Marketing automation consultant David Raab has compiled a nice set of advisory tips and gotcha’s for selecting a marketing automation system.

The current state of the art in vendor selection, Raab says, is abysmal, with 50% of organizations considering only one vendor, and 66% relying primarily on internal meetings. Only 19% perform a formal needs assessment and only 25% set up a pilot test.

In a nutshell, Raab’s “Seven Deadly Sins of Marketing System Selection” are:

1.  Ignoring users
2.  Lack of purpose
3.  Not defining requirements
4.  Only considering industry leaders
5.  Letting the vendor drive the discussion
6.  Focusing on functions
7.  Working without experts

Raab warns against buying without concrete objectives; choosing systems based on who has the most, best, or coolest features; not using scenarios to test systems against your needs; ignoring the information you can gather from references; and not investing in training, planning, program design, content, and other resources for successful deployment.

Defining your organization’s needs and setting goals is critical and is worth the effort, says Raab. Most vendors will give you a trial license if they believe you are seriously considering their product, and this gives you a chance to test the system thoroughly against all the demands you have defined. “If that sounds like too much work,” says Raab, “bear in mind that you’ll need those programs after deployment anyway.”

Raab also warns against relying on social media queries as a replacement for checking references. Why is social media product research unreliable? “Apart from dedicated grudge-holders,” he says, “few businesspeople will volunteer negative feedback in social media: they can only get in trouble and there’s nothing in it for them.”

If you do rely on the social media, Raab advises, “contact the people who respond and have an in-depth conversation asking the same questions you would ask the vendor’s own references.”

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

While all-in-one marketing tools offer great value, their name is a misnomer. As you’ll find when you examine the tools closely, they all have missing features and capabilities, or rely on integration with other vendors’ tools to provide specific capabilities like e-mail marketing, analytics, or CRM. So all-in-one marketing tools do not themselves provide every capability in one package.

That said, they do serve as a central, integrated platform for managing all of these functions.

Optify and Raven Tools are good examples of products that offer real value, provide useful functionality in specific areas, but also have missing pieces and capabilities. Each provides particular capabilities via integration with third-party tools, but each is limited in the number of tools they support for a particular function.

As you can see from the user reviews, users generally are pleased with each of these products because of specific capabilities. For Raven, its reporting capability tends to be valued most. For Optify, users tend to like its SEO and keyword tracking capabilities.

Both Optify and Raven are focused on Web marketing via SEO, link tracking, social media monitoring, and analytics. Optify has built-in analytics plus connections to Google analytics, while Raven relies solely on integration with Google analytics.

Optify and Raven both provide social media management, albeit with different levels of depth and emphasis. Optify focuses most heavily on Twitter, while Raven provides wider social media tracking and monitoring across more venues.

Both Optify and Raven provide e-mail marketing capability via integration with third-party tools, Optify with ExactTarget and Raven with MailChimp and CampaignMonitor.

As our reviewer notes, Optify is a “still-evolving” system, lacking a built-in content management system (CMS), email marketing, and customer relationship-management (CRM) system. For CRM, Optify relies heavily on its integration with Salesforce.com, while integration with Microsoft Dynamics is promised in the future.

One glaring hole in Raven’s repertoire is lead management and CRM, which some users might consider essential to an all-in-one marketing tool. Others would be satisfied to simply supplement this capability via a tool like Salesforce.com. Raven considers itself a Web marketing optimization tool and does not even address the lack of lead management and CRM capability on its features list and does not offer a third-party integration solution.

Optify, on the other hand, provides a rich built-in lead management capability that is supplemented by deep integration with Salesforce.com. Optify also has a relatively open and robust API for integration with third-party tools, while Raven lacks its own API.

Content management is an area in which Raven has an advantage. Raven has a built-in content manager that enables the management of copywriting, blogging, and posting to different venues, while Optify lacks a built-in content management system.

Optify overall is the richer and more full-featured tool in some key areas, but also the pricier one. Optify's pricing ranges from $99 per month for one user, to $499 per month for 10 users, to $3,000 per month for 50 users, with limits on keywords tracked, search engines monitored, and support options for the first two plans.

Raven’s pricing is lower at $99 per month for two users, with extra users $19 each, and $249 per month for eight users, with extra users $14 each.  

Raven offers less support than Optify, but users say they find its setup and use very easy. Each offers a free trial, Raven for 30 days and Optify for 14 days.

Bottom Line: Optify and Raven Tools are both strong SEO management tools that offer varying levels of support, or lack of support, for other areas, such as lead management, content management, and CRM. Both these tools offer free trials so you can gauge which provides the best features and capabilities for the areas you require or value most, and at what price point.   

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

HubSpot has already gained a deservedly positive reputation as an enabler of online business success. The company's all-in-one marketing solution is already helping thousands of businesses to engage with customers and prospects and to grow every day. And HubSpot is the largest and most popular online "app store" for marketing solutions.

Now, HubSpot itself is growing. Fueled by $32 million in investment from companies such as Google Ventures, Salesforce.com and Sequoia Capital, HubSpot in June 2011 announced acquisition of Performable. That company's solution enables performance analysis of sales and marketing efforts, including e-mail and "the mobile, social cloud." And on August 18, 2011, HubSpot has announced that it's acquiring Oneforty, creators of a directory of social media business applications and the social media marketing tool Socialbase.

These acquisitions are great news, for the companies involved and for all of their respective customers. Decision makers at growing businesses need and want the resources and abilities offered by HubSpot, Performable and Oneforty. To be able to acquire all of these from a proven, committed and growing solution supplier should make life easier and better for almost any marketer. And the combined strengths of these providers' offerings should result in new services and solutions for those seeking to succeed at social marketing and social media and network management.

Congratulations to the founders and teams at HubSpot and its recently acquired allies. Customers and prospects should be excited – and competitors should be even more nervous. Make sure to keep following the evolution of modern marketing solutions at Comparz!

Both HubSpot and Raven Tools are worth considering as all-in-one marketing tools, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Both have integrated lead management, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media management tools.

HubSpot Highlights

• Three pricing tiers, from 3 users for $250 per month to 50 users for $1,500 per month
• Rates highly on service and functionality
• Optional integrated Content Management System (CMS)
• Integrated email marketing
• Mobile accessibility
• An extensive list of custom services you can buy for an additional fee

Raven Tools Highlights

• Two account levels, starting at $99/month
• Rates highly on ease of use and service
• AdWords campaign management and reporting
• Extensive functions in SEO, link management a contact management system and social media management, but the company hasn’t yet added functionality for lead management/nurturing/tracking
• Integrates with external email marketing systems
• Mobile accessibility
• Doesn’t provide custom consulting services

So which is right for you?

It comes down to cost versus function. Raven Tools is clearly a much less expensive option, if you can live without lead management/nurturing/tracking and if mobile connectivity isn’t important to you. If you want all of the marketing features you could possibly want, HubSpot is a better choice, but you’ll pay the price for it. Read more HERE about HubSpot and HERE about Raven Tools.

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

If you’re looking for a way to consolidate all of your online marketing functions, going with an all-in-one marketing tool could be the answer. In general, these tools combine functions for lead management and nurturing, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media management, although some go a little further and incorporate email marketing and/or advanced blogging tools.

HubSpot and Optify are two of the best all-in-one marketing tools for SMBs today. They won’t break the bank, and they have the marketing tools and integration a growing company will need.

Highlights of HubSpot

HubSpot has a great feature set and a lot of happy customers. It also scores highly on functionality and support. It offers three pricing tiers, from 3 users for $250 per month to 50 users for $1,500 per month. It has many tools for SEO, lead generation/nurturing/tracking and social media management. It’s also got a few features that some of its competitors don’t such as integrated email marketing, an optional integrated Content Management System, blogging and mobile compatibility. Its blogging tools in particular are quite sophisticated.

Highlights of Optify

Unlike HubSpot, Optify offers a free version for one user. It’s a good way to get your feet wet. There are three paid levels, from Basic (still 1 user, but 250 keywords tracked) for $99 per month to Enterprise (50 users) for about $3,000 per month. Like HubSpot, it offers mature lead management, SEO and social media management functionality. It doesn’t have its own email marketing system, but it integrates with external email marketing software.

Both Optify and HubSpot have a lot going for them. Both have excellent support and features, and both continue to add features to their products. Read more HERE about Optify and HERE about HubSpot.

Comparz provides user reviews and rankings of software services and tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Click here to view Comparz' business software reviews and rankings.

Comparz has expanded its coverage to All-In-One Marketing solutions!  These comprehensive solutions provide an integrated toolset that support all your marketing needs.  They help your business (both small and mid-sized) through all stages of the marketing funnel – from getting people to your website, monitoring what they do there and tracking the lead until it becomes a sale. 

The clear advantage of these solutions is that all the tools come already integrated, and you save money and time over buying tools separately.  Many of these All-In-One Marketing solutions have strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) capabilities and other tools for lead generation, nurturing and tracking.  They also effectively manage your social media campaigns by linking to accounts such as Facebook and Twitter and support your blogging and email marketing efforts.  Finally, most products feature strong analytics reporting allowing you to continuously test your marketing efforts and improve conversion rates.

Our picks for the top three solutions in this category are: HubSpot, Optify and Raven Tools.  HubSpot has the largest user base and most comprehensive array of features but their prices reflect that. Optify has very strong SEO and lead management functions and is catching up on social media offerings.  Raven Tools is a great financial value if you are more focused on generating leads and incorporating social media, but its toolset is a bit more limited than competitors. 

Be sure to check out reviews of all three products here.  Or if you are already a user, tell us what you think by posting a review!