Sailthru - Detailed Review
Sales Tools
Sailthru - Detailed Review Contents
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Sailthru - Product Overview
Overview
Sailthru, now part of Marigold, is a comprehensive cross-channel marketing platform that specializes in delivering personalized customer experiences. Here’s a brief overview of its primary function, target audience, and key features:Primary Function
Sailthru is built to help marketers create and deliver highly personalized marketing experiences across various channels, including email, web, mobile, SMS, and even in-store and loyalty programs. The platform leverages AI and machine learning to predict customer behavior and engage them with relevant content in real-time.Target Audience
Sailthru is primarily aimed at marketers in retail and media companies who are looking to build deeper, longer-lasting relationships with their customers. It is particularly useful for businesses that need to manage multiple communication channels and want to personalize their marketing efforts to drive higher revenue and improve customer lifetime value.Key Features
Personalization
Sailthru allows for 1:1 personalization across all channels using its industry-leading, data-rich customer profiles. These profiles capture key insights such as interests, behavior, and purchase tendencies to deliver meaningful and engaging content.Multi-Channel Support
The platform supports personalization across email, web, mobile, SMS, and other channels like in-store and loyalty programs. This ensures a seamless and consistent customer experience regardless of the channel.AI and Machine Learning
Sailthru uses AI and machine learning to predict individual customer behavior, enabling marketers to target their audience with personalized content at the right time and place.Customer Lifecycle Optimization
The platform includes tools for automating customer journeys and optimizing the customer lifecycle. This helps in increasing customer lifetime value and reducing churn through targeted email and multichannel flows.Data and Reporting
Sailthru provides comprehensive data analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing marketers to monitor performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions. The platform offers customizable dashboards and the ability to export granular data for further analysis.Seamless Integrations
The platform offers pre-built integrations and a robust set of APIs to integrate with other technology partners and data flows, ensuring a seamless experience for both marketers and their customers.Customer Success
Sailthru is known for its client-first approach, with a team of Customer Success Managers who work closely with clients to fine-tune their marketing strategies and achieve their business goals.Conclusion
Overall, Sailthru by Marigold is a powerful tool for marketers looking to enhance their personalization capabilities and drive meaningful engagement across multiple channels. Sailthru - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Enhancements
The user interface of Sailthru, particularly in its sales tools and marketing automation category, has undergone significant enhancements to improve ease of use and overall user experience.Visual Design and Navigation
Sailthru has introduced a fresh and simplified visual design. The new interface features a more organized layout, making it easier for users to find what they need quickly. This includes the addition of new sidebars that enable seamless switching between various reports and pages, allowing users to discover new features more easily.Search Functionality
A prominent search bar has been added to the header, allowing users to search for reports, user profiles, and other elements within the platform. This search feature can also be activated by simply typing “s” anywhere within the interface, enhancing the speed and convenience of finding specific information.Access to Key Features
The interface now includes an icon in the header that provides quick access to the jobs page, where users can check the status of their query builder jobs. Additionally, the active jobs count will be automatically updated in the header, further streamlining the process of monitoring job status.Customizable Dashboard
The new interface includes a customizable dashboard, which allows users to personalize their workspace according to their needs. This feature is part of the broader redesign aimed at making the site more intuitive and informative.Integration and Data Accessibility
Sailthru has integrated with leading ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, Demandware, and hybris through its Sailthru Compass program. These integrations make purchase and interest data available immediately upon user registration, eliminating the need for manual data integration and making it easier for marketers to personalize their communications.User Feedback and Testing
Sailthru encourages user feedback and participation in the testing process for the new UI. This approach ensures that the final product is as user-friendly and effective as possible, reflecting the needs and preferences of its clients.Conclusion
Overall, the user interface of Sailthru is designed to be intuitive, easy to use, and highly functional, with a focus on streamlining navigation, enhancing search capabilities, and providing quick access to key features and data. Sailthru - Key Features and Functionality
Overview of Sailthru
Sailthru, a cross-channel marketing platform, offers a range of features that leverage AI and machine learning to deliver personalized customer experiences. Here are the main features and how they work:Personalization and Dynamic Content
Sailthru allows marketers to create dynamically personalized emails, web content, and mobile messages using a drag-and-drop interface without the need for coding. This personalization extends to email send times, subject lines, content, and product recommendations, blending automated suggestions with curated content from your brand.AI and Machine Learning Predictions
The platform uses AI and machine learning to predict individual customer behavior, enabling marketers to target customers with personalized content at the right time and through the right channel. These predictions help in determining when, where, and how an individual customer will engage with the brand in real-time.Customer Lifecycle Optimization
Sailthru’s Lifecycle Optimizer allows marketers to automate customer journeys and increase customer lifetime value (LTV). This feature uses insights and predictions from customer profiles to create customized email and multichannel flows and triggers. Marketers can view real-time reporting on flow performance directly within the interface.Data and Reporting
The platform provides comprehensive data visualizations and customizable dashboards to monitor performance and identify trends. Marketers can access long-term and real-time data, and for advanced needs, granular data can be exported into preferred data analytics tools for further analysis. This includes tracking email engagement metrics like opens, clicks, and delivery status.Segment Integration
Sailthru’s integration with Segment, a customer data platform (CDP), allows for bi-directional data exchange. This integration enables a complete 1:1 profile sync for identified users and events, launching personalized and automated marketing journeys based on customer preferences. It also records and acts on purchase-driven data, such as abandoned carts, and tracks page views and sessions to provide a comprehensive view of customer behavior.Behavioral Data and Customer Profiles
Sailthru compiles and analyzes customer interactions across all channels to build a lifetime view of customers’ interests, behaviors, and purchase histories. This data is used to personalize campaigns and identify new opportunities, providing a single, unified customer profile that combines data from various touchpoints, including offline and online interactions.Performance Dashboards and Campaign Reports
The platform offers performance dashboards that collect all relevant data in one place, allowing marketers to compare, contrast, and optimize their campaigns. Campaign reports provide real-time insights into campaign performance, enabling marketers to adjust strategies based on immediate feedback.Prediction Manager and Retention Analytics
Sailthru’s Prediction Manager helps marketers anticipate customer interests and behaviors before they occur. The Retention Analytics tool provides detailed information on customer retention rates for specific campaigns, helping marketers understand which platforms and strategies are most effective in retaining customers.Smart Strategies Feature
This feature analyzes collected data and presents actionable insights to increase conversion rates. It helps marketers develop strategies based on customer behavior and preferences, ensuring that marketing efforts are optimized for maximum impact.API Capabilities
Sailthru’s API allows for programmatic interaction with various features and data sets. Marketers can send individual email messages, schedule campaigns, set user data, and perform data processing tasks such as importing subscriber lists and exporting user data.Conclusion
These features collectively enable marketers to deliver highly personalized and engaging customer experiences across multiple channels, leveraging AI and machine learning to drive better engagement, conversion rates, and customer retention. Sailthru - Performance and Accuracy
Performance
Sailthru demonstrates strong performance in personalizing customer interactions and driving revenue. For instance, The Clymb, an Internet Retailer Top 500 company, saw a 175% increase in revenue per send and a 72% reduction in opt-outs per sale after implementing Sailthru’s Prediction Manager. This was achieved by accurately matching buyers with specific products and optimizing customer engagement through predictive analytics. Sailthru’s AI and machine learning capabilities help in personalizing interactions across multiple channels, including email, web, and mobile. The platform uses triggered predictive entries to preemptively engage customers, and its Personalized Send Time feature ensures messages are sent at the optimal moment, based on individual open and click histories.Accuracy
The accuracy of Sailthru’s predictions and personalization is a significant strength. The platform captures crucial details such as customer preferences, email interactions, and purchase patterns to build long-term connections and sustain profitability. This data-driven approach allows for highly accurate predictions about customer behavior, such as when they are most likely to visit the site or make a purchase.Engagement
Sailthru enhances customer engagement by providing personalized content and offers based on individual interests and behaviors. This personalization helps in nurturing customers and reducing churn. For example, the platform can automatically suppress communications before customers opt out or place them into specific customer journey flows to retain them.Limitations and Areas for Improvement
While Sailthru offers strong features, there are some limitations. One notable issue is the lack of seamless API support for integrating with external systems, which can add complexity to the process. Additionally, users have noted that the reporting can be a bit cumbersome, and the use of dynamic personalization can be challenging to utilize. The user interface, although improved based on customer feedback, still has some areas that could be streamlined.Customer Service and Feedback
Sailthru is praised for its exceptional customer service and continuous improvement based on customer feedback. This indicates a commitment to addressing user concerns and enhancing the platform’s functionality over time.Conclusion
In summary, Sailthru’s performance and accuracy in AI-driven sales tools are highlighted by its ability to significantly increase revenue and reduce opt-outs through personalized and predictive marketing. However, there are areas for improvement, particularly in integration with external systems and the ease of use in certain features. Sailthru - Pricing and Plans
Custom Pricing
Sailthru provides custom pricing based on the specific needs of each company. This means that the cost can vary widely depending on the scale and requirements of the business.Cost Range
The annual cost for Sailthru software can range significantly, with the minimum price varying based on the company’s needs. However, the maximum price can reach up to $377,000. On average, the annual cost is about $164,000.No Free Plan or Trial
Sailthru does not offer a free plan or a free trial. This indicates that potential users need to engage with Sailthru directly to discuss and agree on a pricing plan that suits their business needs.Features
Despite the lack of predefined tiers, Sailthru’s platform includes a wide range of features such as:- Advanced email marketing and automation
- Cross-channel personalization across email, web, mobile, and other channels
- AI and Machine Learning for personalized content
- Customer lifecycle optimization
- Detailed data and reporting capabilities
- Seamless integrations with other technology partners and data flows
Integration with Other Platforms
For users of platforms like Shopify, Sailthru offers an integration app that allows for the synchronization of customer information, purchase data, and product information. However, any charges related to this integration are billed separately by Sailthru.Conclusion
In summary, Sailthru’s pricing is highly customized and dependent on the specific requirements and scale of the business, with no standard tiers or free options available. Sailthru - Integration and Compatibility
Sailthru Integration Overview
Sailthru, a comprehensive cross-channel marketing platform, offers extensive integration capabilities to ensure seamless interaction with various tools and platforms. Here’s a breakdown of its compatibility and integration features:API and Data Integrations
Sailthru provides flexible APIs that allow for easy connection and interaction with its cross-channel features and data sets. The platform’s REST APIs enable users to add customers, send messages, push and update content in real-time, and more.Segment Integration
Sailthru has a native integration with Segment, which allows for the easy transfer of crucial customer data points from Segment into Sailthru user profiles. This integration also enables the flow of key email marketing data back to Segment with minimal effort.Social Media and Advertising Integrations
Sailthru integrates with major social media and advertising platforms. For instance, it partners with Facebook to leverage features like Custom Audiences, Lookalike Audiences, and Lead Ads. Similarly, it integrates with Google AdWords Customer Match, enabling clients to apply their Sailthru customer data across Google Ads platforms such as YouTube, Gmail, and Search.SMS and Direct Mail Integrations
For multi-channel marketing, Sailthru supports SMS integrations with partners like Attentive, Twilio, and Beepsend. It also integrates with Inkit for targeted and personalized direct mail campaigns, allowing users to sync digital campaigns with direct mail efforts.Loyalty and In-Store Experiences
Sailthru integrates with multiple loyalty platforms to enhance customer loyalty programs. Additionally, it connects with clienteling technology to send personalized messages to shoppers in physical retail locations and ingests in-store purchase data for coordinated digital follow-up messaging.Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
The platform allows data to be easily pulled into business intelligence tools through flexible CSV formats. This enables users to monitor performance and identify trends using data visualizations and customizable dashboards within the platform or by exporting granular data for further analysis in their preferred analytics tools.Webhooks
Sailthru offers comprehensive webhooks to ensure that personalized messages can be sent outside of its ecosystem, allowing for personalized engagement across any channel.Stitch Data Integration
For data warehousing, Sailthru can be integrated with Stitch, a data integration platform. This integration, though currently in beta, allows for the replication of data from Sailthru to a data warehouse using the Sailthru API. It supports features like table and column selection, historical replication, and extraction logs.Conclusion
Overall, Sailthru’s integration capabilities are designed to be flexible and comprehensive, allowing marketers to leverage a wide range of tools and platforms to deliver personalized marketing experiences across multiple channels. Sailthru - Customer Support and Resources
Sailthru by Marigold Engage
Marigold Engage by Sailthru offers a comprehensive suite of customer support options and additional resources to ensure marketers can effectively utilize their platform.
Customer Success Managers (CSMs)
One of the key support features is the assignment of dedicated Customer Success Managers. These CSMs work closely with clients to establish or fine-tune their email, multichannel, and personalization efforts. They are committed to sharing in the client’s success, rather than just selling a product.
Strategic Guidance and Implementation
Sailthru provides high-touch strategic guidance and thoughtful implementations to help businesses achieve their marketing goals. This includes helping marketers develop long-term marketing strategies that grow with their business.
Integrations and APIs
For technical support, Sailthru offers pre-built integrations and a robust set of APIs that allow seamless integration with other technology partners and data flows. This ensures that the experience with Sailthru and the customer’s experience with the brand is smooth and uninterrupted.
Resources and Best Practices
Sailthru keeps clients up to date on marketing trends, best practices, and industry shifts through various resources. They compile proven strategies and tactics from experts in retail and media, which clients can implement using the Marigold Engage platform.
Training and Support Materials
While the specific details of training programs are not outlined, the platform’s intuitive interface and the support from CSMs suggest that there are adequate materials and guidance available to help marketers get started and optimize their use of the platform.
Community and Expert Insights
Sailthru facilitates knowledge sharing through their resources section, where they bring together experts to provide actionable insights and strategies. This helps marketers stay informed and adapt to industry shifts effectively.
Conclusion
In summary, Sailthru by Marigold provides a strong support ecosystem through dedicated Customer Success Managers, strategic guidance, seamless integrations, and a wealth of resources and best practices. This ensures that marketers can leverage the platform’s AI-powered capabilities to achieve advanced personalization and drive growth.
Sailthru - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Sailthru
Sailthru, particularly in its AI-driven and machine learning capabilities, offers several significant advantages for marketers:Personalization
Sailthru excels in personalization, allowing you to customize every aspect of your campaigns. It uses behavioral data and predictive analytics to send emails, SMS, and push notifications that align with subscribers’ interests and behaviors, significantly improving engagement and conversion rates.Behavioral Data and Analytics
The platform compiles and analyzes customer interactions across all channels, creating a comprehensive view of customers’ interests, behaviors, and purchase histories. This data is used to personalize campaigns and identify new opportunities through its Smart Data reporting and analytics tool.Cross-Channel Marketing
Sailthru enables marketers to deliver personalized experiences across multiple channels, including email, web, and mobile. This cross-channel optimization helps in reaching audiences effectively through push notifications, app experiences, and in-app messages.AI and Machine Learning
The platform leverages AI and machine learning to predict customer behavior, such as when they are most likely to open messages or make a purchase. Features like Personalized Send Time and triggered predictive entries help in preemptively engaging customers.Customer Lifecycle Optimization
Sailthru’s Lifecycle Optimizer allows you to build customized customer journeys using insights and predictions. This helps in automating workflows, preventing disengaged customers from unsubscribing, and retaining customers through targeted messaging.Performance Dashboards and Reporting
The platform provides performance dashboards and campaign reports that collect and visualize data, enabling you to monitor performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.Disadvantages of Sailthru
While Sailthru offers many benefits, there are also some notable drawbacks:Pricing
Sailthru is considered pricey, especially for users who are primarily focused on lead generation rather than customer engagement. It is more suited for retaining existing customers rather than acquiring new ones.Customer Service
Many users have reported poor customer service experiences, including slow response times. This is a significant area where Sailthru needs improvement.Technical Issues
Some users have encountered bugs and limitations with certain features, such as the email template builder and list segmentation, which supports a limited number of conditions.Heatmap Accuracy
There have been reports that the heatmaps may not always show accurate data, which can be a drawback for some users. Overall, Sailthru is a powerful tool for personalization and cross-channel marketing, but it comes with some costs and service limitations that potential users should consider. Sailthru - Comparison with Competitors
Sailthru by Marigold
Sailthru by Marigold is renowned for its practical and user-friendly AI and machine learning personalization capabilities. Here are some of its unique features:
- Predictive Personalization: Sailthru allows you to anticipate customer actions, such as visiting your site or making a purchase, through triggered predictive entries. This helps in preemptively engaging customers and recapturing their attention when they start disengaging.
- Personalized Send Time: The platform optimizes the timing of your messages based on the open and click histories of each customer, ensuring they receive messages when they are most likely to engage.
- Customer Acquisition and Retention: Sailthru uses long-term behavioral data and lookalike modeling to help acquire new customers and reduce acquisition costs. It also helps in nurturing existing customers with content and products that match their interests.
- Churn Mitigation: The platform predicts opt-outs and disengagement, allowing for automated adjustments to communication strategies to retain customers.
- Data Integration: Sailthru Connect enables the streaming of customer data into BI tools and data warehouses, providing comprehensive insights into marketing and business performance.
Alternatives and Competitors
Dotdigital
Dotdigital is often cited as a top alternative to Sailthru by Marigold. It offers marketing automation, email marketing, and cross-channel marketing capabilities. While it shares some similarities with Sailthru in terms of personalization and automation, Dotdigital may have different strengths in areas like social media engagement and content management.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement, formerly ExactTarget, is a powerful tool for targeted email marketing. It integrates well with Salesforce’s CRM and offers AI-powered insights through Salesforce Einstein. Einstein provides features like AI-generated sales content, call summarization, and customizable dashboards, which are distinct from Sailthru’s focus on predictive personalization and automated communication timing.
Braze
Braze is another competitor that offers cross-channel marketing automation. It is known for its ability to handle large volumes of customer data and provide personalized messages across multiple channels. While Braze shares some of Sailthru’s personalization capabilities, it may have a broader scope in terms of channel integration and customer data management.
Exceed.ai by Genesys
Exceed.ai is an AI conversational marketing tool that focuses on sales automation, particularly in areas like meeting scheduling, lead qualification, and lead re-engagement. Unlike Sailthru, which is more geared towards marketing personalization and customer retention, Exceed.ai is tailored for sales teams looking to automate and scale their lead management processes.
Key Differences
- Focus: Sailthru by Marigold is heavily focused on marketing personalization, customer retention, and automated communication timing. In contrast, tools like Exceed.ai and Salesforce Einstein are more oriented towards sales automation and CRM integration.
- Data Integration: While Sailthru Connect offers strong data integration capabilities, tools like Braze and Dotdigital may have different approaches to handling and analyzing customer data.
- Automation: Sailthru’s automation is primarily centered around marketing communications and customer engagement, whereas Exceed.ai and Salesforce Einstein focus on automating sales processes and lead management.
When choosing between these tools, it’s essential to consider your specific needs in terms of marketing personalization, sales automation, and data integration to select the most suitable option for your business.
Sailthru - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Sailthru by Marigold
What is Sailthru by Marigold and what does it offer?
Sailthru by Marigold is a marketing automation and multi-channel personalization solution. It provides a comprehensive view of customer data, including behavioral, purchase, and consumer interest data. This data is used to create personalized content and product recommendations that can be delivered across various channels such as email, web, mobile, social, and more.How does Sailthru by Marigold build customer profiles?
Sailthru by Marigold builds 360-degree customer profiles by consolidating data from all channels and touchpoints. This includes both implicit and explicit data to create a lifetime view of each customer. These profiles are used to deliver personalized experiences based on individual customer behaviors and interests.What personalization capabilities does Sailthru by Marigold offer?
Sailthru by Marigold uses AI and Machine Learning to personalize customer experiences. It allows for 1:1 personalization based on limitless variables and complete interest graphs. This includes personalized email campaigns, push notifications, SMS, and targeted content on social media and websites.What kind of integrations does Sailthru by Marigold support?
Sailthru by Marigold offers seamless integrations with various technology partners through pre-built integrations and a robust set of APIs. This allows for easy integration with other marketing tools, data flows, and systems such as SMS, social media, direct mail, and loyalty programs.How does Sailthru by Marigold support multi-channel marketing?
Sailthru by Marigold enables marketers to deliver personalized content across multiple channels, including email, web, mobile, social media, and offline channels like in-store and direct mail. It uses mobile SDKs for personalized push notifications and SMS, and also supports dynamic content personalization on websites.What kind of reporting and analytics does Sailthru by Marigold provide?
Sailthru by Marigold offers real-time and long-term reporting and analytics. It includes data visualizations, customizable dashboards, and the ability to export granular data for further analysis. This helps marketers monitor performance, identify trends, and determine the long-term impact of their marketing strategies.What kind of support and services does Sailthru by Marigold offer?
Sailthru by Marigold provides comprehensive support and services, including an integration consultant, project manager, implementation engineer, creative services designer, and 24/7 support. Additionally, it offers training programs, individual courses, and expert analytics and creative services teams for ongoing advice and support.Can Sailthru by Marigold automate customer journeys?
Yes, Sailthru by Marigold allows marketers to automate customer journeys using its Lifecycle Optimizer. This tool enables the creation of customized email and multi-channel flows and triggers, with real-time reporting on flow performance.How does Sailthru by Marigold handle email marketing?
Sailthru by Marigold supports various email marketing features, including building and personalizing emails, managing email deliverability, automated email responses, and A/B testing. It also ensures inbox delivery with features like opt-in management, bounce handling, and spam checking.Is Sailthru by Marigold user-friendly and customizable?
Sailthru by Marigold is designed to be user-friendly, with features like a visual editor for creating emails and landing pages. However, some tasks may require knowledge of CSS and HTML. The platform also offers significant customization options to meet business requirements.What kind of customer success support does Sailthru by Marigold provide?
Sailthru by Marigold is powered by a team of Customer Success Managers (CSMs) who work closely with clients to establish or fine-tune their email, multi-channel, and personalization efforts. This support is aimed at sharing in the client’s success rather than just selling a product. Sailthru - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Sailthru
Sailthru, now part of CM Group, is a powerful AI-driven marketing automation tool that stands out in the sales tools category, particularly for its advanced personalization and cross-channel optimization capabilities.Key Benefits and Features
Personalization
Sailthru uses AI and machine learning to personalize customer interactions across multiple channels, including email, mobile, web, and more. It can send messages at the optimal time based on individual customer behaviors, increasing engagement and conversion rates.
Cross-Channel Optimization
The platform allows for seamless integration and automation across various channels, enabling businesses to curate content and messaging based on where leads are in the sales funnel.
Customer Lifecycle Optimization
Sailthru helps businesses build and automate customer lifecycle journeys, ensuring that key actions are aligned with customer preferences and predicted future behaviors. This includes post-purchase messaging, VIP discounts, and disengagement prevention.
Data Analytics and Reporting
The platform provides comprehensive analytics, including campaign-level reporting, retention analytics, and real-time updates. This helps in measuring retention efforts and optimizing customer lifetime value.
Integration and Support
Sailthru integrates with major platforms like Facebook, Google, and Segment, and offers extensive support services including phone, chat, FAQ, forums, and 24/7 live support.
Who Would Benefit Most
Sailthru is particularly beneficial for retailers and media companies looking to enhance their customer engagement and retention strategies. Here are some key beneficiaries:Retailers
Sailthru’s capabilities in personalizing product recommendations, post-purchase messages, and VIP discounts make it an excellent choice for retailers aiming to increase customer loyalty and sales.
Media Companies
Media houses can leverage Sailthru to personalize content delivery, improve reader engagement, and optimize their marketing strategies across various digital channels.
Marketers
Any marketer seeking to automate and personalize their marketing campaigns, especially those focused on email, mobile, and web channels, will find Sailthru’s features highly valuable.
Limitations
While Sailthru offers a wide range of benefits, there are some limitations to consider:Technical Issues
Some users have reported bugs and issues with certain features like heatmaps and email template builders.
List Segmentation
The platform supports a limited number of conditions for list segmentation.