What the Marketo Sale Says About Marketing Automation

Despite a surprisingly low purchase price, Vista Equity Partners’ $1.79 billion acquisition of Marketo highlights the growing importance that marketing automation plays in business.

Rumors have been swirling for weeks about a potential Marketo sale, with technology heavyweights Microsoft and SAP as the leading candidates. That’s because despite revenue growth of 35 percent in the first quarter of this year and clients such as Ford and CitiBank, Marketo has been operating in the red for some time and needed a cash infusion.

This infusion it got from Vista Equity Partners, which purchased the company for $35.25 in cash per share last month. This was lower than the $44.35 per share estimated by analysts at Credit Suisse, but still 64 percent above the company’s trading price. Congratulations, Marketo.

[bctt tweet=”The recent Marketo buyout highlights the growing importance of marketing automation.” username=”agilecrm”]

The marketing automation market is expected to grow by 8.55 percent per year and reach $5.5 billion by 2019, according to MarketsandMarkets. Nearly 143,000 businesses used it last year, and we can attest that this number is growing fast.

The reason that Marketo was snatched up for $1.79 billion is because marketing automation is critical for communicating with customers in a scalable but personalized way. Once you try it, you won’t go back.

Despite these numbers and big investments like the one Vista Equity just made, many small businesses still aren’t using it.

“There are still some perceptions around marketing automation being too complicated, too expensive and companies not really knowing what it’s really good for,” surmised Brent Leary on TechTarget late last year.

Marketo may be expensive and complicated, but not all marketing automation software is created equal. Not only does Agile CRM stack up well against Marketo in terms of features, it also is priced as low as $8.99 per month and is easy to use, thanks to features such as drag-and-drop automation scripting.

Every SMB can both learn and afford marketing automation, and the reasons for using it are many; read this blog for daily examples of how it boosts revenue and improves marketing efficiency.

The Marketo sale shows the importance of marketing automation software in today’s business landscape. Small businesses should note this fact and make sure they are not left behind.

Marketing automation is both possible and a competitive advantage for the SMB, and Agile CRM was built with these businesses in mind.