Jupiter Reasearch have two email marketing buyers guides ('04 &'05) that evaluates them and other leading providers. Send me your details to and I will email you a copy of the '04 report.

Hi Mark

There's information on ExactTarget in our "Email Marketing - A Buyer's Guide" (and SilverPOP for that matter) although we don't rate or review the companies profiled as such. 

However, we have had a play ourselves with the ExactTarget product and were very impressed. Equally the credentials of the UK team are very strong.

That said, we've also been impressed with SilverPOP (and others). As with many areas of online marketing technology these days it's getting increasingly hard to tell providers apart based purely on the product and its features and functions. So it becomes more important to look areas like service and support, culture, pricing mechanisms, strategic fit etc.

From our understanding someone like SilverPOP tends to focus on the enterprise end of the market (similarly to, say, Responsys, e-Dialog, DoubleClick etc.) and typically gets invovled with the strategy and consulting side of things. ExactTarget's client base in the US has grown more from SMEs and they have a strong offering for agencies / re-sellers who white-label the product.

Best thing to do, as ever, is talk to their people in the UK, test drive the product and speak to their clients.

Ashley 

Ashley - I thought a little on this over the weekend.  Based on what you say, if it's harder to tell providers apart is there a better way for the e-mail marketing buyer's guide, or other guides, to be put together?  The Which? magazine's approach to testing may be a little too simplistic, but there could be useful comparisons made there perhaps.

m.

On 15:22:01 9 December 2005 markchapman wrote:

Many thanks to all for your information.  I'll be writing separately to Philip and Jeff <chuckle>.  Most interested in seeing the Jupiter report and related material.  cheers.

m.

On 10:49:58 9 December 2005 Ashley wrote:

Hi Mark

There's information on ExactTarget in our "Email Marketing - A Buyer's Guide" (and SilverPOP for that matter) although we don't rate or review the companies profiled as such. 

However, we have had a play ourselves with the ExactTarget product and were very impressed. Equally the credentials of the UK team are very strong.

That said, we've also been impressed with SilverPOP (and others). As with many areas of online marketing technology these days it's getting increasingly hard to tell providers apart based purely on the product and its features and functions. So it becomes more important to look areas like service and support, culture, pricing mechanisms, strategic fit etc.

From our understanding someone like SilverPOP tends to focus on the enterprise end of the market (similarly to, say, Responsys, e-Dialog, DoubleClick etc.) and typically gets invovled with the strategy and consulting side of things. ExactTarget's client base in the US has grown more from SMEs and they have a strong offering for agencies / re-sellers who white-label the product.

Best thing to do, as ever, is talk to their people in the UK, test drive the product and speak to their clients.

Ashley