Marketing Automation

Name: Marketing Automation category data
Creator: First to Market

Software that automates and measures repetitive marketing tasks and workflows — email campaigns, lead nurturing, scoring, and multichannel customer journeys — across the funnel.

Last updated September 27, 2026

Our read

Marketing automation consolidated early. Unica started in 1992, Eloqua in 1999, and the modern cohort arrived in 2006 when Marketo popularized the term. Then the big platforms bought in: IBM took Unica in 2010, Oracle and Salesforce followed in 2012, and Adobe bought Marketo in 2018. G2 lists 278 products today, and the name is contested across B2B marketing automation, multichannel marketing hubs and customer engagement platforms. Challengers like Klaviyo and Customer.io found room underneath. The newest pitch is marketing agents that build and run campaigns with less human input. We've audited eight companies here.

Open question for founders
If an agent can build and run the campaign, do customers still need to log into a product every day?

By the numbers

Companies tracked

As of September 27, 2026

Market size

~$47B (2025)

Estimates vary by definition

Years since the term went mainstream

As of July 18, 2026

Most common pricing model

No single model

per seat 3usage-based 2hybrid 1flat rate 1

n = 7 companies with a public pricing model · as of September 26, 2026

Open roles by department

522 open roles

Sales 40%Engineering 29%Customer Success/Support 9%Marketing 8%People 3%Other 11%

n = 6 companies with public job boards · as of September 1, 2026

Stage history

Crowded Watersrecorded September 27, 2026

Companies we track

Challengers

Also tracked

FAQ

What is Marketing Automation?

Software that automates and measures repetitive marketing tasks and workflows — email campaigns, lead nurturing, scoring, and multichannel customer journeys — across the funnel.

How mature is the Marketing Automation category?

We place it in stage 4, Crowded Waters. Mature category with established leaders. You're fighting for share against incumbents everyone already knows.

How big is the Marketing Automation market?

Estimates put it at ~$47B (2025). Market sizes vary widely by how analysts draw the category's edges.

How do Marketing Automation companies usually price?

There's no single dominant model among the 7 tracked companies with a public pricing model: 3 per seat, 2 usage-based, 1 hybrid, 1 flat rate.

Which Marketing Automation companies does First to Market track?

Customer.io, Klaviyo, Blaze, Braze, Genspark, HubSpot, Iterable, Marketo.

Building in Marketing Automation?

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