I think Marketo is remarkably strong at executing an effective “fast follower” strategy. They draft off of the established player(s), and when they see a lane they like, they hit the accelerator. Hard. It can be a very effective approach. But it’s more difficult to execute than one might think. In order to succeed at this "lead foot" strategy, a company needs some inherent competencies: it needs to be nimble, fast and aggressive. I believe these are the underpinnings of Marketo’s culture.

Exhibit A: Eloqua coins the term / introduces the concept of Revenue Performance Management, and immediately after (within days, literally) Marketo creates an optimized page all about their category leadership. Nimble. Fast. Aggressive. (And, again, effective.)

Of course, when someone steps on the accelerator with such force and frequency, the torque can tax the suspension. Here’s an example of a former customer of theirs who comments specifically on their culture, recalling an instance in which Marketo responded to her complaints about the application by calling her boss and saying she was “causing the company to not be successful.” (These aren’t my words, they are an actual customer’s.) See here: http://www.quora.com/Sierra-Summers

That’s my take, anyway. Of course, I represent a competitor, so I view them through that lens. But, that said, we also compete against Pardot, and I have an entirely different view of their culture, which strikes me as a collaborative "a rising tide lifts all ships" ideology.

Ready to catch hell … Joe

Joe Chernov / Eloqua / @jchernov

Jeff Pedowitz

President and CEO, The Pedowitz Group

Posted on Feb. 8, 2011

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As an implementer of both solutions, I think both companies offer a lot of value to the marketplace. I see Marketo's brand as fast, aggressive, savvy and smart. They have a culture of innovation and fast time to market - both with their product and the way they on board new customers and make them successful. Sure, growth has its challenges and Marketo hasn't experienced anything different than other leaders like Salesforce.com have in their heyday of growth. Their innovation, creativity and ability to adapt are what make them stand out. Additionally, they have gone the farthest in taking a very complex category and making it easy both in message and in product delivery.

Since the question was raised, I don't think it is fair to comment on one and not the other, so...

My opinion of Eloqua's brand is that it is strong, stable, sophisticated and reliable. It inspires confidence in its customer base through experience and knowledge, gained through years of collaboration with customers and partners. The brand is trusted, and this comes through consistent application performance, employees, and its partner community. Eloqua has taken the category the deepest by creating new functionality, creating value at all ends of the customer spectrum, and fostering the broadest community base.

At the end of the day, if you define your processes well, are prepared for organizational change and are committed to the journey of demand generation, both vendors will serve you well.

Justin Gray

CEO, LeadMD, Inc.

Posted on Feb. 8, 2011

begin_hell

Caty,

First off I love the question. I never see this type of consideration when buying software or looking at technology platforms. It's all about functionality right? Time for a brief analogy that works well here I think. In addition to being a Marketo reseller / demand generation consultancy we also do most of the grunt work that comes around Marketing Automation like web design and Salesforce customization. Many of our clients use Marketing Automation as a catalyst to make other big changes like rolling out a CMS platform or streamlining their sales pipeline. Those are two huge topics that garner a lot of opinions. The client we were working with had a huge bent toward Expression Engine to build their CMS site. We build in Wordpress. We do so for the same reason we support and sell Marketo only. The existence of only one platform helps us become intimate and repeatable around success. So why Wordpress (read Marketo)? Because of the breadth of community around Wordpress and the mentality of it's users. Now Wordpress has a lot of mom & pop experimenters and teen heartthrob blogs that litter its name, but it also has a lot of developers who are doing extraordinary things with it and sharing that knowledge with the community - for FREE! I have never seen a web functionality we couldn't accomplish with Wordpress and a good developer.

So, my response around the Marketo platform is the same as above. We wanted a partner who produced powerful technology but also recognized the importance of usability, community and also that first does not equate best. IBM pioneered the smart phone, Handspring, Microsoft and Palm followed suit, but it was Apple who changed the way the world thought about phones. There are also a great many who literally hate the iPhone. The same is true of anything. We buy what we identify with. We personally identify with Marketo's culture - where the technology is easy to operate, powerful enough to get the job done and flexible enough to support the element of YOU. Best practices are great - but I've seen plenty of them, from all of the MA providers, that I disagree with. So where do you go when best practices only take you so far? You go to the community, both user and partner, to assist in translating your business processes, that you've spent a great deal of time perfecting, into the platform. For us Marketo's culture represents that flexibility. Their community reflects an attitude that there are amazing things that can be accomplished when we work together to share our successes. Now, that's true for us and the clients we work with. Ultimately, I simply don't believe in one size fits all. The solution for you may be different than mine.

Now, in relation to the post referenced above on Quora the issue there seems much less about Marketo or Eloqua and more about an approach that fit the user style better. To take that an extrapolate it into anything more, or a case for one above the other, is a stretch. Ultimately, dive in and get to know the company or partners you will be working with before you buy the product - and the surprises down the road will be minimized.

/end_hell - that wasn't so bad.

Jeff Kostermans

Posted on Feb. 9, 2011

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This is probably best answered by Marketo's marketing & PR team -- which is impressive to say the least.

I agree with Jeff P. It makes sense to compare Marketo to Eloqua.

From my perspective, Marketo has done a good job following Eloqua's pioneering of the space, and has capitalized on the "simplicity" message to capture clients at an aggressive clip. That said, Eloqua appears to have addressed that with their latest release. I still view Eloqua as the go-to choice for more demanding clients. But I have no doubt Marketo will eventually catch up.

Both are starting to focus on the side of the funnel closer to sales. ( very necessary to blending marketing and sales ) Features and analytics will undoubtedly even out in this area as well.

Both firms have done a good job leading with best practices - but as we all know... to say it is completely different from doing it. It's in the "execution" of best practices that the leader will emerge.

Scaling a best practices mentality throughout an organization is not an easy task. It can't just come from the marketing department. It must permeate through all customer and prospect facing departments. From where I'm sitting, the firm able to do this best ( and ultimately make their clients successful ) will be the winner in this space.

Since we're in a land grab situation now, there's also something to be said for the firm with the best "consultative" sales group as the days of simply selling features are over. Prospects are maturing along with the space and will choose a solution based on sales' ability to instill confidence in helping deliver the revenue goal.

-2