B2B Marketing tools

B2B web marketing platforms

Interesting debate on B2B marketing platforms on http://www.velocitypartners.co.uk/2010/02/08/b2b-web-marketing-the-platform-battle/

Question is: who will win this battle CRM or CMS?

I would say: none of the above.

Last week I had a conversation with a tool vendor trying to convince me that it would be best if I threw away my e-mail marketing point solution (SAAS model) and replace it by some module built in their next version of a CMS (“yes it will be there in April…”). Why would that be better? Will it make me a better marketer? Will it enable me to serve my customers better? Or will it lock me in to that particular CMS, making it difficult for me to replace it for something better that may come along in the future? No, I’ll stick with the cheap point solutions, loosely integrated through web services. Cheap, flexible and (most important) expendable.

Years of ERP and CRM faillures should have tought us that there is no such thing as a “suite” or a platform that actually offers a long term advantage over point solutions. Businesses change, customers change, markets change, communities change, management changes, software versions change – need I go on?

My bet would be to derive your current need for tooling from your current business strategies and realities. And when things change, throw the obsolete functions away, and please ignore all IT people advising you otherwise, especially tool vendors.

Use your functionality for what is was made to do and don’t customise it