ADOTAS – Today we’re asking our crack squad of online gurus the following question: “What does Marketo’s $75M IPO mean for the marketing automation space?” Here’s how they responded.
“Traditional advertising is being disrupted and transformed by digital to a greater degree than ever. We hear this from the CMOs of the brands we work with all the time. Marketing budgets are being directed toward companies, technology, and data that extend and improve their digital marketing performance within and across display, search, social, and mobile. Leading companies like ours and the ones that have gone public or have announced their intentions to do so are changing the way marketers use data and technology to find and connect with customers in effective, scalable, and measureable ways. At Covario, we’re seeing major brands double and even triple their investments in our technology, teams, and data. Recent IPOs and the ones just announced are further indications that our industry is reaching a tipping point of market and investor demand.” – Russ Mann, CEO, Covario.
“Marketo’s IPO is a strong indicator that the field of marketing automation is increasing in both use and value – B2B software companies are more relevant than ever. Marketing automation is an essential element to lead management as it provides better leads, a more robust pipeline and better customer insights/data. The massive adoption at the enterprise level will greatly impact the industry, and as software of this nature continues to be more widely adopted you will see the marketing automation technology expand into more parts of the sales funnel and hit customers at more touch points throughout the lifecycle. Additionally, the massive adoption of marketing automation serves as the foundation for holistic lead nurturing, so it will drive using data to nurture customers in various channels like display, rather than just email. This IPO signifies the recognition that we are getting much better at mining the available data and delivering the right message at the right time, which is what marketing automation is all about.” – Erik Matlick, CEO of Madison Logic.
“Marketing automation is quickly becoming the control center for how B2B enterprises manage their marketing efforts. The fact that Marketo has reached the scale to be able to file for a public offering, following Eloqua’s IPO and acquisition by Oracle, is another proof point that marketing automation is critical for marketing success. In the coming decade, I expect that CMOs will have the lion’s share of IT budget as marketing becomes increasingly automated and software driven. This dynamic bodes well for Marketo and others in the marketing technology sector.” – Russell Glass, CEO of Bizo.
“Five years ago no one knew what the marketing automation category even was. Today there’s been hundreds of millions of dollars invested and this is now the second major IPO. I believe this means that MA is simply not a flash in the pan, however, it’s something a lot of companies are still trying to figure out. The technology is highly relevant, evolving at a healthy pace, and numerous organizations depend on it as the central nervous system of their entire marketing organization. The important consideration for MA is to remember that technology doesn’t stand alone. Education, enablement organizations, complimentary applications – basically an ecosystem needs to accompany these technologies. Without it and you have all the makings of a bubble.” – Justin Gray, CEO of LeadMD.
“Marketo’s filing is a strong validation of increasing market demand for revenue-side digital marketing software. Funds from the proposed IPO will aim at increasing market share through product innovation, which will in turn accelerate industry consolidation and apply pressure on traditional point solutions that are unable to innovate beyond their traditional legacy categories.” – Brennan Carlson, VP of Product & Strategy at Lyris.
“Marketo’s rapid growth and IPO further validates that sales processes are moving online. Investor recognition of Marketing Automation tools is really just the tip of the iceberg. There is enormous opportunity to transform the broader sales and marketing landscape from advertising and corporate websites all the way to CRM. It is about creating efficiencies across the entire customer lifecycle, not just lead generation. The Marketo and Eloqua IPOs and subsequent acquisition by Oracle are just the beginning.” – Chris Golec, CEO and founder of Demandbase.
“We’ve seen how the market has fragmented the marketing and sales roles. We first saw the wave of suites all integrated. The second wave was sales force automation. And, now, the third wave is marketing automation. Individuals, meaning the customers, are in control and they choose the point of time to engage with an enterprise. This makes nurturing and other ‘top-of-the-funnel’ activities critical, which marketing automation systems enables. Marketing is the new sales. The Marketo IPO will be successful because of the company’s customer-centric solution that addresses changing customer expectations. What will be critical next to follow marketing automation will be the wave of commerce, where there is the ability to transact at every customer touch point and monetize on top of the customer-centric capabilities from the marketing automation wave.” – Michael Ni, CMO / SVP, Products and Marketing at Avangate.
“Marketo’s IPO means that it is seeking to expand and become ‘the major force’ in marketing automation. It also reemphasizes that for businesses, marketing automation is no longer the future but the present for all marketing needs, and means that we can expect other companies to follow suit in doing IPOs as investors and shareholders look at the lucrative returns that can be gained.” – David E. Johnson, CEO, Strategic Vision, LLC.
“We congratulate Marketo on its plans to file a $75 million IPO. This move yet again reinforces that the marketing technology industry is a hot market that continues to grow due to strong customer demand. Neolane continues to see strong growth within its own business, with $58 million dollars in revenue to close out another profitable year in 2012. While Marketo has been successful fulfilling the marketing automation requirements of SMBs, Neolane continues to fulfill the unmet needs of global enterprise organizations who strive to deliver a seamless customer experience. Neolane is providing conversational marketing technology to brands including barnesandnoble.com, Club Med, Sephora Europe, Sears Canada, and Sony Music to address new channels and sustain lifetime dialogues with their customers. There are few independent, private marketing technology vendors remaining that can truly help brands drive customer engagement and loyalty. Many players like IBM, Oracle, Salesforce.com, SAS, and Teradata have tried, but are still lacking in their offerings. We’re very optimistic about the future of our business and are pleased with our role in the industry as the largest privately held marketing technology provider. We’ll continue to focus on product innovation, global growth and expansion, servicing our customer base, and spreading our vision for true customer engagement through the use of conversational marketing technology.” – Stéphane Dehoche, President and CEO, Neolane.
Editor’s Note: Marketo’s PR firm indicated today that the company is not commenting on the IPO at this time.
Check back for updates.