Sailthru - Detailed Review
Website Tools
Sailthru - Product Overview
Sailthru 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 multiple channels, including email, web, mobile, and other integrations such as in-store and loyalty programs. The platform leverages AI and Machine Learning to predict and engage with customers in real-time, driving higher conversion rates and customer lifetime value.Target Audience
The primary target audience for Sailthru includes marketers and marketing teams at leading retail and media companies. These professionals are looking to build deeper, longer-lasting relationships with their customers through personalized and targeted marketing strategies.Key Features
Multi-Channel Personalization
Sailthru allows marketers to personalize experiences across various channels, including email, web, and mobile. This includes dynamic personalization of website content, personalized push notifications, and in-app messaging.Advanced Customer Profiles
The platform creates rich, data-rich, single-view customer profiles that combine behavioral, purchase, and consumer interest data. This comprehensive view enables marketers to deliver meaningful and personalized marketing experiences.AI and Machine Learning
Sailthru uses AI and Machine Learning to make real-time predictions about customer behavior, allowing marketers to target customers with personalized content at the individual level.Customer Lifecycle Optimization
The platform offers tools to automate customer journeys and increase customer lifetime value through a visual interface. Marketers can create email and multichannel flows and triggers, and view real-time reporting on flow performance.Data and Reporting
Sailthru provides detailed analytics and data visualizations, allowing marketers to monitor performance, identify trends, and export granular data for further analysis. This helps in determining the long-term impact of marketing strategies.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 Support
Sailthru is known for its unmatched customer service, with a team of Customer Success Managers who work closely with clients to fine-tune their marketing efforts and achieve better results. Overall, Sailthru by Marigold is a powerful tool for marketers seeking to enhance customer engagement and drive revenue through personalized, data-driven marketing strategies. Sailthru - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Sailthru, particularly in its Marigold Engage platform, is designed with a focus on clarity, simplicity, and ease of use.Navigation Bar
The interface features a newly redesigned navigation bar that simplifies user tasks by categorizing options into five main menu categories:Analytics
This section combines the former “Dashboard” and “Reports” options, providing access to Sailthru-generated reports and real-time insights on user engagement and communication performance.Communications
Here, you can manage email campaigns and templates, allowing you to build and send personalized communications.Users
Formerly known as “Lists,” this section includes the Query Builder tool, enabling you to create and manage lists, user profiles, and custom reports.Content
This category incorporates content management, including AdFlight technology for behavioral ad targeting in emails, and the ability to personalize hosted pages and insert reusable content.Admin
This section handles personal and product settings, API testing, and user access management.Interface Features
The interface has been enhanced with several user-friendly features:Sidebars
New sidebars make it easier to switch between various reports and pages, improving overall navigation.Search Function
A search bar in the header allows users to quickly find reports, user profiles, and other elements within the platform. You can even activate the search by typing “s” anywhere in the interface.Job Access
An icon in the header provides quick access to the jobs page, where you can check the status of your query builder jobs. The active jobs count is also displayed in the header for easy monitoring.Ease of Use
The redesign aims to simplify the user experience by regrouping options for clarity. The interface is intuitive, with features like sidebars and a search bar that make it easy to find what you need quickly. This simplification helps reduce the time spent on navigating the platform, allowing users to focus more on their tasks.Overall User Experience
Users can expect a streamlined experience with clear and organized menus. The platform’s focus on personalization and multi-channel marketing is supported by an easy-to-use interface that helps marketers deliver personalized content and manage customer data effectively. Real-time reporting and data visualizations further enhance the user experience by providing valuable insights into marketing performance. Overall, Sailthru’s user interface is designed to be user-friendly, efficient, and highly functional, making it easier for marketers to manage their tasks and optimize their marketing strategies. Sailthru - Key Features and Functionality
Sailthru by Marigold
Sailthru is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that leverages AI and machine learning to deliver personalized customer experiences across various channels. Here are the main features and how they work:
Email Marketing
Building and Personalizing Emails
Sailthru allows users to create and design emails using an editor, manage templates, and personalize emails dynamically. This feature is highly rated, with 86% of users satisfied with its capabilities.
Sending Outbound Emails
Users can create targeted lists, schedule, and manage bulk email sending. This feature ensures efficient email campaigns and has a 90% satisfaction rate.
Manage Email Deliverability
Sailthru helps ensure inbox delivery through opt-in management, bounce handling, unsubscribe processing, and other deliverability tools. This feature is crucial for maintaining email health and has an 86% satisfaction rate.
Automated Email Responses
The platform allows for setting up automated nurturing emails based on events, online activities, and lead scores. This automation helps in engaging customers without manual intervention and has an 86% satisfaction rate.
Online Marketing
Landing Pages and Forms
Users can build customized landing pages and lead capture forms to maximize conversion. This feature is useful for specific marketing campaigns and has a 79% satisfaction rate.
Dynamic Content
Sailthru enables dynamic customization of emails, forms, and landing pages for specific segments of customers and prospects. This feature helps in personalizing content and has an 83% satisfaction rate.
A/B Testing
The platform supports testing alternate versions of emails, landing pages, and forms to determine what works best and maximize response rates. This feature is highly valued with an 86% satisfaction rate.
Mobile Optimized
Sailthru ensures that emails, online forms, and landing pages are optimized for mobile devices, which is essential in today’s mobile-centric environment and has an 87% satisfaction rate.
Lead Management and Segmentation
Segmentation
Sailthru allows for segmenting contact databases to create groups with shared characteristics. This helps in targeting specific audiences with relevant content and is a key feature in lead management.
Campaign Management
Program Management
The platform supports program management, which involves automating a series of steps that require intervention by different users. This feature helps in streamlining campaign processes and has a 77% satisfaction rate.
Customer Lifecycle Optimization
Sailthru’s Lifecycle Optimizer allows users to create customized customer journeys using insights and predictions from customer profiles. This feature automates customer journeys and increases customer lifetime value (LTV).
AI and Machine Learning Integration
Predictions and Personalization
Sailthru uses AI and machine learning to make predictions at the individual level, enabling marketers to target customers with personalized content. This helps in anticipating customer behavior and engaging them more effectively.
Dynamic Content and Automation
The AI-driven capabilities allow for dynamic content customization and automated email responses based on customer activities and profiles. This ensures that customers receive relevant and timely communications.
Data and Reporting
Data Visualizations and Dashboards
Sailthru provides data visualizations and customizable dashboards to monitor performance and identify trends. Users can also export granular data for further analysis in their preferred data analytics tools.
Integration with BI Tools
The platform allows data to be easily pulled into business intelligence tools via flexible CSV formats, making it simple to analyze and report on marketing data.
Integrations
APIs and Data Portability
Sailthru offers integration APIs and flexible data portability, allowing users to integrate the platform with other software applications and manage their data effectively.
Partner Applications
The platform has out-of-the-box integrations with leading technology partners, providing complementary functionalities and enhancing the overall marketing experience.
Performance and Reliability
Scalability and Innovation
Sailthru’s technology is built on principles of scalability, innovation, and ease of implementation, ensuring that the platform is reliable and can handle the needs of large organizations.
Performance and Uptime
The platform is consistently available, allowing users to complete tasks quickly without waiting for the software to respond, with an 87% satisfaction rate for performance and reliability.
These features collectively enable marketers to deliver highly personalized and effective marketing campaigns across multiple channels, leveraging AI and machine learning to enhance customer engagement and drive conversion.
Sailthru - Performance and Accuracy
Sailthru Overview
Sailthru, a leading personalized marketing automation platform, has demonstrated impressive performance and accuracy in the AI-driven product category, particularly in areas such as email marketing, website personalization, and mobile marketing automation.
Performance Highlights
- Sailthru has achieved significant performance increases for its customers. For instance, in 2020, the platform saw a 13% increase in emails sent and a remarkable 49% increase in open rates year-over-year. This was accompanied by a 45% increase in pageviews and a 62% increase in onsite personalization compared to 2019.
- The platform’s advanced personalization algorithms and lifecycle optimization capabilities have been praised by users. For example, The Clymb, an Internet Retailer Top 500 company, experienced a 175% increase in revenue per send and a 72% reduction in opt-outs per sale by using Sailthru’s Prediction Manager.
Accuracy and Personalization
- Sailthru’s AI and machine learning capabilities are focused on practical applications, such as predicting customer behavior and optimizing send times. The platform uses triggered predictive entries to reach customers at the most opportune moments, and its Personalized Send Time feature ensures messages are sent when customers are most likely to open them.
- The platform’s ability to capture and analyze customer data, including preferences, email interactions, and purchase patterns, helps in building long-term connections and sustaining profitability. This data-driven approach allows for highly personalized engagement across all channels.
Limitations and Areas for Improvement
- One notable limitation is the lack of seamless API support for integrating with external systems, which can add complexity to the process. This absence of API support can make integration more challenging than anticipated.
- Users have also noted that while the platform offers strong email optimization and testing capabilities, the reporting can be a bit cumbersome, and the use of dynamic personalization can be challenging to utilize.
- Additionally, some users have mentioned that the CRM integration is weak and the price of the platform is too high, which could be a barrier for some potential customers.
User Experience and Support
- Despite these limitations, Sailthru is known for its exceptional customer service and responsive account management. The platform is generally easy to use, and the company has a reputation for adapting its features based on customer feedback.
Conclusion
In summary, Sailthru’s performance and accuracy are strong, driven by its advanced AI and machine learning capabilities. However, there are areas such as API integration, reporting, and CRM integration that could be improved to enhance the overall user experience.
Sailthru - Pricing and Plans
Custom Pricing
- Sailthru does not offer standardized pricing tiers or plans. Instead, each client receives a customized pricing package that aligns with their unique requirements.
No Standard Tiers or Free Options
- There are no predefined tiers or plans, and Sailthru does not offer a free plan or a free trial.
Cost Range
- The annual cost for Sailthru software can vary widely. According to Vendr, the minimum price can vary based on a company’s specific needs, but the maximum price can reach up to $377,000, with an average annual cost of about $164,000.
Features and Services
- Despite the lack of standard tiers, Sailthru offers a wide range of features, including advanced data analytics, performance dashboards, campaign reports, prediction management, retention analytics, and smart strategies to enhance customer engagement and conversion rates.
Integrations and API
- Sailthru also provides extensive integration capabilities with various platforms such as Google AdWords, Shopify, Magento, and more, as well as a comprehensive API for programmatically interacting with the platform.
Summary
- In summary, Sailthru’s pricing is highly customized and dependent on the individual needs of the client, with no standard pricing tiers or free options available.
Sailthru - Integration and Compatibility
Integrations and Compatibility in Sailthru
Authentication and Identity Management
Sailthru integrates with Auth0, which is part of Okta. This integration allows for secure authentication and authorization across web, mobile, and legacy applications. Auth0 provides features like Universal Login, Fine Grained Authorization, and protection against phishing and credential stuffing, ensuring secure and standardized login processes.Data Integration and Replication
Sailthru can be integrated with data replication tools like Stitch. The Stitch integration uses the Sailthru API to replicate data, allowing users to select specific tables and columns for replication. This integration supports historical data replication, with the option to define the start date for data synchronization. It also provides extraction logs and loading reports for transparency.Marketing Automation and E-commerce
For e-commerce businesses, Sailthru offers an integration with Shopify through its Marketing Automation app. This app allows for the automatic syncing of customer information, purchase data, and product details. It also enables features like sending Abandoned Cart emails, tracking product page views, and recommending products based on customer behavior and interests.Cross-Channel Personalization
Sailthru integrates with mParticle to personalize customer experiences across various digital channels, including email, websites, and mobile applications. mParticle forwards events such as session starts and ends, as well as email addresses, to Sailthru, using API keys and secrets for secure data transfer. This integration helps in building deeper, longer-lasting customer relationships and driving higher revenue.Compatibility with Other Platforms
Sailthru is compatible with several other platforms, including WordPress, Zendesk, and Swell. This broad compatibility ensures that businesses can integrate Sailthru into their existing workflows without significant disruptions.Conclusion
In summary, Sailthru’s integrations with authentication services like Auth0, data replication tools like Stitch, e-commerce platforms like Shopify, and cross-channel personalization tools like mParticle, make it a versatile and powerful marketing automation solution. Its compatibility across various platforms and devices further enhances its utility for businesses seeking to personalize and optimize their customer interactions. Sailthru - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support
Sailthru provides several levels of customer support to address various needs:
- Standard Support: Available through phone, email, and an online portal, ensuring users have multiple channels to seek help.
- Select Support: This option includes a named technical support engineer for more personalized assistance.
- 24/7 Cloud Monitoring: Ensuring continuous monitoring and quick response times to any issues that may arise.
- High Customer Satisfaction: With a 97% customer satisfaction rating, Sailthru’s support team is committed to resolving issues efficiently.
Customer Success Management
Each account is assigned a dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) who works closely with the client to:
- Ideate and deploy marketing strategies.
- Boost key metrics through annual strategic business reviews, quarterly business checkpoints, and weekly syncs for ongoing tactical management.
Professional Services
Sailthru’s professional services team helps in designing and deploying the platform to fit unique use cases and goals. This includes:
- Standard implementation.
- Sailthru scripting language training.
- Technical consulting.
- Template setup and coding.
- Hosted pages/signup/preference center coding.
- Custom overlays.
Solutions Architecture
The Solutions Architects work alongside the CSM to ensure the Sailthru platform is maximized. They perform technical account audits, provide technical workshops, and help in configuring and rolling out custom use cases to optimize implementation and workflows.
Client Strategy & Analytics
This team offers strategic business reviews, insights workshops, benchmarking analysis, and various other analytical services to help users understand and improve their program effectiveness. They provide actionable recommendations to maximize customer lifetime value and total enterprise value.
Deliverability Support
Sailthru’s in-house team of experts focuses on deliverability, maintaining trusted relationships with ISPs and industry groups. They offer proactive deliverability monitoring, strategic advising, and authentication reporting to ensure healthy delivery rates.
Website Personalization Resources
For website personalization, Sailthru provides tools like the Site Personalization Manager, which helps curate homepage content relevant to visitors. Users can preview overlays, track efficacy, and make content predictions to connect with visitors at the right time. The platform also offers cohesive and personalized recommendations based on cross-channel customer data.
These resources and support options are designed to help users optimize their marketing strategies, improve engagement rates, and ensure high deliverability of their campaigns.
Sailthru - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Sailthru
Sailthru offers several significant advantages that make it a compelling choice for marketing automation and email marketing:Personalization
Sailthru excels in personalization, allowing you to send customized messages to customers based on their interests, behaviors, and purchase histories. It uses machine learning and AI to personalize emails, push notifications, and other cross-channel communications, increasing engagement and conversion rates.Automated Workflows
The platform enables the automation of workflows to target relevant customers with product recommendations, post-purchase messages, and VIP discounts. It also helps prevent disengaged customers from unsubscribing through predictive algorithms.Cross-Channel Optimization
Sailthru allows for the optimization of workflows across multiple channels, including mobile, web, and email. This ensures that your messages reach audiences through the most effective channels, such as push notifications and in-app messages.Customer Journeys
The platform helps you build and refine customer lifecycle infrastructures, allowing for personalized customer journeys and cross-channel messaging. This includes the ability to modify messages and creatives without interrupting workflows.Performance and Analytics
Sailthru provides powerful analytics tools, such as performance dashboards and campaign reports, which help you track the success of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions. The Smart Data reporting and analytics tool can calculate and optimize customer lifetime value.Integrations
The platform integrates with various tools and services, including Facebook, Google, Segment, Shopify, and more. These integrations enable you to leverage customer data across different platforms and expand your marketing reach.Customer Success and Support
Sailthru assigns a dedicated Customer Success Manager to each client, providing strategic guidance and support to ensure short-term and long-term success. This includes deliverability support and regular strategic business reviews.Disadvantages of Sailthru
While Sailthru offers many benefits, there are also some notable drawbacks:Technical Issues
Users have reported issues with the reliability and bugginess of the product, including problems with uploads, downloads, and report generation.Limited List Segmentation
The list segmentation feature supports a limited number of conditions, which can be restrictive for some users.Email Template Builder
The email template builder is not as robust as some users would like, making it less flexible for creating customized email templates.Customer Service
Some users have reported poor customer service, with slower response times and less satisfactory support experiences.Pricing
Sailthru uses a quote-based pricing system, which can be pricey for some users, especially those focused on lead generation rather than engagement. In summary, Sailthru is a powerful tool for personalization and cross-channel marketing, but it comes with some technical and service-related limitations that users should be aware of. Sailthru - Comparison with Competitors
When Comparing Sailthru with Competitors
When comparing Sailthru, a marketing automation and multi-channel personalization tool, with its competitors in the online marketing and marketing automation category, several key points and alternatives stand out.
Unique Features of Sailthru
- Sailthru is known for its advanced personalization capabilities, allowing businesses to create highly targeted and personalized marketing campaigns across multiple channels, including email, mobile, and web.
- It offers robust customer data management and analytics, enabling businesses to segment their audience and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.
- Sailthru is particularly popular among e-commerce and media brands, helping them to automate and optimize their marketing efforts.
Competitors and Alternatives
Dotdigital
- Dotdigital is often highlighted as one of the top alternatives to Sailthru. It offers comprehensive marketing automation tools, including email marketing, SMS, and social media engagement. Dotdigital is known for its ease of use and strong customer support.
Klaviyo
- Klaviyo is another significant competitor, providing a unified customer platform for email, SMS, and other channels. It gives businesses direct ownership of their consumer data and interactions, making it a favorite among online brands.
MailChimp
- MailChimp has a substantial market share in the online marketing category, with features that include email marketing, automation, and analytics. It is user-friendly and offers a wide range of templates and integrations.
HubSpot Marketing Hub
- HubSpot Marketing Hub is a powerful alternative that offers a broad suite of marketing tools, including content management, social media management, and lead generation. It is known for its comprehensive analytics and integration with other HubSpot tools.
Braze
- Braze is a cross-channel marketing platform that focuses on customer engagement through personalized campaigns. It supports advanced segmentation, automation, and real-time data processing, making it a strong competitor to Sailthru.
Iterable
- Iterable is another cross-channel marketing platform that allows growth marketers to create user engagement campaigns across all channels. It supports features like user segmentation, workflow building, and automated touchpoints.
Bluecore
- Bluecore is a data-insights management company that helps retailers track conversion rates and build automated one-to-one campaigns. It is particularly useful for retailers looking to optimize their marketing efforts based on customer data.
Selligent Marketing Cloud
- Selligent Marketing Cloud offers an intelligent omnichannel marketing platform that provides insights to deliver more personalized and valuable customer experiences. It is known for its dynamic technology and comprehensive marketing automation capabilities.
Key Considerations
When choosing an alternative to Sailthru, consider the following factors:
- Customer Data Management: Look for platforms that offer strong customer data management and analytics.
- Personalization: If personalization is a key requirement, alternatives like Dotdigital, Klaviyo, and Braze are strong contenders.
- Multi-Channel Support: Ensure the platform supports multiple marketing channels such as email, SMS, and social media.
- Ease of Use: Consider platforms known for their user-friendly interfaces, such as MailChimp and Dotdigital.
- Integration: Check for integrations with other tools and platforms you are already using, such as HubSpot Marketing Hub and Iterable.
Each of these alternatives offers unique features and strengths, so it’s important to evaluate them based on your specific business needs and marketing strategies.
Sailthru - Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sailthru by Marigold?
Sailthru by Marigold is a comprehensive, unified, and integrated marketing solution. It is designed for modern marketers and provides a platform to manage and personalize marketing campaigns across various channels, including email, social, and mobile.
What are the key features of Sailthru by Marigold?
Sailthru by Marigold offers a range of features, including email marketing (building and personalizing emails, managing email deliverability, automated email responses), online marketing (landing pages and forms, dynamic content, A/B testing), lead management (segmentation), and campaign management. It also includes robust reporting and analytics tools, such as web analytics, ROI analytics, and revenue analytics.
Does Sailthru by Marigold offer integrations with other tools and platforms?
Yes, Sailthru by Marigold provides out-of-the-box integrations with leading technology partners. It supports integrations with tools like Zendesk Suite, Adobe Commerce, Yotpo, and many others. The platform also allows for data to be easily pulled into business intelligence tools and offers flexible APIs for custom integrations.
How does Sailthru by Marigold handle customer data and personalization?
Sailthru by Marigold captures both implicit and explicit customer data from across all channels and touchpoints to build complete, 360-degree customer profiles. This data is used to deliver unique, 1:1 personalized content and product recommendations across various channels, including email, mobile, and social.
What kind of support does Sailthru by Marigold offer?
Sailthru by Marigold provides several support options, including email/help desk support, phone support, a knowledge base, and FAQs/forum. Additionally, it offers account management services, including an integration consultant, project manager, implementation engineer, and 24/7 support.
Does Sailthru by Marigold offer a free trial or a free plan?
No, Sailthru by Marigold does not offer a free trial or a free plan. The pricing is custom and based on the specific needs of the organization.
What is the pricing structure for Sailthru by Marigold?
Sailthru by Marigold provides custom pricing for its software, meaning the cost is tailored to the individual needs of each organization. There is no standard pricing plan available.
Who are the typical users of Sailthru by Marigold?
The typical users of Sailthru by Marigold include large enterprises, mid-size businesses, and small businesses.
What languages does Sailthru by Marigold support?
Currently, Sailthru by Marigold supports English. There is no information available on support for other languages.
Does Sailthru by Marigold offer API access?
While the platform does have integration APIs and supports data import and export, there is some confusion in the sources. However, it is clear that Sailthru by Marigold does support API integrations for data and logic exchange with other software applications.
How does Sailthru by Marigold manage email deliverability?
Sailthru by Marigold ensures email deliverability through features such as opt-in management, bounce handling, unsubscribe processing, suppression lists, email preview, spam checking, link validation, and delivery monitoring.
Sailthru - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Sailthru
Sailthru is a powerful email marketing and customer lifecycle optimization platform that stands out for its advanced personalization and analytics capabilities. Here’s a comprehensive look at who would benefit most from using Sailthru and an overall recommendation.Key Benefits
- Automated Personalization: Sailthru excels in personalizing every aspect of email campaigns, which significantly improves engagement and conversion rates. It allows for the sending of customized emails, SMS, and push notifications based on subscriber interests and behaviors.
- Behavioral Data and Analytics: The platform collects and analyzes customer interactions across all channels, providing a lifetime view of customers’ interests, behaviors, and purchase histories. This data is used to optimize customer lifetime value through predictive intelligence tools like Sailthru Sightlines.
- User Experience and Automation: Sailthru offers a user-friendly platform that allows for easy automation of email programs. Features like performance dashboards, campaign reports, and retention analytics tools make it easier to manage and optimize marketing campaigns.
Who Would Benefit Most
Sailthru is particularly beneficial for businesses that focus on building long-term relationships with their customers. Here are some key user groups:- Publishers and Media Companies: Given its success with clients like Adweek, Business Insider, and Refinery29, Sailthru is well-suited for publishers who need to engage their audience through personalized content.
- E-commerce and Retail: Companies looking to enhance customer engagement and increase sales through personalized marketing strategies will find Sailthru’s features highly valuable. The platform’s ability to deliver dynamic product recommendations and post-purchase messaging is particularly useful in this sector.
- Marketers Focused on Retention: Businesses aiming to improve customer retention and increase customer lifetime value will appreciate Sailthru’s advanced analytics and personalization tools.
Recommendations
If your business prioritizes customer engagement, personalization, and data-driven marketing strategies, Sailthru is an excellent choice. Here are some points to consider:- Pricing: While Sailthru’s pricing is quote-based and can be more expensive than some other ESPs, it offers a more sane price compared to heavy hitters like Salesforce Marketing Cloud. It is essential to contact Sailthru for a customized pricing package that fits your business needs.
- Customer Service: Although there have been some reports of poor customer service, it is crucial to weigh this against the platform’s strong features and benefits. Ensuring you have a clear support plan in place can mitigate any potential issues.
- Integration and Scalability: Sailthru integrates well with various channels and third-party applications, making it scalable for large organizations. Its API and data import/export tools facilitate smooth integration and data management.