Iterable vs Emarsys: Marketing Automation Powerhouses Compared

As a Marketing Manager, choosing the right marketing automation platform can significantly impact your team's efficiency and campaign success. In this comprehensive comparison, we'll examine two popular solutions: Iterable and Emarsys. We'll explore their features, recent updates, ideal use cases, and how they stack up against each other to help you make an informed decision for your marketing stack. 🚀

Key Feature Differentiation

Iterable Features

Iterable offers a robust set of features designed to streamline multi-channel marketing campaigns. Its standout capabilities include:

• Workflow Studio: A visual canvas for building complex, multi-step automated data workflows. This feature allows marketers to design intricate customer journeys across multiple channels with ease.
• AI-Powered Send Time Optimization: Iterable's AI analyzes user behavior to determine the optimal time to send messages, increasing engagement rates.
• Dynamic Content: Easily personalize emails, push notifications, and SMS messages with user-specific data, improving relevance and conversion rates.

Iterable's strength lies in its ability to unify customer data from various sources, enabling marketers to create highly targeted and personalized messages. The platform's intuitive interface and powerful segmentation tools make it particularly effective for businesses with complex customer bases.

Emarsys Features

Emarsys, now part of SAP, brings a different set of strengths to the table:

• AI Marketing Copilot: This feature uses AI to generate campaign ideas, subject lines, and content, streamlining the creative process for marketers.
• Customer Lifecycle Marketing: Emarsys excels in mapping and automating customer journeys based on lifecycle stages, from acquisition to retention.
• Omnichannel Automation: The platform offers seamless integration across email, mobile, social, and web channels for consistent customer experiences.

Emarsys is particularly strong in its retail and e-commerce capabilities, offering pre-built industry-specific use cases and AI-driven product recommendations. Its deep integration with SAP's ecosystem can be a significant advantage for businesses already using SAP solutions.

Recent Feature Updates

Both Iterable and Emarsys have been actively enhancing their platforms to meet evolving market demands. Here are some of the latest updates:

Iterable Updates

Iterable has recently introduced:

• Enhanced SMS Capabilities: Improved deliverability and analytics for SMS campaigns, addressing the growing importance of mobile messaging.
• Advanced A/B Testing: New features allow for more sophisticated multivariate testing across channels, helping marketers optimize their campaigns with data-driven insights.
• Expanded Integration Ecosystem: New partnerships and integrations, including enhanced connections with popular data warehouses, making it easier to leverage customer data from various sources.

Emarsys Updates

Emarsys has focused on:

• AI Marketing Copilot Enhancements: Improved AI-generated content suggestions and campaign optimization recommendations.
• Customer Data Platform (CDP) Capabilities: Enhanced data unification and segmentation features, providing a more comprehensive view of customer data.
• Expanded E-commerce Integrations: New connections with popular e-commerce platforms, strengthening its position in the retail sector.

These updates reflect the industry's move towards more AI-driven, data-centric marketing approaches. Both platforms are investing in features that make it easier for marketers to leverage complex data sets and automate sophisticated campaigns across multiple channels.

Target Users and Ideal Companies

Understanding the ideal user profiles and company types for each platform can help you determine which solution aligns best with your organization's needs.

Iterable: Ideal Users and Companies

Iterable is well-suited for:

• Mid-size to Enterprise B2C Companies: Organizations with large customer bases that require sophisticated segmentation and personalization.
• Data-Driven Marketing Teams: Teams that prioritize leveraging customer data for highly targeted campaigns across multiple channels.
• Fast-Growing Startups: Companies that need a scalable solution that can grow with their customer base and marketing complexity.

Industries where Iterable shines include SaaS, media and entertainment, and digital-first consumer brands. Its flexibility and powerful segmentation tools make it ideal for companies with diverse product lines or complex customer journeys.

Emarsys: Ideal Users and Companies

Emarsys is particularly strong for:

• Retail and E-commerce Businesses: Companies that need deep integration with e-commerce platforms and retail-specific marketing features.
• Enterprise-Level Organizations: Larger companies, especially those already using SAP products, that require a comprehensive marketing solution with robust integration capabilities.
• Marketing Teams Focused on Customer Lifecycle: Teams that prioritize mapping and optimizing the entire customer journey from acquisition to retention.

Emarsys excels in industries such as retail, travel and hospitality, and financial services. Its pre-built industry solutions and strong e-commerce focus make it particularly attractive to businesses in these sectors.

When considering company size, Iterable tends to be more flexible, catering to both growing mid-size companies and large enterprises. Emarsys, with its enterprise-grade features and SAP integration, is often a better fit for larger organizations with complex needs and existing SAP investments.

Best and Worst Use Cases

Understanding where each platform excels and where they might fall short can help you align your specific needs with the right solution.

Iterable: Best Use Cases

• Cross-Channel Campaign Orchestration: Iterable shines in creating and managing sophisticated, multi-step campaigns across email, push, SMS, and in-app messaging. Its visual Workflow Studio makes it easy to design complex customer journeys.
• Data-Driven Personalization: With its robust data integration capabilities and flexible segmentation tools, Iterable excels at creating highly personalized messaging based on user behavior and preferences.
• Rapid Experimentation and Optimization: The platform's A/B testing features and real-time analytics make it ideal for teams that prioritize continuous optimization of their marketing efforts.

Iterable: Limitations

• E-commerce Specific Features: While Iterable can be used for e-commerce, it lacks some of the out-of-the-box features specifically tailored for retail that Emarsys offers.
• Enterprise-Grade Governance: For very large enterprises with complex approval workflows and stringent compliance needs, Iterable might require additional configuration or third-party tools.
• Advanced Predictive Analytics: While Iterable offers AI-powered features, it may not match the depth of predictive capabilities found in some enterprise-focused platforms.

Emarsys: Best Use Cases

• Retail and E-commerce Marketing: Emarsys excels with its pre-built retail use cases, product recommendations, and deep integration with e-commerce platforms.
• Customer Lifecycle Optimization: The platform's strength in mapping and automating customer journeys across the entire lifecycle makes it ideal for businesses focused on long-term customer value.
• AI-Driven Marketing Strategies: Emarsys' AI Marketing Copilot can significantly enhance marketing efficiency, especially for teams looking to leverage AI for content creation and campaign optimization.

Emarsys: Limitations

• Flexibility for Non-Retail Industries: While powerful, Emarsys' retail focus might be overkill for companies in other industries that don't need its specialized e-commerce features.
• Learning Curve: The platform's comprehensive feature set can be overwhelming for smaller teams or those new to advanced marketing automation.
• Integration with Non-SAP Ecosystems: While Emarsys offers various integrations, companies heavily invested in non-SAP technologies might find some limitations in seamless data flow.

For both platforms, it's worth noting that while they offer robust data handling capabilities, some organizations might benefit from additional tools for advanced data transformation and integration. For instance, Census can complement either platform by enhancing data transformation capabilities and facilitating seamless data syncing from various sources to your marketing automation tool.

Data Integration Capabilities

Effective data integration is crucial for leveraging the full power of your marketing automation platform. Let's examine how Iterable and Emarsys handle data integration and where they might need supplementation.

Iterable: Data Integration Features

Iterable offers a robust set of data integration capabilities:

• REST API: A well-documented API allows for real-time data syncing and custom integrations.
• Native Integrations: Pre-built connectors for popular platforms like Segment, Zapier, and various CRMs.
• Webhooks: Support for both inbound and outbound webhooks enables real-time data updates and actions.
• CSV Uploads: Ability to manually upload customer data via CSV files for batch updates.

Iterable's strength lies in its flexibility and developer-friendly approach to integrations. However, for complex data transformations or syncing from data warehouses, some users find that additional tools like Census can enhance Iterable's capabilities, especially for reverse ETL processes.

Emarsys: Data Integration Features

Emarsys, particularly with its SAP backing, offers strong integration capabilities:

• SAP Integration Suite: Deep integration with SAP's ecosystem, providing seamless data flow for SAP users.
• APIs and SDKs: Comprehensive API documentation and SDKs for custom integrations.
• Pre-built Connectors: A wide range of out-of-the-box integrations with e-commerce platforms, CRMs, and other marketing tools.
• Data Import Tools: Advanced tools for importing and mapping customer data from various sources.

Emarsys excels in its integration with SAP products and e-commerce platforms. However, for companies not in the SAP ecosystem or those requiring more complex data transformations, supplementary tools might be beneficial.

For both platforms, while their native integration capabilities are strong, organizations dealing with complex data ecosystems or requiring advanced ETL processes might benefit from specialized tools. Census, for example, can enhance both Iterable and Emarsys by providing robust reverse ETL capabilities, ensuring that your data warehouse can seamlessly feed into your marketing automation platform with the necessary transformations.

Pricing Models

Understanding the pricing structures of Iterable and Emarsys is crucial for determining which solution offers the best value for your organization. While both companies typically offer custom pricing based on specific needs, we can provide a general overview of their pricing models.

Iterable Pricing

Iterable's pricing is generally based on the number of contacts in your database and the features you require. They offer three main tiers:

• Growth: Suitable for small to medium-sized businesses, includes core features.
• Scale: For larger businesses, includes advanced features like A/B testing and workflow analytics.
• Enterprise: Custom solutions for large organizations, includes premium features and dedicated support.

Iterable's pricing is not publicly available, but reports suggest that it starts around $3,000 per month for the Growth plan and increases based on contact volume and feature requirements.

Emarsys Pricing

Emarsys, being part of SAP, typically follows an enterprise pricing model. Their pricing structure is usually customized based on several factors:

• Number of contacts
• Desired features and modules
• Integration requirements
• Volume of emails sent

While Emarsys doesn't publish standard pricing, it's generally considered to be at the higher end of the market, reflecting its enterprise-grade capabilities and SAP integration.

It's important to note that while Iterable might appear more cost-effective initially, costs can scale significantly with contact volume and feature requirements. Emarsys, while potentially more expensive, offers a comprehensive suite of features that might reduce the need for additional tools, potentially offering better value for large enterprises.

For both platforms, consider not just the direct costs but also the potential ROI based on your specific use cases and the value of integrated features. Additionally, factor in any costs for supplementary tools you might need, such as advanced data integration solutions like Census, which can enhance the capabilities of either platform.

Evaluation Criteria

When choosing between Iterable and Emarsys, consider the following key factors to align with your organization's specific needs and martech predictions:

1. Ease of Use: Evaluate the user interface and learning curve for your team.
2. Scalability: Consider your growth projections and how each platform can accommodate increasing demands.
3. Personalization Capabilities: Assess the depth and flexibility of personalization features.
4. Multi-Channel Support: Evaluate how well each platform integrates various communication channels.
5. Data Integration: Consider the ease of connecting with your existing data sources and tech stack.
6. Analytics and Reporting: Compare the depth and customizability of analytics tools.
7. AI and Machine Learning Features: Assess the sophistication and practical applications of AI tools.
8. Industry-Specific Features: Consider any specialized features relevant to your industry.
9. Customer Support and Resources: Evaluate the quality of support and available learning resources.
10. Total Cost of Ownership: Factor in all costs, including potential need for additional tools or integrations.

Performance Against Criteria

Remember, these ratings are general assessments and may vary based on specific use cases and requirements. It's crucial to evaluate these platforms in the context of your organization's unique needs and existing technology ecosystem.

Conclusion

Choosing between Iterable and Emarsys depends largely on your organization's specific needs, industry, and existing technology stack. Here's a summary of key differences and recommendations:

• Iterable is ideal for:
  • Companies seeking a flexible, user-friendly platform for sophisticated multi-channel campaigns
  • Organizations that prioritize data-driven personalization and rapid experimentation
  • Businesses looking for a scalable solution that can grow with them
• Emarsys is better suited for:
  • Large enterprises, especially those already in the SAP ecosystem
  • Retail and e-commerce businesses requiring deep industry-specific features
  • Organizations looking for advanced AI-driven marketing capabilities

Both platforms offer robust marketing automation capabilities, but they excel in different areas. Iterable's strength lies in its flexibility and user-friendly interface, making it a great choice for companies that want to quickly implement sophisticated, data-driven marketing campaigns. Emarsys, with its strong e-commerce focus and enterprise-grade features, is particularly well-suited for large retail organizations or those deeply integrated with SAP systems.

Regardless of which platform you choose, consider how it will integrate with your existing data infrastructure. Tools like Census can enhance the capabilities of both Iterable and Emarsys by providing advanced data integration and transformation features, ensuring that you can fully leverage your customer data across your marketing automation efforts.

Ultimately, the best choice will depend on your specific use cases, budget, and long-term marketing strategy. We recommend thoroughly evaluating both platforms, possibly through trials or demos, and considering how they align with your organization's unique requirements and growth plans.