Decoding the Forrester Wave Email Marketing Service Providers Report

The highly anticipated Forrester Wave Email Marketing Service Providers report for Q2 2018 offered a comprehensive analysis of leading email service providers (ESPs) in the enterprise B2C marketing segment. This influential report from Forrester Research evaluates vendors based on their current offerings and strategic vision, providing valuable insights for businesses seeking robust email marketing solutions.

For a detailed analysis of the latest version of the Forrester Wave Email Marketing Vendors (2022 edition), you can find it here: Link to 2022 Report

Understanding the Forrester Wave Methodology

The Forrester Wave categorizes participating email service providers into distinct groups based on their performance in “Current Offering” and “Strategy.” These assessments culminate in a graphical representation, the “Wave graph,” which visually positions each vendor.

Vendor Categories

Vendors are ultimately labeled within one of four categories, indicating their market position and capabilities:

• Leaders: Top-tier providers excelling in both current offering and strategy.
• Strong Performers: Vendors with strong offerings and solid strategies, making them highly competitive.
• Contenders: Providers with potential, demonstrating strengths in certain areas but with room for growth.
• Challengers: (Notably, in this 2018 report, no vendors were labeled as Challengers, indicating a high standard across all participants.)

Leading Email Service Providers Featured in the 2018 Report

The 2018 Forrester Wave report meticulously evaluated 8 enterprise-level email marketing software vendors. These were:

• Adobe Campaign
• Oracle Responsys
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• IBM Watson Campaign Automation (previously known as IBM Marketing Cloud and Silverpop)
• Braze
• Emarsys
• Selligent Marketing Cloud
• Yes Lifecycle Marketing Yesmail360i

Forrester’s Rigorous Research Process

To ensure a comprehensive and fair evaluation, Forrester employed a multi-faceted research methodology in 2018:

1. Product Demonstrations: Each email marketing service provider underwent thorough product demonstrations.
2. Customer Interviews: Forrester interviewed three customer references (email marketers) for each vendor, gathering real-world feedback.
3. Strategic Presentations: Each participating vendor presented their vision and competitive positioning in a dedicated three-hour in-person meeting.

Criteria for Vendor Inclusion

The selection of email service providers for the 2018 Forrester Wave report was based on strict criteria designed to focus on enterprise-level solutions:

• Vendors must send marketing emails using a proprietary engine.
• They must earn at least $200 million annually from email marketing activities.
• At least 35% of their total client base must consist of enterprise firms with more than 1000 employees.
• Vendors must actively compete against other enterprise email deployment solutions.
• Email service providers retain the option to decline inclusion in the report.

It’s worth noting that the 2016 report had different inclusion criteria, requiring $60 million in email revenue and 30% enterprise customer representation, without the explicit requirement to compete against other enterprise ESPs.

Vendors Not Included and Why

The report also clarified why certain prominent vendors were not included, based on the stringent criteria:

• Archer Malmo was excluded as they manage client email programs using partner technology rather than their own.
• Liveclicker and Persado, while offering personalization, were not included because they do not handle email sending.
• Cordial and various CRM systems were omitted as they send email but not as their primary, dedicated product.
• Listrak and Copernica were not evaluated as their primary focus is on small and mid-sized clients.
• Sendgrid and Marketo were deemed not to compete with the same enterprise email marketing use cases targeted by the report.

Notable Changes in Provider Landscape

The landscape of email marketing service providers is dynamic, and the 2018 report reflected several significant shifts:

• Acquisitions and Rebranding: Axciom Impact, which was acquired by Zeta Global, no longer appeared under its original name. Similarly, Experian‘s cross-channel marketing business was rebranded as Cheetah Digital after Vector Capital acquired a majority stake in April 2017.
• Vendor Exclusions: Compared to the 2016 report, some providers like Marketing Cloud (generic name in input) and SmartFocus Messaging cloud were not included in the 2018 Wave.
• Re-inclusion: Zeta Global made a return to the overview with its ZetaHub 2 platform, having last been featured in 2014.

Absence of Customer Satisfaction Metrics

A significant change in the 2018 Forrester Wave report was the exclusion of the online customer survey from the research methodology. Consequently, customer satisfaction was no longer an explicit evaluation criterion. Previous reports included a dedicated “Email Marketing Services Customer Reference Survey.” It’s important to note that this was not a universal trend across all Forrester Waves, as other reports, such as the Cross-Channel Campaign Management (CCM) Wave from Q1 2018, did incorporate customer surveys.

Historical Comparison of Forrester Wave Email Marketing Reports

For businesses tracking market evolution, comparing consecutive Forrester Waves provides valuable historical context. The 2018 report builds upon insights from earlier editions, notably the 2016 and 2014 Forrester Wave Email Marketing Service Providers reports, offering a side-by-side view of industry shifts and vendor performance over time.

Strategic Takeaways for Businesses

Producing a comprehensive market overview like the Forrester Wave is a complex endeavor, blending objective data analysis with expert interpretation. For businesses leveraging these reports to inform their vendor selection, it’s crucial to:

1. Utilize your own internal weighing and scoring mechanisms for criteria most relevant to your specific needs.
2. View the Forrester Wave report as a valuable additional resource that complements your decision-making process, rather than being the sole determinant.

For those interested in a deeper dive, the full PDF version of the Forrester Wave Email Marketing Report 2018 can be accessed and downloaded here: Link to Download 2018 Report