This is a list of Demand Generation systems, also called Marketing Automation or Lead Management systems. I need your input here: do you have experience with any of these systems? If yes, please send me an email (leadsloth).

This page gives a quick overview of the market. For a detailed evaluation, buy the Raab Guide.

  • Eloqua
    Eloqua has a high-end offering, supplemented by solid professional services. Their sweet spot are customers with over $10 million in revenues, but they also have some happy smaller customers (Lite package for $1500/m, Feb-09). If you want the go with the most established player in the market, go with Eloqua, but make sure you have adequate budget and skills available.
  • Marketo
    Marketo is one of the fastest-growing players in this market: implementation is fast, their Sales & Marketing collaboration features are top notch, and non-technical users find it easy to use. They’re still adding new features almost every month, and a fast-growing customer base is a sign of success. Their sweet spot are mid-size companies.
  • Market2Lead
    Market2Lead offers one of the most complete feature sets. Usability has been improved with a redesigned user interface, early 2009. Many of their customers are mid- to large-size software companies.
  • LeadGenesys
    LeadGenesys is one of the most marketing process oriented of the bunch. They have good analytics, and solid features for sales people, such as notifications when people from certain companies are on your website (for both anonymous and registered users).
  • Pardot
    Pardot pricing starts a little lower than most other vendors, and their contracts are month-to-month. Their system is seemingly simple, but very powerful at the same time: everything just works with minimal configuration. However, their Salesforce integration could be easier to use, and would benefit from some additional features.
  • Act-On
    Act-On is somewhat similar to Pardot in market positioning (focused on small to medium-size companies), but they differentiate themselves with a unique integration with Webex that really simplifies the logistics around organizing webinars. See my review here » and also David Raab’s post
  • Manticore Technology
    Manticore is one of the early Demand Gen vendors (since 2001). They have a comprehensive offering, including a professional version that is more affordable. Their lead scoring system and campaign builder are very feature-rich.
  • Silverpop Engage B2B
    Silverpop Engage B2B (formerly Vtrenz)  has been around for a while too.  They also have all required functionality, including an integration with Microsoft Dynamics.
  • Marketbright
    Marketbright seems focused on the larger marketing organizations. Many years ago they started as a marketing content management vendor, but have added extensive demand generation features. Implementation is very flexible, but can also take some time. David Raab has a short overview of Marketbright on his blog.
  • Genius.com
    Genius.com started as an email marketing tool for sales people with real-time notifications, but has expanded to include comprehensive email marketing, lead nurturing and lead scoring functionality. See my review here »
  • eTrigue
    eTrigue officially launched in November ‘08, but the software is already in version 3 because it was developed in-house within a marketing agency. It seems a mid to high-end solution, starting at $2,500 per month.
  • ActiveConversion
    ActiveConversion offers a fairly complete marketing automation suite for SMB companies. They are very good at identifying valuable leads in your database and on your website (both anonymous and identified leads). In addition to integrated email marketing , you can also integrate your existing VerticalResponse, Constant Contact or ExactTarget accounts. See my review here »
  • Marqui
    Marqui integrates web content management and campaign management. Marqui was acquired by private investors in the fall of 2008. Their pricing is per user, and is on the low end, so at this time it’s not entirely clear to me how they compare to other vendors: any input is welcome.
  • LoopFuse
    LoopFuse is founded by former jBoss people. It is good at wading through large lists of leads and filtering out the valuable prospects. Therefore it’s used by many open source companies that must identify the relatively small ratio of qualified prospects within a very large database of people who registered to download.
  • Hubspot
    HubSpot is an inbound marketing software system for small and medium-sized businesses that combines social media, SEO, blogging, landing pages, lead intelligence and alerts, Salesforce.com integration and marketing analytics. At this time, it does not include email marketing, email nurturing or lead scoring. See my review here »
  • FirstReef SalesFusion360
    FirstReef combines 3 previously unconnected technologies, Web Analytics, Email Marketing, and CRM; and then it adds lead scoring.
  • Infusionsoft
    Infusionsoft provides an automated follow-up marketing solution for small businesses. They even include billing and accounting features!
  • TreeHouse Interactive
    A marketing automation system for SMBs with strong ROI reporting; now includes a Salesforce.com integration. See David Raab’s review for details
  • OfficeAutopilot by Moonray
    This marketing automation system also includes CRM functionality, but can also integrate with Salesforce.com. For details, see the review by David Raab.
  • Zoomio
    Zoomio is a European player in the marketing automation market. I had never heard of them until they approached our Amsterdam office. They have a great process view on marketing campaigns. They lack a Salesforce.com integration, but provide a web services API for custom integrations. See my review here »
  • LeadLife
    To be covered. See also David Raab’s first take.
  • True Influence
    To be covered. See also David Raab’s first take.
  • TFC
    Kind of a hybrid services + software solution. To be covered
  • Net-Results
    Marketing automation software designed and priced specifically for the SMB market.

So there are lots of different vendors. My general advice is to do a trial with any product that you are considering. Only when you are actually setting up sample campaigns yourself (rather than viewing a demo) you get a better feel for which solution is best for you.

Maria Pergolino at the Inbound Marketer blog has a good list of selection criteria for demand generation systems.