Feature Articles

As interest in the marketing automation sector continues to increase, so do the competitive pressures for vendors to grab market share. Despite being a young, emerging category, there is already heated competition and pricing pressure, particularly at the lower end of the market.

Where most vendors had seen average deal sizes of approximately $1,500 per month, price points for marketing automation are now dipping below $500 per month in many cases. Some vendors are already feeling pressure on profits and there is a growing concern the value perception of the still emerging market could suffer from discounting.

2011 was something of a tipping point year for B2B marketers. Connecting with prospects on a growing list of mobile devices and across social media platforms were just a few of the challenges added to the list of traditional campaign initiatives.

In an effort to uncover some of the secret sauce that helped leading B2B organizations fuel efficiency and growth last year, DemandGen Report surveyed more than a dozen demand generation experts to find out “what’s working” and why.

As marketers focus deeper on the funnel and look to impact the revenue cycle, there was more of a focus on the tactics and strategies that helped to convert qualified leads into opportunities, as well as new content formats that helped to break through with today’s time- and attention-starved buyers. Additionally, marketers are increasingly turning toward marketing tactics centered on social, inbound, integration and data management to maximize campaigns initiatives.