Responsys and e-Dialog are top ESPs: Forrester

Responsys and e-Dialog lead the e-mail market, according to the Forrester Wave Email Marketing Service Providers Report for Q4 2007.

Segmentation, data integration capabilities and open architecture helped these two independent firms lead the pack, according to the survey.

Epsilon and YesMail were next on the list after Responsys and e-Dialog. Epsilon owes its success to the scalability of its platform, according to the report. The e-mail provider scored high despite its intergration of e-mail into other channels, a tactic that Forrester does not reward in its study.

YesMail has come a long way from its legal troubles in 2006, with a new CTO who has helped launch the ESP from contender to leader in the Forrester report.

Experian, Acxiom and Harte-Hanks have remained on the list as strong performers, but no longer lead the list.  Harte-Hanks does have strong campaign automation and customer survey capabilities, but the firm fails on scalability, data storage and reporting flexibility, according to the report.

The report says that Acxiom and Experian lack strategic services and dynamic content abilities. However, Acxiom is similar to Harte-Hanks with strong automation and survey functionalities and Experian brings able integration and a focus on retail, it goes on to say.

Datran Media also made the survey. While the survey notes that the e-mail service provider does not have advanced functionality, its offering of an e-mail ad network and its secure in-house data management make it a contender to be evaluated by the study.