continue growing.
While business evolves, it becomes nearly impossible to keep up with daily operations and still maintain value-driven, personalized relationships with each and every customer. This is when marketing directors get called in to build performance-driven programs that create the conversions business owners need for their company.
However, having an efficient marketing director means that company’s marketing program is once again too large to comfortably manage. Budget meetings get held. Expenses get cut. Valuable time and money are wasted on menial, repetitive tasks like email blasts and social media updates.
Fortunately, there’s such a thing as marketing automation software, which plays a huge role in helping professionals grow their business.
<h2>About Marketing Automation</h2>
When you pare it down to the basics, marketing automation is an offshoot of customer relationship management that uses software and web-based services as means of implementing, managing, automating, and even optimizing various tasks and processes that would have otherwise taken up valuable time. This includes things like email marketing, website integration, lead generation, customer profiling, form and page building, and A/B testing.
Basically, it does all of the repetitive tasks that take time and money away from the budget for your marketing department, like email and social media marketing. All of those tasks are replaced by marketing automation software and its applications, which are both designed to optimize the performance of your business.
<h2>How Marketing Automation Works</h2>
Marketing automation creates a web of connections between multiple marketing channels, such as content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing. This makes sure your leads are generated, scored, and nurtured to better allow your team to focus their attention on other aspects of running your business.
With the help of marketing automation software, it becomes a million times easier to send targeted emails and other messages with personalization so you can build consumer-brand trust by ensuring your brand and the services and/or products offered are directly relevant to the needs and interests of your target consumers.
This automation means your marketing department is then better able to focus on the quality of the campaigns being run, rather than the quantity of the campaigns. Additionally, the software collects data on your prospects’ interests, demographics, purchasing behavior, and needs, to better nurture those leads and personalize any future offers being sent.
<h2>The Benefits of Marketing Automation</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketing_automation_img_1703x0-is.jpg" />
The list of benefits that come from using marketing automation to optimize your business is a long one, but there are some benefits that really stand out and are the key to growing your business and getting new leads.
<h3>Saves Time and Money</h3>
Through the use of marketing automation software, a single individual can send out a massive email blast of hundreds of messages and do the work of a large sales and/or marketing department – all on their own.
Implement the software and your business will have automated marketing campaigns in a short amount of time. Your business will be able to send out hundreds – or even thousands – of personalized emails every single day, in addition to generating and nurturing leads while spending less time and money on doing so.
<h3>Increases Revenue</h3>
Increased revenue comes with decreased time and expenses, and makes up the biggest benefit marketing automation has to offer. In fact, last year’s <a href="http://www.hatchbuck.com/blog/the-pulse-of-marketing-automation-platforms-in-2016/">report by Adestra</a> revealed a staggering 74% of all survey respondents claimed their marketing automation software’s ability to save them time was the biggest benefit, with customer engagement being a close second for 68% of all respondents.
With all of this time being freed up, 80% of businesses <a href="http://www.hatchbuck.com/blog/the-pulse-of-marketing-automation-platforms-in-2016/">surveyed by VB last year</a> found that using marketing automation has resulted in significant increase in leads. Considering the fact these are the very lifeblood of a business’ sales, this is one benefit that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Even better, the same study found that these leads aren’t just any type of leads either – they are generally quality leads that brought about an increase in conversions for 77% of businesses.
<h3>Consistent Branding is Easier</h3>
There’s no question about it: Consistent branding is essential.
With marketing automation software, it’s a million times easier to create a consistent brand that spans across your multiple marketing channels.
Considering how much money and time you save with this, your marketing is better able to focus their efforts on expanding your audience to better reach your target demographic across emails, social media channels, mobile applications, direct mailers, and more. You can spend more money on <a href="https://99designs.com/web-design">perfecting your web design</a>, landing pages, content marketing, and other aspects of building your brand and growing your business.
By making your business more available to your customers, your visibility is gets the boost it needs to turn those website visitors and prospects into customers.
<h3>Versatile and User-Friendly</h3>
Even with all of its uses and benefits, marketing automation is actually surprisingly easy to use. After all, the software is all about optimization and making it easier to grow your business. Because of that, even the employees that aren’t so technically-gifted will be able to use it with little training.
Most marketing automation software packages come with templates, editors, and helpful guides that walk you through the while process all the way from initial creation and design to final distribution.
It doesn’t require your employees to know any coding, graphic design, or other technical skillsets. They can jump right in and get to work once it’s implemented.
<h2>Lead Generation and Nurturing</h2>
Having to spend time reaching out to each individual lead and nurturing that lead through an entire sales funnel takes time. It takes money.
With marketing automation, you can reach out to a potential lead right away from the very first interaction, even if it’s just a simple list subscription.
Let’s say a website visitor spends time reading through your content and offered products/services, and decides to sign up for your mailing list. Once you’ve got that email added to your list, you can send out one of several types of automated solutions.
They’ll receive a welcome message and that confirmation notice (always a good idea), and then the prospect will be immediately guided through the sales funnel. You can use the automation to offer discounts and other offers that are directly relevant to your customer’s needs, interests, and past purchase behavior. As the customer is guided through the sales funnel, the software collects even more data to fill out their customer profile, enabling you to better target your emails and other marketing campaigns.
<h2>Choosing Marketing Automation Software</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketing_automation_img_2.jpg" />
Just like with any other type of major software implementation, it’s essential to go through a full assessment of your business before purchasing and implementing marketing automation software. Even with its numerous benefits, you may decide your business hasn’t yet reached the point for it to need all those extra components for your marketing.
You need to go over the needs of your business, such as your staffing capabilities and revenue goals, how much you can invest in new marketing software, and what your current employee skills and abilities are.
Some things to consider are:
<ul>
<li>The type of marketing automation software that would best fit your needs</li>
<li>Your sales and marketing goals</li>
<li>The size of your staff – Do you have enough staff available to implement a marketing automation solution?</li>
<li>How you will measure the marketing automation software’s success – What benchmarks do you have in place?</li>
<li>Your income and expenses – Do you have the financial resources required for this?</li>
</ul>
After taking these things into consideration, it’s best to take some time to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-prepare-your-business-marketing-automation-alexia-p-bullard">prepare your business for marketing automation</a> before implementing the solution. Just like with anything else in the world, whether it’s business-related or not, marketing automation software isn’t perfect. This is why business owners need to take the time to understand both its benefits and limitations.
While it automates most things, it doesn’t automate everything. You will still need staff available to do hands-on marketing, including sending out messages and interacting with customers. While it optimizes and streamlines a good portion of you business’ workflow, it doesn’t replace a human employee.
A big part of the confusion people have when they purchase marketing automation solutions from a vendor stems from the implementation and utilization being driven by someone who doesn’t think about the fact they need involve the CRM, content, email, and/or SEO teams.
At one point or another, all of these different teams within your marketing department should be expected to handle this technology, so they should be informed of how it works. If they never get to learn about it, explore its different uses, or discuss it with the CMO or the vendors, conflict is bound to come up.
There should also be a discuss of who should be the one in charge of running the marketing platform once it’s introduced and set in place. This person, as well as the rest of the team, should be able to test out the platform and speak to the vendors.
To do this, find a vendor and schedule a demo for your team. Things to consider are:
<ul>
<li>How easy the marketing automation solution is to use. Does it take a lot of time to learn, or is it basic and straightforward?</li>
<li>Your marketing needs, and whether or not the vendor is offering a solution that aligns with these needs and goals</li>
<li>The key features – Will they make a significant difference, or do they simply amount to expensive upsells you could do without?</li>
<li>How difficult or easy it would be to implement the new software within your company. Will it integrate well, or will it be too hard to get everyone on the same page?</li>
<li>The amount of time it will take to implement</li>
<li>Whether or not the vendor offers free trials – You should always test a new business tech before investing in it</li>
</ul>
<h2>Picking a Vendor</h2>
As you can see, marketing automation software can certainly yield a whole host of benefits that grow your business and streamline your marketing efforts.
Unfortunately, the software isn’t exactly “one size fits all.”
There are tons of marketing automation platforms available, and they vary widely depending on price, features, and complexity. This can make it a bit difficult to find one that will best meet your needs.
Once you’ve taken an assessment of your business and prioritized your revenue and marketing goals, it’s time to take the next step in selecting the right marketing automation platform.
<h3>Key Features</h3>
Most of them offer the same basic features across the board, but it’s the key components that set them apart.
<ul>
<li>Are you looking for comprehensive inbound marketing? You’re going to need something that integrates your blogging, social media, and email tools.</li>
<li>Do you want your sales reps to have access to your team’s marketing data? You’re going to want a platform that has its own CRM or at least CRM integration capabilities.</li>
<li>Do you want to be able to create landing pages that convert? Then you’re going to want one that has pre-made landing page templates that make it easy to design a page in the shortest amount of time possible. Those platforms that offer drag-and-drop processes, much like <a href="http://www.sendlane.com">Sendlane</a> offers, are the type you want to look for.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Price Point</h3>
Key features aren’t the only thing marketing automation vendors vary in – price is also a huge factor. Some platforms are bundled packages that are all-inclusive, but others come with a basic package with extra add-ons available for purchase. Pricing also tends to be affected by the number of contacts you have, so you may want to get one that reflects your next benchmark goal rather than your current numbers. This way, you have more time between upgrades.
It all depends on what your industry, budget, and marketing goals are. <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/">HubSpot</a> is more expensive than <a href="https://www.act-on.com/">Act-On</a>, for example, but Act-On doesn’t have a content management platform and essential sophisticated analytics. If you’re focusing on content strategy, HubSpot would be the better choice.
The most reliable marketing automation companies make the purchasing, testing, implementation, and utilization process as easy and efficient as they possibly can. This solution should grow your business, not bring it down with complicated tech components and expensive add-ons that won’t directly benefit you. You want to pick software that is best for your business, rather than one you were talked into buying.
The following is a list of additional vendors that have proven to offer the solutions that best fit their customers, and make everything as easy as possible.
<ul>
<li><a href="http://snaptactix.com/products/">Snaptactix</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sendlane.com/#features">Sendlane</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.salesforce.com/">Salesforce</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.marketo.com/">Marketo</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sas.com/en_us/home.html">SAS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.oracle.com/marketingcloud/products/marketing-automation/index.html">Oracle</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.infusionsoft.com/">InfusionSoft</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ibm.com/us-en/">IBM</a></li>
</ul>
That about sums up all the basics about marketing automation and picking a platform – well, at least for this article. As you can see, marketing automation truly is the key to giving your business a boost, regardless of industry or size. This should give you a fairly good idea as to what marketing automation software is and what you should be considering when selecting the best marketing automation platform for your needs.
Do you have any comments or additional vendors you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments below, or get in touch with me over at <a href="http://www.alexiapbullard.com">www.alexiapbullard.com</a>

Don't Panic! The Ultimate Guide to Picking a Marketing Automation Tool.

alexia-bullard

CMS Kickoff 24

Don't miss CMS Kickoff 2024, January 16-17 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Seats are limited.

The #1 global event dedicated to CMS

#ffffff

So you have managed to choose a CMS, perfect your website design, and invest in some banner advertising. But despite your efforts, your traffic remains frustratingly low.By definition, a content management system is built to manage content first and foremost. Some CMS do come bundled with extra functionality, but if you're serious about your marketing efforts, you'll need to find ways to bolster your chosen platform from the outside.Below, I've listed seven simple ways to add marketing features to your CMS which will help to bring in visitors, measure their activity, and convert them into customers.<h2>1. Landing Pages</h2>A landing page is a page that's designed with one specific goal in mind. Marketers often design one or more landing pages for specific types of visitors to use them as entry points for those coming in from banner ads and other specific sources.For example, if you have a banner ad that pushes a certain product, you can link that banner to a landing page on your website that does nothing but describe and sell that same product. Additionally, a website's homepage can also be a type of landing page – if designed correctly.Here's an example of CodeAcademy's landing page, which as you can see, is funnelling visitors towards a sign up form:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3-1.png" alt="sshot-3" />Many landing page builders exist, but I'd recommend <a target="_blank" href="https://instapage.com/">Instapage</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://wishpond.com/">Wishpond</a> before any others. You can read my <a href="/wishpond-review/">Wishpond Review</a> for my detailed analysis of the platform.<h2>2. Analytics Systems</h2>An analytics system may not directly bring in traffic, but it will help you study the traffic that your website already brings in – and that's absolutely vital.An analytics platform, like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.co.uk/analytics/#?modal_active=none">Google Analytics</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://clicky.com">Clicky</a>, will tell you things like:<ul><li>How your visitors move through your website,</li><li>Where visitors come from</li><li>Which pages on your website are most popular</li></ul>Once you know all of the above, you can construct a powerful marketing strategy (and content strategy) based on your audience's behaviour.<h2>3. Marketing Automation Software</h2>As the name suggests, marketing automation software automates tasks to help you draw in a crowd.Popular features offered by most marketing automation systems include:<ul><li>Behaviour-based triggers</li><li>Audience tagging, tracking, and segmentation</li><li>Landing pages</li><li>Web forms</li><li>Email marketing</li><li>Lead tracking and reporting</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="http://leadsius.com/">Leadsius</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.marketo.com/">Marketo</a> and solid options, and you can find more on our Marketing Software Directory.<h2>4. CRM Systems</h2>A CRM (customer relationship management) system is designed to house and manage your business contacts, projects, and meetings. However, many CRM systems come with their own marketing features, too.For example, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.agilecrm.com/">Agile CRM</a> includes email marketing, landing page building, and web rules to configure pop-up ads and subscription boxes. You can read my<a target="_blank" href="https://www.agilecrm.com/"> Agile CRM review</a> here for more details, and check out our <a href="/products/">CRM directory</a> for other options.But before you research CRMs, be sure you actually need a system to manage your contacts – because that's what a CRM does before anything else.<h2>5. eCommerce Systems</h2>Selling products will give you something to shout about on social media, as well as within your blog content. But what if your CMS isn't built for eCommerce?Well, there's good news. You don't need to start out with an eCommerce platform in order to sell through your website.There are many eCommerce platforms that are built specifically to be integrated with existing websites, no matter how those existing websites are powered. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ecwid.com/">Ecwid</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://selz.com/">Selz</a> are two reputable options, but you'll find more on our <a href="/products/ecommerce">eCommerce directory</a>.<h2>6. SumoMe</h2>Launched in 2014, <a target="_blank" href="https://sumome.com/">SumoMe</a> is a fairly new marketing and conversion tool – but that hasn't stopped it from being adopted by millions of webmasters.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-4.png" alt="sshot-4" />It unites a range of features under one roof, simplifying them so that even novice marketers can make the most of their website traffic. It provides:<ul><li>More traffic with SumoMe's <a target="_blank" href="https://sumome.com/app/discover">Discover</a> feature</li><li>Pop-up email list builders and ads</li><li>Heatmaps</li><li>Social sharing buttons</li><li>Smart bar</li><li>Image sharer</li><li>Contact forms</li></ul>SumoMe also integrates with popular email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and AWeber, so you can build your subscriber list easier.<h2>7. Jetpack</h2>This one is for WordPress users only (good thing a quarter of the internet is WordPress-powered!).<a target="_blank" href="https://jetpack.com/">Jetpack</a> is a plugin created by Automattic, the company behind WordPress – which adds tonnes of functionality to any self-hosted WordPress site.As far as marketing goes, that functionality includes:<ul><li>Automated social sharing via the Publicize feature.</li><li>Site stats via the <a target="_blank" href="https://jetpack.com/support/wordpress-com-stats">Stats</a> feature</li><li>Social sharing buttons via the <a target="_blank" href="https://jetpack.com/support/sharing">Sharing</a> feature</li><li>A mobile theme to attract mobile visitors via the Mobile Theme feature.</li></ul><h2>Give Your CMS a Helping Hand</h2>By itself, a CMS will rarely be equipped to handle a full blown marketing strategy. You need to give it a helping hand with some of the options listed above.Do you use any other tools to extend the marketing capabilities of your CMS? Let me know in the comments section below!

7 Simple Ways Turn Your CMS Into a Marketing Powerhouse

mike-johnston

Marketing automation can be a great way to streamline your marketing processes, but those processes have to actually be in place to begin with, before they can ever be streamlined.
Without a solid content marketing strategy driving your business forward, your marketing automation efforts will be pointless.
Of course, it’s tempting to simply ‘switch off and turn to marketing automation for all of your marketing needs, but the easiest routes in business are rarely the most profitable.
Here’s the thing; you don’t need marketing automation to get leads. You need a website, quality content, and a marketing plan.
<h2>First Things First</h2>
Think about it – how are you supposed to automate your marketing processes if they don’t exist yet? 
The whole premise of marketing automation is to create a system that automatically provides your customers and potential customers with relevant materials based on their specific wants, needs, and behaviors. But if you don’t know your customers, how are you going to market to them? 
This is where small businesses make the mistake of putting the ‘cart before the horse', as they get lured in with promises of easy leads and new business.
The reality is that you have to put the work in if you want to see results, and your marketing automation processes won’t work if they’re not supported by a content marketing strategy that supports your key business objectives. 
If you’re running a small business with limited resources, then you should be focusing on the basics before even considering implementing marketing automation. 
<h4>Here are a few questions you should be answering ‘Yes’ to before investing in marketing automation software:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Do you have an overall marketing plan in place?</li>
<li>Do you have a content strategy in place? Does it align with your key business objectives?</li>
<li>Do you have means to create and publish quality content on a daily basis? </li>
<li>Do you know your customer? (i.e. clearly defined buyer personas)</li>
<li>Is your site already attracting decent organic search traffic and leads?</li>
<li>Do you have a growing database of leads?</li>
<li>Do you have the resources (i.e. people, revenue, time) in place to implement and manage the software? </li>
</ul>
If you haven’t answered yes to at least half of the above questions, then it’s probably not a great idea for you to start automating your marketing at this moment in time (as awesome as that new platform may look).
<h2>Relationships</h2>
Before you can get started with any kind of marketing plan, you have to figure out who you’re targeting and why. You have to find out what they’re interested in and what will make them interested in your business. 
This relationship building is how you humanize your marketing efforts and these personal connections are vital for small businesses as a lot of your initial business will be generated via word of mouth, testimonials, and online reviews/recommendations.
The problem with marketing automation is that it outsources a lot of the tasks that you should be in direct control of as a small business. And if it’s not properly monitored, you’ll lose that ‘personal touch’ that’s so crucial to your success. 
<h2>Engagement</h2>
The most important thing about your marketing and social media channels is engagement with your audience and potential audience. 
Automated marketing often takes the ‘social’ out of social media and can make your company come across as cold and uninterested in its customers. You need a human at the helm to drive conversations and grow an online community around your brand. Nobody wants to be that company with 90 followers that spams <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter </a>with promo links every hour of the day.
<h2>Social Selling</h2>
To follow on from the lack of engagement, marketing automation can have a pretty harsh impact on your social selling techniques. 
Automated social posts can lack the impromptu and personal feel of a real person – even when they’re carefully curated. Social selling is an integral part of a brand’s identity and if you get it wrong it’s going to have a seriously negative effect on how your brand is perceived. Your small business will benefit from personal touch. 
Remember, social selling is SOCIAL – the clue is in the name – which means it should always involve real people talking in real time to other real people. So, leave the bots at the door for this one.
<h2>Email Marketing</h2>
Automating your email blasts is a great idea when you’re a medium or large business with hundreds (if not thousands) of potential leads that need contacting. But what works for a large business won’t necessarily work for a small business that’s just starting out. 
 
When you automate your email marketing as a small business, you risk alienating your clientele or leads with generic and impersonal content. A small business will have much more success by personalizing a good template to ensure that the potential lead feels like they’re valued and not just another @ on a list. 
<h2>Branding</h2>
What a lot of small businesses don’t realize is that branding is absolutely everything when it comes to your marketing. Without a strong brand identity and content strategy, your marketing can come across as vanilla, generic, and lifeless. 
 
We’ve all seen the brands that start trying to sell before they get their marketing nailed down properly – and it’s not a good look. Small businesses often don’t have the resources to get all of these things in place and you need all of them in order to automate your marketing effectively. Without these key ingredients, brands can end up looking dehumanized and listless. 
<h2>Still Think Marketing Automation Is Right For You, Right Now?</h2>
Marketing automation is a great time-saver for businesses with a lot of leads and clientele and it can be valuable for small businesses too – in fact, here are <a href="/8-ways-marketing-automation-can-improve-your-roi/">8 ways that it can increase your ROI</a>. But this will only happen when you have the proper foundations in place to begin with. 
Once you have your ducks in a row, you can have a field day perusing the vast number of marketing automation systems on the market! 
To help you out, you can also check out our post on <a href="/choose-the-best-marketing-automation-system-in-3-easy-steps/">choosing the right marketing automation platform for your business</a>.
Are you considering implementing marketing automation in your small business in the future? Have any particular platforms caught your eye yet? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Why Your Small Business Isn't Ready For A Marketing Automation System

grainne-logue

A streamlined implementation process is essential for marketing automation success.
When utilized to its full potential, marketing automation will be a highly valuable asset to your organization; but if you haven’t implemented it properly, you’ll end up seriously disappointed with the outcome.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-business-people-in-a-meeting-r-12523484539x0-is.jpg" />
Getting things right from Day 1 is the best way to start, so I’ve put together 5 steps to help you to successfully implement your marketing automation and get the results you’re looking for.
<h2>1. Spring Clean your CRM</h2>
Before you even get started with your marketing automation implementation, you need to start cleaning up your CRM. You’ll need to import your contacts from your CRM and the last thing you want is to sync a whole bunch of duplicate accounts.
If you haven’t used marketing automation before – it’s likely that you already have number of duplicate entries on your system. Take the time to sift through these and make your list as clean as possible before you start the implementation process. It may be a tad tedious, but it will take a massive mess off your hands further down the line.
<h2>2. Verify Email Addresses</h2>
You’re going to be sending out more emails than ever before, so it’s important to make sure that someone is actually going to be at the receiving end when you do. After you’ve cleaned up your contacts, you can use an email verification service to weed out any incorrect emails before you start uploading them.
Check out email verification service providers such as <a href="http://www.datavalidation.com/">Data Validation</a>, which integrates with numerous email marketing tools such as <a href="http://mailchimp.com/">Mailchimp</a> and <a href="http://www.aweber.com/">AWeber.</a>
<h2>3. Define What Constitutes A Qualified Lead</h2>
Marketing automation will <a href="http://www.emailmonday.com/marketing-automation-statistics-overview" target="_blank">significantly increase</a> the number of inbound leads you receive, however – it’s also important to identify and segment these leads properly. In order to do this, you need to sit down with your sales and marketing team to define what constitutes a qualified lead and which leads fall into the ‘need a little more nurturing’ category.
This will ensure that your sales team only receive leads that have progressed further along the buying cycle, whilst your marketing team can focus on warming up the leads that aren’t quite as there yet.
<h2>4. Communicate With Your Sales Team</h2>
It’s important to sit down and talk to your sales team about the new marketing automation processes and what they can expect. Remember, these leads fuel their paycheques, so they’re going to have a lot of questions and it’s important to be prepared.
If you ask for their input from the outset, you’ll flag any issues in advance and avoid any unexpected setbacks down the line.
Your reps will probably be concerned about how the new leads will be distributed and assigned, so you’ll need to be able to address that. You’ll also need to ensure that communication processes between your sales and marketing teams are set up properly so that none of your leads get lost in translation.
<h2>5. Start With The Basics</h2>
There might be a ton of exciting new features available to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to use all of them at once. It’s important to ease into the implementation process and take it one step at a time.
Focus on the marketing automation processes that you need in place right now, and take it from there. You can look at adding more features once you’ve become more familiar with the platform. Start with what you’re doing at the moment, automate it, assess it, tweak it, and then move on to the next thing.
If you don’t have the resources available to dedicate to even basic implementation, then it might be a good idea to look at hiring a third party partner to assist with the process.
This is pretty common territory for CRM implementation but there are also many companies offering the same service for marketing automation. Most marketing automation providers, such as <a href="http://www.pardot.com/about-pardot/partners/">Pardot</a>, will provide a list of recommended partners on their site.
<h2>Ready To Go? Great. Keep Going.</h2>
Once you’ve set up your marketing automation processes, it’s essential to stay ahead of the pack by keeping an eye on your analytics data and trends. Keep your marketing automation skills fresh by staying abreast of what’s working, what’s not working, and what’s left to learn. That’s really the most important thing here.
Once you continue to stay on top of things, you’ll continue to see results.
If you have any key tips you’ve learned for successful marketing automation implementation, we’d love to hear them. Why not scroll down to the comments section below and fill us in.

Deploy Your Marketing Automation System In 5 Easy Steps

Producing premium content is one thing, but maximizing its performance potential is whole other ball game.
After carefully planning out the <a href="/content-strategy-5-simple-simple-steps-to-success/" target="_blank">content marketing strategy</a> for your company, you’ve likely got your content management system (CMS) up and running. While your CMS has been effective for your business thus far, <a href="/5-ways-integrating-cms-and-marketing-automation-software-can-benefit-your-business/">it could yield even greater benefits when it is integrated with the right Marketing Automation System (MAS)</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/choose-best-mas595x0-is.png" /> 
A marketing automation system is a software designed to streamline, automate, and track your marketing efforts. By more efficiently handling once manual tasks such as contact management, performance measurement, and A/B testing, you can take a more performance-driven approach and maximize the return on your marketing efforts.
Of course, not all marketing automation systems are created equal, and not every MAS will be the perfect fit for your business.
This guide will help you find the best one for your needs in just three easy steps.
<h2>Step 1: Identify Your Needs</h2>
Every business expects something different from their marketing efforts, and as a result, there is no true one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why, before you even think about shopping for an MAS, you should first sit down and decide what you want yours to do.
Are you mainly looking for a way to improve your email marketing, or looking for new ways to simplify lead management and get better leads? Do you need something that easily integrates with your CMS to get your content into the right hands?
Are you looking for new and improved ways to track and measure the performance of your marketing efforts? How important is the level of support and training provided?
By answering questions such as those, you’ll get a better idea as to what MAS features are most important to the marketing efforts of your business. It’s important to have a realistic idea of what you need your MAS to do. While it’s easy to look at everything they can do and say, “Yes, I want all of that,” it’s important to realize that you’ll have to pay for it too – so make sure you’ll really get full value from your potential MAS before you actually commit to it.
<h2>Step 2: Figure Out What Your CMS Can Already Do</h2>
Once you know what you want and need to supercharge your marketing efforts, you should see if you can already get it from your content management system. After all, while a good MAS is usually more refined and versatile than a CMS, you might not need that versatility enough to justify paying extra for it.
There are many capabilities your CMS might have built-in, such as certain types of analytics or basic lead management. Other features can be replicated with plugins or extensions. Many of these are either free or low one-time costs, making them a far cheaper option than an MAS.
However, just because they can replicate some of the features of an MAS doesn’t mean that they can replace them. Depending on the marketing needs of your business, you might get much more bang for your buck by integrating the right MAS, as it allows you to do more (and do it more easily) than your CMS.
For example, there are a lot of lead generation plugins that can allow you to build a squeeze page and capture basic information. However, an MAS can boost your conversion rate by giving you more freedom to nurture those leads. Instead of pushing the same message to every visitor, you can score them based on their demographic information and sort the hot leads from the lukewarm ones – and tailor your message accordingly.
Do you need the added versatility and more advanced functionality of an MAS? Does your current CMS already do enough to meet your identified business needs? It’s up to you to decide whether or not you need an MAS, and if you do need one, then you have to figure out how much you’re willing to pay for it.
<h2>Step 3: Look At The Cost</h2>
The amount that you’ll pay for marketing automation system largely depends on the size of your business. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) simply have different needs than an enterprise-level company, and as a result, different MAS’s exist to cater to different niches.
The primary differences between the <a href="/12-free-or-super-cheap-marketing-automation-systems/">more affordable marketing automation systems</a> and the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/8-enterprise-marketing-automation-softwares-to-complement-your-cms/">more-expensive, enterprise-level marketing automation systems</a> can be seen in the features they each offer, and the number of people they’ll let you service.
For example, <a href="http://www.infusionsoft.com/" target="_blank">Infusionsoft</a> is one of the bigger MAS providers, and, as such, they have a range of services. The lowest tier is $199 a month, but that only gives you 2500 contacts, 12,500 emails per month, and access to half of their features. Their highest tier, on the other hand, is $599 a month, but that includes full access to their features and almost ten times the contacts and emails.
This difference in service levels isn’t unusual. Brands like Marketo, Pardot, and Oracle have varying levels of sophisticated automated marketing solutions that offer premium features to their enterprise clients. These solutions often go for thousands of dollars a month. That being said, there are plenty of more affordable marketing automation systems available that offer similar, albeit less sophisticated, functionality for far less money.
<h2>Picking the Right MAS For You</h2>
If you’re looking to maximize your performance potential and get the most out of your marketing efforts, then its time you considered choosing an MAS and integrating it with your existing CMS. While it’s not right for every business, a good MAS can help refine your marketing strategy and increase your bottom line.
It’s worth your while to sit down and analyze the state of your marketing efforts. Use the three aforementioned steps to evaluate whether or not you should sign up for an MAS, and if so, which one is right for your business. Every business will have different answers, but it’s important that you have an answer for yourself.
After all, if you don’t know where your company stands, how will your customers?
Do you have a preferred marketing automation system? Tell us about it in the comments, or talk to us over at the CMS Forums.

How to Choose The Best Marketing Automation System For You (In 3 Easy Steps)

When it comes to marketing automation systems (MAS), there are <a href="/8-enterprise-marketing-automation-softwares-to-complement-your-cms/" target="_blank">plenty of options floating around for enterprises with big budgets</a>. Fortunately though, you don’t always get what you pay for in the world of software.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phone-793044_1280616x0-is.jpg" /> 
Breaking the bank for a fantastic MAS isn't a neccessity, because there are plenty of affordable and even totally free options out there — if you know where to look.
Take a look at these dozen options that are budget-friendly, user-friendly and offer features that can rival any marketing platform on the market.
<h2>1. SimplyCast</h2>
A marketing automation system rich with sophistication. Campaigns can be led even by those with minimal tech know-how.
Touted as a one-stop-shop marketing solution, SimplyCast offers personal profiles (and thus personal targeting), lead nurturing, A/B testing, API connection, a drag-and-drop interface, and much more. SimplyCast serves up a free version, while the lowest plan starts from just $499 per month.
<a href="http://www.simplycast.com/">Learn more about SimplyCast</a>.
<h2>2. Mautic </h2>
Prefer your marketing software to be open source? Look no further.
Mautic lets you decide between a free hosted account, or a downloaded version of their software which can be integrated with your existing website. In just three steps and five minutes, social media marketing becomes streamlined, leads are effortlessly tracked, and forms can be efficiently constructed, all with a MAS that’s totally customizable.
<a href="https://www.mautic.org">Learn more about Mautic</a>.
<h2>3. Customer.io</h2>
With customers like Shutterstock, Shopify and The Economist, Customer.io shot to fame by sending “human” messages to customers based on their behaviour on websites and apps.
Emails are sent when they’re most likely to be read, A/B testing is constant and it’s all about increasing the personal touch of a brand. Customer.io has a free plan, whereas paid plans start from just $50 per month.
<a href="http://www.Customer.io">Learn more about Customer.io</a>.
<h2>4. InTouch</h2>
Designed for smaller businesses, InTouch is a far cry from the gossip mag with the same name. It focuses largely on email marketing automation by utilizing web forms to snag leads.
Data mining is honed with automated follow-ups that are flawlessly timed. It’s used by companies such as Silicon Beach Business Angels and LinkedIn trainers. InTouch is available for free, with packages starting from under $20 per month.
<a href="http://www.intouchcrm.com/">Learn more about InTouch</a>.
<h2>5. Sales Autopilot</h2>
It does what it says on the tin. Sales Autopilot offers a free entry kit for small businesses with five modules that include email marketing, marketing on autopilot, e-commerce, multi-channel communication, and sales.
Customers like Rackspace, Amazon Web Services and PayPal have seen the use in its more advanced packages, making Sales Autopilot a solution for those in the big leagues, too.
<a href="http://www.salesautopilot.com/">Learn more about Sales Autopilot</a>.
<h2>6. Spokal</h2>
With a 14 day free trial, and a starter package at just $49 per month, Spokal is also popular with small to medium sized businesses.
This package requires a single user, and offers support for newer sites, startups and mom-and-pop joints. However, the pickings are far from slim. You’ll get options like rank tracking, social media analytics and sales lead notifications along with scores of other services.
<a href="http://www.getspokal.com/">Learn more about Spokal</a>.
<h2>7. Nurture</h2>
Nurture aims not just to identify and engage customers, but also to actually retain them for the long haul. Hence the name.
Surveys, smart segmentation, A/B testing, personalized conversations and “human touch” features are all bundled. Plus, Nurture can be configured to give real-time alerts for different triggers. Prices begin at $95 per month.
<a href="http://www.nurturehq.com/">Learn more about Nurture</a>.
<h2>8. Genoo</h2>
A playful name for a seriously sophisticated MAS.
Genoo has a 30-day free trial with standard plans from $199 per month. Yes, it’s a little costlier than some options, but still squarely in the low-cost category. Features include specialized WordPress integration (for existing WordPress websites), landing pages, email marketing, lead capture forms, as well as lead tracking and scoring.
<a href="http://www.genoo.com/">Learn more about Genoo</a>.
<h2>9. Leadsius </h2>
Another well known player in the world of marketing automation, Leadsius offers an “Always Free” option, with the next step up at $295 per month.
The platform is feature-rich thanks to complete lead management, contact databases, analytics as well as landing page and form building. Certainly a solid option for SMBs looking to get used to a proper, yet free MAS, before scaling up.
<a href="http://www.leadsius.com/">Learn more about Leadsius</a>.
<h2>10. Azuqua</h2>
Dun and Bradstreet, along with Hewlett Packard, are already using Azuqua for their marketing automation needs.
The platform comes with a cloud-native platform that’s fully integrated, and also offers solutions for professionals, enterprises and SaaS/IoT/data users. Prices are customizable yet competitive.
<a href="https://www.azuqua.com">Learn more about Azuqua</a>.
<h2>11. Jumplead </h2>
When you get a lead, you need to jump on it! Jumplead brings together lead tracking, email marketing, landing pages, analytics and more, all under the same roof. The platform boast a number of integration options, too.
Jumplead offers a free package called Explore, while the next step up, Solo, is just $49 per month. H Squared and Texoil are among Jumplead's clientele.
<a href="https://jumplead.com">Learn more about Jumplead</a>
<h2>12. Infusionsoft</h2>
InfusionSoft is a big player in the MAS industry, but their Essentials Package can be used for just $199 per month.
The CRM, sales and marketing suite gives small businesses full contact management and marketing automation suitable for ambitious organizations. More than 30,000 businesses benefit from InfusionSoft, including Mint Social.
<a href="http://www.infusionsoft.com/">Learn more about Infusionsoft</a>.
<h2>Marketing at a Steal</h2>
Who said marketing campaigns need monster budgets? There twelve solutions above prove that it's more about elbow grease than it is wallet size.
What are your marketing, engagement, and customer experience must-haves? Let us know in the comments below.

12 Free or Super Cheap Marketing Automation Systems

As a small business owner, entrepreneur or startup founder, you specialize in frugality, creativity and innovation — but are you taking advantage of all the best free and low cost tools available for your marketing needs?
Probably not, and it’s often because there’s so many options that you don’t have time to comb through them all.
To help get your project organized and in front of more paying customers, here are seven affordable marketing tools that you probably overlooked.
<h2>1. Google Drive</h2>
Struggling for space?
Google Drive's cloud storage allows for virtual offices, lower overheads, and freedom for your marketing team to share, download and upload from anywhere.
There are seemingly limitless options for sharing, storing and editing documents/media online, but Google Drive remains one of the best. It offers an incredible amount of free storage (often more than enough for small businesses) and it’s popular enough that many people are already familiar with how it works.
<a href="http://drive.google.com" target="_blank">Visit the website</a>
<h2>2. Shoeboxed</h2>
One of the best options for storing, organizing and safeguarding receipts in the cloud so you can share with your CPA when the time is right.
All those little business expenses add up, from the parking meter to meet a client to buying a refill cartridge for your stapler. Write off enough and you can inch your way into a lower tax bracket (and perhaps into paying lower taxes).
<a href="https://www.shoeboxed.com/" target="_blank">Visit the website</a>
<h2>3. Canva</h2>
You know a picture’s worth 1,000 words, but what’s an infographic worth?
In an era where numerous studies show that people would rather look at a graphic than read blocks of text, infographics have become a marketing mainstay. Canva is a free website where you can create stunning graphics without needing an art degree. Perfect for startups who don’t have a graphic designer on board.
<a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank">Visit the website</a>
<h2>4. Simply Measured</h2>
There's nothing like a free offering from an ordinarily premium service.
Simply Measured offers free performance analysis for all major social networks, so you can see where your accounts are succeeding and failing. They even serve up free traffic source analysis and a free trial of their premium platform.
<a href="http://simplymeasured.com/" target="_blank">Visit the website</a>
<h2>5. Babble-on</h2>
If you don’t have app localization, you’re missing out on the majority of your potential app customers. This goes beyond translation and includes cultural sensitivities, formatting, and details like currency and measurements.
You can’t get localization for free, but at $0.21 per word and other special package deals, Babble-on offers fantastic prices for a team of localization experts. (Want “just” translation? Google Translate works in a pinch).
<a href="https://www.ibabbleon.com/" target="_blank">Visit the website</a>
<h2>6. Ultimate Guest Blogger </h2>
Need more content?
Guest blogs are an incredible way to reach new audiences, build your online reputation and create a symbiotic relationship between yourself (or your company) and the blogging world. Ultimate guest blogger is free software that links the best guest bloggers with appropriate “other” blogs.
<a href="http://ultimateguestblogger.com/" target="_blank">Visit the website</a>
<h2>7. YouTube</h2>
Yes, technically this YouTube is social media, and it’s certainly not anything new — but it's is an often overlooked marketing tool.
Video content is becoming more and more relevant in the world of marketing, and your startup shouldn't ignore the potential benefits of a simply YouTube channel with some interviews or product demonstrations uploaded.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com">Visit the website</a>
<h2>Over To You</h2>
The face of marketing is changing with “martech” becoming an in-demand job description, and ways of reaching audiences are constantly shifting.
Keeping up with enterprise-grade tools with startup budgets isn't easy, but the seven solutions above should hopefully take the edge off. What are your favored marketing tools? Let us know in the comments below.

7 Affordable Marketing Tools That You Probably Overlooked

After building and perfecting your content management system, it's now time to market itThere is already an ocean of content management systems available, and so it's very easy for new products to get lost in the currents, never to be exposed to the masses.This marketing struggle doesn't only affect newcomers to the CMS world either. Many platforms which have been active for months and sometimes even years can find it difficult to stand out from the crowd.So, to help get your product heard, seen and spoken about, I've put together a handy guide which outlines the best ways to market a content management system.<h2>Start a Blog</h2>Blogging is one of the most powerful ways to market online. Period.By setting up a blog for your content management system, you can detail some of its core features, explain answers to commonly asked questions, and even comment on wider issues which are trending in your niche.Using your blog, you can produce free, valuable content which will breed trust in your product and keep customers informed. The content you create can then be shared on social media and will eventually be picked up by search engines – both of which will bring you traffic.A blog is also a great way to keep your customers up to date with product news and updates surrounding your product. Additionally, the comments section of a blog is the perfect setting to engage with customers directly, and personally.<h2>Write Quality Press Releases</h2>Whether you're launching a new product, or releasing an update, pushing out a press release to news websites is a great way to get exposure.But don't just write a press release – write a damn good one.Nobody likes a lengthy, boring press release, nor a long list of impersonal bullet points. If your press releases don't intruige the reader, they won't bother trying to find out more about your product, which is assuming that your boring press release got published by anybody in the first place.So instead, ensure that your news actually is news worthy, and present it in a way which is concise, professional and above all, engaging.<h2>Get Active on Online Communities</h2>Marketing isn't all about beng formal, nor is it about staying within the zones of your own digital spaces. In fact, marketing requires you to branch out.Online communities like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.quora.com/">Quora</a> allow you to interact with people who are asking questions relevant to your industry. By answering these questions and presenting yourself professionally under the name of your product or brand, you will naturally enhance your reputation, and gain some targetted traffic whilst you're at it.Furthermore, online forums related to your industry are ideal for getting your product seen. The trick is to find relevant discussion boards, sign up, take part in the community, and make good use of your forum signature to link back to your website for yet more targetted traffic.<h2>Jump on to Social Media</h2>Speaking of branching out, there's no better way to do it than with social media.For starters, get your product a dedicated account on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. Then, start to engage with customers and people in your target market directly by answering questions, partaking in hashtags and showing a bit of personality.Although, showing personality doesn't mean losing your professionalism altogether. Keep your social media updates relevant more often than not, and avoid tangents which will alienate your fans and followers.If your niche or industry is flexible enough, you can even extend your online presence to other social platforms like Vine, Instagram and Pinterest. A photography-based CMS for example would be a great match for such visual social networks.<h2>Initiate Email Marketing</h2>Perhaps the most important piece of information you can collect from a customer, is their email address.Having a list of emails from previous and potential customers enables you to send out products news, special offers and other marketing content right to their inboxes. That means complete access without having to worry about the customer missing the memo, like they may do if you only make announcements via social media or blog posts.So, start building an email list today using your website and blog by integrating a newsletter subscription form. The more emails you collect, the further the reach of your email marketing campaigns.<h2>Hold Developer Contests</h2>Another great way to market your content management system is to hold developer contests.The idea is that developers compete with eachother to produce valuable content for your platform in return for a prize, or perhaps some form of coverage on your website or blog. The content can be in the form of templates, plugins, or whatever else you feel would work best.Not only will your CMS gain some new content, but this method will also help your product be heard amongst the developer community in particular.<h2>Join the CMS Critic CMS Directory</h2>For those of you who haven't yet noticed, CMS Critic hosts a very detailed CMS Directory, which is free to become a part of.If you have a content management system, there is no reason at all why it shouldn't be listed on our directory. Not only will it be found by browsing customers, but they can also find your website, social media accounts, videos, screen shots and more. The directory even allows users to “Like” products.And as if all that wasn't enough, it's also a piece of cake to submit your CMS.<h2>Over to You</h2>So there you have it, some sure-fire ways to get your content management system under the noses of potential customers.If you can successfully leverage these methods in a consistent manner, the results will soon speak for themselves.So get out there and start talking – because the Internet is full of ways to get your voice heard.

The Newbies Guide to Marketing a Content Management System

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