Announcing MarketingPilot 15 Designed for the New Marketer
Our acquisition of MarketingPilot last November not only represented a significant step forward in marketing automation capabilities, but also provided a key piece in furthering our Microsoft Dynamics CRM vision to help organizations attract, retain and grow their customers in new ways. And today, at Convergence 2013 New Orleans, we moved further forward with our announcement of MarketingPilot 15 – an integrated marketing management solution that brings together MarketingPilot and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The new release includes an updated user interface with a more simplified and familiar user experience, along with a new MarketingPilot Connector that will enable it to work seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This new release, just five months after the acquisition, reinforces our dedication to the marketing automation space and underscores our commitment to continued innovation in MarketingPilot and to our joint customers.
With the explosion of new channels, emerging markets, and shifts to online and digital customer engagement, there’s tremendous opportunity ahead in the marketing automation space. In fact, according to Gartner, “By 2017, CMOs may have bigger IT budget than CIOs do.” According to IDC, “Marketing Automation is expected to grow faster than any other segment of CRM over the next 4 years.” Microsoft recognizes the importance of providing customers an open and extensible platform, compelling applications, and modern user experiences are even more important now to help marketers more effectively plan, execute and monitor customer interactions across channels, while also measuring the return on marketing investments.
Designed to help marketers grow top-line revenue and measure return on their marketing investments, MarketingPilot 15 is an Online release that features the familiar look and feel of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and omni-channel marketing capabilities designed to help marketers improve productivity and gain rich customer insights.
We have had some great feedback from customers. Doug Draughan of Basic Research commented, “The bottom line is that MarketingPilot has been a big hit. Probably the biggest factor is increased communication across the company. Everyone is connected from having the data points in MarketingPilot.” Brian Croswhite, Marketing Director of Nova Southeastern University said, “MarketingPilot is giving us the tools to do our job better as well as keep our clients better informed.”
The MarketingPilot Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be able to connect MarketingPilot 15 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online as well as On-Premises (Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011). The Connector will enable businesses to align their sales and marketing efforts and help organizations attract, retain and grow their customer base in new ways.
MarketingPilot 15 and the MarketingPilot Connector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is expected to be available in the month of March, and will be offered to customers in the United States and to existing MarketingPilot Online customers worldwide. We expect to make MarketingPilot available in select international markets by the end of this year.
Further information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm.aspx and www.marketingpilot.com. More information about our future roadmap, partner programs and plans will be made available at the Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference in July. Share your thoughts below and to @MSDynamicsCRM, using #MSDYNCRN and #CRM2011. And if you are at Convergence 2013 New Orleans, visit us as we look forward to engaging with you.
Bob Stutz
Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Dynamics CRM