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Marketing automation vendors reported another healthy quarter of growth in revenue and new customers in Q3 2011. Driven largely by the increased adoption among SMB organizations, the category continues to grow and industry analysts point to more telling developments in the space.

 “We’re still seeing strength in the market; vendors are announcing Q3 quarter sales rates similar to second quarter,” noted David Raab, Principal, Raab Associates, Inc. “The market is beginning to stratify more clearly by client segment: microbusiness vendors (Infusionsoft, OfficeAutoPilot, Genoo, MakesBridge) have more clearly separated themselves from SMB systems (Pardot, Act-On, Net Results, SalesFusion) and from Enterprise vendors (Eloqua, Aprimo, Neolane).  HubSpot and Marketo are straddling: still largely SMB but looking to penetrate the Enterprise. I’m not sure they can serve both.”

Marketo today introduced Spark by Marketo, a new brand tailored for the rapidly growing small business segment. Built on the same technology foundation as Marketo’s core solution, Spark is designed as a “purpose-built” marketing automation solution with core functionality, priced for small businesses focused on accelerating immediate growth.

Designed to bring components of the company’s professional edition to a more streamlined user interface, the Spark solution is paired with training, support and mentoring services to help small businesses create cost-effective marketing campaigns. Positioned as a separate brand and offering from Marketo, Spark is reportedly priced at $750 a month for 30,000 emails per month, with no annual contract.