The Next Gen Marketing Cloud Has Arrived
Autopilot is approaching 10,000 customers (BuiltWith) and has acquired $34mm in funding (Crunchbase) by orchestrating workflows between discreet software vendors called journeys. Unlike Tray, SnapLogic, and other iPaaS companies, the user experience was friendly enough whereby non-engineers could use it proficiently.
Addressing Customer Feedback
During that time, Autopilot Journeys also offered mediocre functionality in areas such as data accessibility, multichannel messaging, and reporting & analytics. While its customer base was getting frustrated, apparently Autopilot took notice and worked behind the scenes for two whole years to not only address all this feedback but also create a bold new product that will redefine the Marketing Cloud of the future.
Evolution of Marketing Clouds
Marketing Clouds started with players like Adobe, Oracle, and Experian acquiring and loosely integrating marketing automation software components in closed ecosystems that locked in customers. Along came Customer Data Platforms like Segment, mParticle, Action IQ, and CaliberMind which changed the paradigm to an open ecosystem whereby customers could choose the best components and glue them together elegantly with full control of the data in all directions. Companies like Amplitude, Segment, Iterable, Persado, Pendo, and Twilio were able to grow rapidly in this environment as marketers glued together their own Marketing Clouds.
Challenge of Technical Expertise
But the glue required a technical expertise that was somewhere between marketer and engineer which has limited supply. Plus, the resulting solutions tended to have less-than-ideal performance speed and user experience for marketers. All of these factors make Autopilot’s new product announcement an intriguing one.
Introducing Autopilot On
Autopilot On is taking us somewhere between the traditional Marketing Cloud and open ecosystem glue with the friendly user experience that has always been at the core of its offering.
Customer Data Platform, Data Sources, Dashboards, Reports, Product Analytics, Revenue Attribution and Security & Privacy - See all customer data joined together from across discrete systems in a clean table with easy filter & column configuration. Summarize data in dashboards of visualizations including revenue attribution.
Email Marketing, Marketing Automation, Pop Ups & Forms, In-App Messaging, and Autopilot AI - Customer segments, email sequences, and intercepts that previously took entire marketing roadmaps to build are available out of the box from day 1. They even automatically create your email templates and copy via AI after you input your brand book and outline. And texting is coming soon.
Demo by Autopilot's CEO
Watch the dark-mode obsessed CEO of Autopilot demo Autopilot On.
Comparing Autopilot On to Competitors
Autopilot has made some of best functionality that was available in Amplitude, Segment, Iterable, Persado, Pendo, and Twilio readily available in Autopilot On; plus, it’s layered in some of the most advanced implementations of AI for marketers because of the pragmatism and user friendliness. Traditional Marketing Clouds like Adobe and Oracle will never catch up to true leaders like Autopliot.
Should Every Marketer Use Autopilot?
So then should every marketer use Autopilot? No. Its integration catalog is nowhere near as robust as CDPs like Segment despite their attempts to compensate with Zapier. Autopilot’s functionality isn’t as robust as the standalone components. And its focus is on SaaS and Ecommerce so other industries won’t be served as well yet. But it’s user-friendly approach has gone well beyond what’s currently available for marketers so they should be looked at seriously.
Impact and Future
Autopilot has set a new standard for software companies that serve marketers. Undoubtedly a whole new generation of tech startups will follow in Autopilot’s footsteps which is a great thing for marketers and for the recipients of the experiences they orchestrate. With Salesforce Ventures as one of its investors, there is a natural acquisition path in its future; however, marketers will derive maximum benefit the longer it stays independent, exhibiting the type of leadership we’ve just seen in this product launch.
