Methodology · published in full
How we recommend
Every rule Find your stack follows — deal-breakers, weights, confidence and stability — with the numbers read straight from the code that runs it.
From your answers to your matches
- 1Classify on facts
Every listing is described with the same controlled vocabulary: objectives, disciplines, industries, sizes, categories, markets, interface languages, features, connectors, pricing models and attestations. A value is recorded only when a source confirms it.
- 2Apply deal-breakers
A listing is left out if it is not the kind you asked for, does not serve your market, lacks a deployment model you require, serves none of your objectives, is built for another industry, or misses something you marked as a must-have.
- 3Score only what you answered
The rest are scored as a weighted share of the questions you actually answered. A blank question never penalises anyone; marking something important doubles its weight.
- 4Report confidence and stability
Alongside each score: how much of the listing has been checked, and whether its place survives different weightings.
- 5Explain every result
Each result carries why it fits, what it does not cover, what to check before signing, and the per-dimension breakdown behind its score.
Weights and deal-breakers
Base weights out of 100 when every question is answered. A dimension you mark as important counts ×2.
- Only answered questions count; leaving one blank never lowers a score.
- A product built for any industry qualifies everywhere, at half the industry credit of one built for yours.
- A ready-made connector to your system counts in full; reaching it through the vendor's public API counts half.
- Ties break on how much of the listing has been checked, then by name — never by any relationship.
Try the weights yourself
Pick a mission and move the weights. The real directory re-ranks live, so you can see how much any one judgement matters.
- 3Antavo62
- 2Bloomreach77
- 4Braze62
- 5Brevo62
- 6Insider One62
- 1Klaviyo85
The details
Fit versus confidence
Fit says how well a listing's recorded facts match your brief. Confidence says how much of that record has been checked. They are kept apart on purpose: a listing we have not finished checking is not pushed down for our backlog, and it does not look as certain as one we have.
- High confidence
- Verified, or at least four of six criteria assessed with two or more sources.
- Medium confidence
- At least two criteria assessed, or two or more sources attached.
- Early data
- Classified, but little has been checked yet. Treat the score as provisional.
Stability
Weights are a judgement, so a recommendation that only holds under exactly our numbers is fragile. For every shortlist the ranking is recomputed under 200 alternative weightings, each weight moved independently by up to ±40%, using a fixed seed so the figure is reproducible. 'Stays top-3 in 92% of weightings' means exactly that.
Profile shape
The radar on each listing shows six breadth measures computed from its recorded facts. Two listings with the same facts draw the same shape. It describes coverage, not quality — a narrow specialist can be the right choice.
- Disciplines
- Distinct disciplines covered; six or more fills the axis.
- Reach
- Widest region served: global 100, a macro-region 70, a sub-region 45, one country 25.
- Connectors
- Confirmed ready-made connectors, plus one for a public API; eight or more fills it.
- Features
- Recorded features; eight or more fills it.
- Price clarity
- A published pricing model 100, quoted on request 25.
- Criteria shown
- Criteria shown met, out of six. Unassessed counts as not shown — hence 'shown', not 'quality'.
What the engine does not do, and its limits
What the engine does not do
- It does not use reviews, popularity, traffic, revenue or brand size. A large vendor and a small one with the same facts score the same.
- It does not guess. An unclassified listing is never matched; an integration we could not confirm is treated as "possible through the API", not as a connector.
- It does not rank on assessment. Criteria verdicts feed the confidence level shown beside a score, never the score itself, so our own backlog cannot push a vendor down.
Limits worth knowing
- Coverage is not capability. A facet says a platform offers something, not how well. Use the shortlist to decide whom to talk to, then test.
- Facts age. Each listing shows when it was last reviewed. Prices, features and coverage change; the community corrections log is how we keep up.
- The directory is curated, not exhaustive. If a platform you need is missing, suggest it.
Every attribute, measured the same way (52)
Every fact the directory holds is one of these attributes, with one rule that turns a listing's record into a value. The rule never names a listing. A value is either recorded, not recorded yet, or not applicable, and only the ranking engine's own inputs, your answers, ever change an order.
Identity
- Type one of
- Platform, agency, consultancy or freelancer. Platforms are researched by the team; the others are community listings only.
- Categories list
- What kind of platform it is (one to three categories), or what an agency does. The set follows the type.
- Founded number
- Year founded, only when a source confirms it.
- Headquarters one of
- Country of the head office, only when sources agree.
- Ownership one of
- Publicly listed, privately held, or part of a larger group.
- Parent company text
- Applies only to subsidiaries.
- Stock ticker text
- Applies only to publicly listed companies.
- Open source yes / no
- Yes when it is offered as open source.
- Added by one of
- The IMC Institute team (platforms), or a community submission or claim the team reviewed (always, for agencies, consultancies and freelancers).
Fit
- Objectives list
- The objectives its own documentation shows it serving.
- Disciplines list
- The disciplines of marketing communications it supports, from its documentation.
- Number of disciplines number
- Distinct disciplines covered.
- Suits list
- Derived, never tagged: one published rule per role, from the categories, objectives, disciplines, sizes and pricing recorded (for example, marketing operations when it is marketing automation, a CRM, a CDP, work management or a CMS).
- Company sizes list
- The customer sizes it targets, agencies included.
- Industries list
- Industries it is built for; "Any industry" for general-purpose products.
- Markets list
- Where it says it operates. A region covers its countries.
- Reach number
- The widest area served: worldwide 100, a region 70, a sub-region 45, one country 25.
- Interface languages list
- Whether the product's own interface exists in English, French and Arabic, where documented.
- Support languages list
- Languages its support is offered in, where documented.
Capabilities
- Features list
- The general capabilities (API, webhooks, export, single sign-on) and those its categories declare, recorded only as the vendor documents them.
- Public API yes / no
- Yes when a documented public API is recorded among its features.
- Webhooks yes / no
- Yes when webhooks are recorded among its features.
- Full data export yes / no
- Yes when a full export of your data is recorded among its features.
- AI features list
- Generative content, predictive scoring or AI agents, only as the vendor documents them.
- Connects to list
- Ready-made connectors we could confirm; an unconfirmed one is left off.
- Number of connectors number
- Confirmed ready-made connectors.
- Deployment list
- Cloud (SaaS), self-hosted or open source.
- Can run on your own servers yes / no
- Yes when self-hosted or open-source deployment is offered.
- Availability one of
- Generally available, invite-only or coming soon.
Commercial
- Pricing models list
- Every pricing model the vendor publishes: free tier, per contact, per user, usage-based, flat plans, commission, or quote on request.
- Free tier yes / no
- Yes when a free plan or free tier is stated.
- Starting price text
- The lowest published price as the vendor states it, with the month it was read; "on request" when none is published. Never our own average.
- Published contract terms yes / no
- Yes when term, notice, minimums or exit terms are published; shown in words on the listing.
Trust
- Transparency check
- Met, not met, or not recorded until checked against public evidence.
- Interfaces check
- Met, not met, or not recorded until checked against public evidence.
- Delivery check
- Met, not met, or not recorded until checked against public evidence.
- Consent check
- Met, not met, or not recorded until checked against public evidence.
- Data check
- Met, not met, or not recorded until checked against public evidence.
- Commercial terms check
- Met, not met, or not recorded until checked against public evidence.
- Checks met number
- How many of the six checks are met. Unchecked counts as not shown, not as failed.
- Attestations list
- Recorded only when the listing's own trust, security, legal or accessibility page (or an auditor's registry) states it, with that page as the source. Absent means not recorded, never "does not have".
- Data residency list
- Regions where the vendor says data can be kept. A region covers its countries.
- Accessibility statement yes / no
- Yes when a public accessibility statement is recorded; absent means not recorded.
- Public status page yes / no
- Yes when a public status page is recorded; absent means not recorded.
- Security page yes / no
- Yes when a public security or trust page is recorded; absent means not recorded.
- How much we've checked one of
- High with four or more checks and two or more sources; medium with two of either; otherwise low.
- Sources number
- Cited sources behind the listing.
- Last reviewed text
- The month the listing was last checked against its sources.
Recognition
- Analyst recognitions number
- Named analyst evaluations only, with a public link and a date; a vendor's own page citing one is not enough unless the evaluation is public.
The community
- "Looks right" confirmations number
- One-tap confirmations from visitors. Shown, never ranked.
- Community experiences number
- Moderated experiences from members who used it.
- Community rating number
- Average of moderated reviews, out of 5. Shown beside the facts; never a ranking input.
The whole matrix is open data: /api/v1/matrix · CSV
The six criteria
Every platform is classified on the same groups (identity, fit, capabilities, commercial, trust, recognition) and assessed against the same six criteria.
- Transparency. Are pricing and terms published, or at least explained without obligation?
- Interfaces. Can your data and work move in and out: a documented API, exports, integrations?
- Data. Is it clear who owns the data, where it is kept, and how you take it with you when you leave?
- Consent. Is consent and preference management built in, rather than left to you?
- Delivery. Is what the product claims to do documented, so you can check it before you sign?
- Commercial. Are the commercial terms free of hidden lock-in: notice periods, minimums and exit costs stated?
A criterion is met, not met or not assessed: three distinct states. Many listings show several "not assessed", including large and well-known companies: marking a criterion met on reputation would make the scorecard decorative. Not assessed is not a failure; it says we have not checked yet.
Listing states. Verified: assessed against all six criteria, with evidence recorded. Listed: included because it is relevant, not yet fully assessed; a listing is not an endorsement. Under review: an assessment is in progress or a question is open.
173 of 360 possible criterion verdicts recorded across the directory so far.
Independence
The engine never reads any relationship field, the listing's origin or its experiences. IMC Institute owns no listed product, and any listing with a commercial relationship is excluded from the public directory. The automated tests relabel every listing with every possible relationship and fail if a single ranking moves.