Marketing automation platforms are, by nature, almost entirely-cloud based. The journey from the server-room to the cloud is still ongoing, and VCs realize that the ongoing state of flux in enterprise IT will continue to have ramifications across all major business units.
Although data from cloud solutions provider RightScale showed that 93 percent of U.S. businesses are now using the cloud in some form, an equally turbulent second wave of cloud adoption involving transitioning mission-critical data to the systems is expected to be just as disruptive as the first.
This will mean retrospectively-focused efforts to coordinate the cloud IT stack across the organization. Such a review will likely have knock-on effects for less business-critical systems already deployed — such as marketing and sales tools.
Given the evidently unmatched demand from marketers for an intuitive but powerful platform capable of automating all levels of the marketing stack, it is not surprising that martech startups managed to raise $17 billion last year — and marketing automation software continues to rank among the top business models in the category.
Personalized messaging remains key to effective marketing. Given the tendency for larger revenue businesses to more proactively seek out high-tech solutions, scalability, through automation, will not diminish as a prime concern for purchasers.
In an industry expected to be worth $5.5 billion within three years, there is much business at play.
Despite what, at first glance, looks like a rapidly saturating market, too much enterprise spend on these technologies has evidently been directed at keeping up with the Jones’.
A new crop of forward-thinking, leaner tools will emerge in the coming years.
This could significantly displace some of the market share that the current crop of titans enjoy.
The door remains open for new entrants to the marketing automation space. VCs realize this and are continuing to invest in the game-changers of tomorrow.