I’m pleased to announce the publication of The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Campaign Management (Independent Platforms), Q3 2021. In our 30-criterion evaluation, we identified the 13 most significant independent cross-channel campaign management (CCCM) players — Acquia, Algonomy, Bloomreach, Bluecore, Braze, dotdigital, Insider, Iterable, Mapp Digital, MoEngage, Optimove, Sailthru, and Selligent Marketing Cloud — and researched, analyzed, and scored them.

Per my previous CCCM blog post, we published The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Campaign Management (EMSS Modules), Q2 2021, in April. Using a similar evaluation methodology, we identified the eight enterprise marketing software suites (EMSS) vendors with CCCM offerings: Acoustic, Adobe, Cheetah Digital, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, SAS, and Zeta Global.

For an evaluation of the EMSS portfolios from these vendors, see my colleague Joe Stanhope‘s The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Marketing Software Suites, Q2 2021, or read his related blog post.

But wait — there’s more! My colleague Xiaofeng Wang announced The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Campaign Management In Asia Pacific, Q2 2021 in her blog post in June.

Why So Many Evaluations In A Mature Space Like CCCM?

As highlighted in our Now Tech: Cross-Channel Campaign Management, Q1 2021, the CCCM market is growing. That’s because a tranche of independent players now competes with more established marketing technology (martech) providers. In fact, leading independent platform vendors are delivering CCCM innovation that outshines many EMSS competitors. Some established vendors are tackling enterprise customer data platform (CDP) and analytics requirements. Others are busy building out their EMSS portfolios or integrating multiple martech and advertising technology acquisitions. Meanwhile, more agile providers are changing the CCCM competitive landscape.

As part of our evaluation, we spoke with reference customers for all vendors. Overall, we were impressed with the sophisticated CCCM environments of multiple independent platform users. For example, some specific CCCM independent platform innovations include:

  • Mobile-first orchestration and support for emerging mobile channels
  • Experience design thinking versus campaign templates
  • Consistent AI-powered personalization for inbound and outbound channels
  • Vertical-specific workflows and user experience (UX) features
  • Localized support for unique geographic requirements

And these are not simply niche solutions for disruptor brands. On average, references for independent platform vendors were larger organizations with higher volumes of customer records than references fielded by EMSS vendors. In addition, they also described more extensive channel use cases and more marketing users.

As a 20-year CCCM advocate, I’m excited to see so much investment and innovation in this mature category. Some established players may not share my enthusiasm. Please feel free to schedule an inquiry if you’d like to talk in depth about our research findings or the various vendors in the CCCM space.