Web-based Marketing Platform - SaaS

FlyonIT
Web-based Marketing Platform SaaS
4/12/2018

Web-based Marketing Platform - SaaS
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................2
Problem Domain & Research Questions.................................................................................................2
SaaS Platform......................................................................................................................................2
Background & Project Objectives...........................................................................................................2
Similar Platforms & Portals in the Market..........................................................................................2
Project Requirements Analysis & Specifications....................................................................................4
Plug-ins/APIs/Integrations with Major Platforms...............................................................................4
Suitable Hosting Platforms..................................................................................................................5
Recommendations to Software Developer..........................................................................................5
Back-end Databases to Produce Reports.............................................................................................6
Security Options..................................................................................................................................7
Off-the-Shelf Software........................................................................................................................8
Coding Languages...............................................................................................................................9
User Management................................................................................................................................9
Design Layout & Interface................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................10
References..............................................................................................................................................12
Appendices.............................................................................................................................................15
Literature Review..............................................................................................................................15
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Web-based Marketing Platform - SaaS
Introduction
FlyonIT is an IT solutions and company that provides innovative IT services and solutions to
its clients. The employees engaged with the company are skilled and trained on the latest IT
tools and platforms. The company has an all-inclusive computer and IT support. The
company takes care of all the IT issues and risks that come up so that the innovation and
creativity of the solutions is always maintained. The range of clients associated with the
company includes start-ups to large business organizations.
Problem Domain & Research Questions
SaaS Platform
Software as a Service (SaaS) is one the most commonly used and applied cloud delivery
models that allow the users from all across the globe to connect and utilize cloud-based
applications. SaaS provides a complete software solution for the desired service and there are
numerous web-based market platforms that are offered as SaaS [1]. The service provider
manages and stores all of the underlying infrastructure, middleware, and data sets in this case.
There are various advantages that are offered by SaaS, such as pay-per-use model that allows
the users to make use of cost effective solutions, utilization of free client software, easier
mobilisation of the workforce, accessing of application data from any location, and access to
sophisticated applications.
The company is now looking forward to develop an integrated web-based marketing platform
for its clients so that it may provide it as a SaaS to handle their marketing activities,
campaigns and reporting.
The report covers the list of web-based marketing platforms provided as SaaS that are
available in the market and includes details of these applications in terms of design, coding,
layout, interface, hosting platforms, security, user management, and plug-ins.
Background & Project Objectives
Similar Platforms & Portals in the Market
There are a number of similar platforms and portals that are already available in the market
and are being utilized by the users from all across the globe.
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Web-based Marketing Platform - SaaS
Some of these platforms and portals are listed and described below.
 HubSpot: It is a SaaS tool that is all-in-one marketing software. The tool comes with
an extensive marketing features and options, such as social media management, email
integration, SEO, customer segmentation, automated analytics, customer
management, business blogging, sales notification, predictive lead scoring, landing
page templates, email templates, traffic reporting, CRM integration, market channel
analytics, conversion rate optimization, keyword tracking, and a lot more.
 Google Analytics: It is an amazing tool that allows the business units to develop
marketing plans and strategies on the basis of traffic metrics and analysis that it
performs. The tool presents the in-depth information of the users, their choices and
preferences, and can be easily used and integrated with other marketing tools and
platforms being used [19].
 HootSuite: Social media marketing is one of the marketing channels that are on a rise
and the business organizations need to have a strong social media presence for
marketing campaigns. The tool allows creation and maintenance of social media
platforms for free of cost and provides the ability to automatically post on all the
accounts without logging in to each social media account individually. A track of all
the replies and comments is also kept and maintained [2].
 Salesforce: Sales is one of the inter-linked marketing activities and any of the
marketing campaigns or reporting cannot be done effectively if there are poor sales
processes involved. The tool keeps a track of and manages all of the sales processes
with features as automated monitoring, tracking of insights for newer business
opportunities, improvement of productivity, collaboration and engagement with the
other departments [20].
 Wistia: It is a web-based video marketing platform that is offered as SaaS to the
clients. It keeps a track of the people watching the video marketing posts and also
provides a richer user-experience as compared to YouTube. Some of the interesting
features include video SEO, email opt-ins, analytics with heatmaps, high resolution
video player that may be customized, and team collaboration [3].
 BuzzSumo: It is required for the business organizations to have an idea of how the
content is performing from all the units and the tool allows an understanding of the
same. The analysis can be done on the basis of the topic that is selected to gain an
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Web-based Marketing Platform - SaaS
insight to the performance in each area. Key influencers, promotional strategy, and
major competitors can be easily figured out with the aid of the tool [21].
 Hotjar: It is an all-in-one analytics and feedback tool that is used for the purpose of
conversion rate optimization in marketing. It provides the users with a lot of
interesting features, such as form analytics, feedback polls, heatmaps, user testing
recruitments, and conversion funnel tracking [22].
 Qualaroo: It is an on-page survey tool that can allow the business units to gain
customer feedback and response using attractive forms. There is a feature of skip
logic that comes along with the tool which allows presentation of a follow-up
question on the basis of the response of the previous question[ 23].
Project Requirements Analysis & Specifications
Plug-ins/APIs/Integrations with Major Platforms
Some of the major platforms include HubSpot, Salesforce, and Google Analytics.
There are numerous APIs that are provided and included with Salesforce, such as REST API
that allows the users to access objects using RESTful web services. Similarly, SOAP API is
included so that the objects can be accessed using SOAP services. Bulk API allows the users
to modify or delete a large number of records that leads to time-savings. Metadata API allows
managing customizations and metadata models in the organizations. There are a lot many
other APIs involved like Streaming API, tooling API, etc. [4].
HubSpot provides integration with marketing apps and web services that are commonly used.
No technical set-up is required for integration with Salesforce and the users can easily utilize
the two databases. Zendesk activity integration is provided to keep a track of customer
experience and processes. Integration with Unbounce is included to design responsive web
pages optimally with automated feature for A/B testing. There are also integration provided
with popular platforms like SurveyMonkey, Aircall, Zapier, Wistia, Databox, and many
others [5].
Blogging is one of the most significant marketing activities and WordPress is the most
advanced and commonly used platform for the same. Google Analytics includes multiple
WordPress plug-ins for enhanced marketing campaigns and reporting. Some of these include
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Web-based Marketing Platform - SaaS
Google Analytics+, Google Analytics Dashboard, Enhanced E-commerce plugin,
MonsterInsights Plugin, WD Premium plugin, and many more [6].
Suitable Hosting Platforms
There are a number of hosting companies that can be used for web-based marketing SaaS
hosting. Liquid Web is one such host that provides easier hosting options for SaaS. It will
provide FlyonIT and its clients with enhanced scalability and resources as per the
requirement. Also, real-time monitoring and 100% uptime guarantee will be provided so that
the marketing activities run on a 24x7 basis. The subscription options are also provided in
abundance with monthly rentals as $29.50, $39.50, $59.50, and $84.50. The disk space
offered will increase with increase in the rental. Some of the features that will be included
with every hosting solution provider by the vendor will cover built-in data backups,
integrated firewall, root access, DDoS protection, enhanced scalability, dedicated IP address,
Gigabit transfer [7].
Another managed cloud hosting platform that may be used is Beyond Hosting. It is a hosting
platform that provides managed hosting with 24x7 availability and regular updates. There is
an integrated firewall provided by the vendor for improved security of the applications and
data. Daily server backups, non-stop monitoring, and free consulting are some of the other
features provided by the host [8]. Digital Ocean is another cloud hosting platform that may be
considered for low pricing models with flat pricing structure. The host promises and
guarantees 99.9% uptime and non-stop support services in case of any query. The host also
provided an abundant set of features for every phase as deployment, management, security,
scalability, and monitoring. Multiple droplets can be provided in an instance of time through
the APIs or control panel. There are pre-build apps provided for configuration and installation
that bring down the error rate and also provide with the ease of operations. Cloud firewalls,
private networking, block storage, load balancers, real-time alerts, object storage, summary
dashboards, backups and snapshots, and team management are the other features provided by
the host [9].
Recommendations to Software Developer
The web-based marketing platform that will be developed for FlyonIT shall be developed
using agile as the development model. It is because the every client will require certain
modifications in the platform as per their needs and requirements. The product developed
using agile methodology will allow it to be scalable, flexible, adaptable, and ready for
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