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New Autopilot Marketing Platform Takes Aim at Current Market Leaders' Too Basic or Too Hard SolutionsTen months after raising $10 million in Series B funding, Autopilot pivots business model and launches new product built from the ground up to take advantage of the gulf in the market between MailChimp and Marketo (News - Alert). Humanizing Marketing Software Today Autopilot is announcing its multi-channel marketing platform that helps companies automate customer touchpoints and create personalized buyer experiences across online, offline, and mobile channels. "There is a clear gap in the market between the basic email software that's loved by millions, and the high-end automation solutions that the tech elite uses to achieve superhuman results. Our goal is to level the playing field - Autopilot is easy enough that anyone can use it, affordable enough that any owner can buy it, and flexible enough that companies can stay one step ahead in today's social business environment," said Co-founder and CEO Mike Sharkey. This launch follows four weeks of beta testing, in which over 500 companies created personalized marketing journeys, connected their websites and CRM databases, and tracked user activities in real time. It has led to something completely new from Autopilot, including marketing automation's first self-service free 30 day trial. Why Now? The Marketer's Dilemma Autopilot recently conducted a nationwide study that found marketers are failing to effectively reach their customers.1 Previously, digital marketing has been dominated by basic email software like MailChimp, which helps businesses reach many eyeballs, but requires highly manual one-off "blasts" that often kill the human connection.2 On the other side of the divide, marketing automation solutions like Marketo enable companies to stay top of mind with customers, but have been designed for an elite few.3 They are costly, hard to use, take too long to implement - often with expensive consultants - which shuts out 96% of the market.4 Leveling the Playing Field "The tech elite relies on email because it's the highest-performing marketing channel. This explains why the industry for marketing automation software is expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2019, despite only having been adopted by 4% of businesses.5 At a time when all-in-one marketing platforms are getting increasingly complex, customers are turning to Autopilot for its drag and drop simplicity and connected ecosystem of apps and data," said Guy Marion, Autopilot's CMO. "We wanted an end-to-end marketing automation system that gave my team autonomy and freedom from IT," said Michelle Pampin (News - Alert), Vice President Global Marketing and Global Channel Management at Cambium Networks. "Autopilot is simple enough that we can execute any campaign, regionally or globally, simply by dragging and dropping. We reviewed every other major system, but found only Autopilot gave us the ease and flexibility we neede. The result is that my demand generation program is focused on campaign strategy and execution, not on implementation." Unique Features For Modern Marketing Autopilot's multi-channel marketing platform realizes the dream of marketing automation by making things turnkey and instantly accessible:
Getting Data Driven GoodData for Autopilot enables companies to gain business insight into their sales funnel, improving key marketing metrics such as leads and content engagement. "Now Autopilot customers can visualize the quality of their marketing journeys without any of the failures and expenses old-fashioned BI tools brought to the table," said Roman Stanek, GoodData founder and CEO. "GoodData is on a mission to provide real-time, business-changing insights, and delivering our dashboards directly to Autopilot users is a great start." For the first time, there is a self-service free trial for marketing automation. Pricing starts at $4 per month for 500 contacts. Learn more at: www.autopilothq.com
[1] Guy Marion, "2015 Marketing Automation Performance Report," http://www2.autopilothq.com/2015-marketing-automation-performance-report,
(January 29, 2015). About Autopilot Autopilot is a cloud-based software company that helps companies connect their marketing systems, automate their marketing touchpoints, and convert customers. Autopilot's built-in integrations to best of breed marketing, messaging, lead intelligence, and CRM tools make it easy to message consistently using email, SMS, and physical mail. Founded in 2012, Autopilot is based in San Francisco and has raised $15M in venture funding. Backers include Rembrandt Venture Partners (News - Alert), Southern Cross Venture Partners, Blackbird Ventures, Tim Draper, and Terry Garnett.
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