If you can’t decide between Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, you are in the right place. Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud are two marketing CRMs available, but their intended audiences are quite different. Compare them side by side:
Key Takeaways
- Marketo is a marketing automation platform that offers features for lead management, email marketing, and customer engagement. It allows businesses to create personalized marketing campaigns and automate various marketing tasks. Marketo’s focus is on enterprise-level marketing automation, making it suitable for large organizations with complex marketing needs. It provides robust analytics and reporting features to measure the impact of marketing efforts on revenue and customer engagement. While Marketo excels in marketing automation, it may not offer the same level of CRM capabilities and integrations as Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive marketing automation platform by Salesforce designed to support businesses in their marketing efforts. It provides a range of tools for email marketing, social media marketing, advertising, and customer journey management. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s integration with Salesforce CRM allows for seamless data syncing and alignment between marketing and sales efforts. It is well-suited for businesses seeking a tightly integrated marketing automation and CRM solution. Both Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud are powerful marketing automation platforms, but the choice between them would depend on specific business needs, existing technology stack, and the level of integration required between marketing and sales processes. Marketo’s focus on enterprise-level marketing automation might be appealing for large organizations, while Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s tight integration with Salesforce CRM might be a deciding factor for businesses already using Salesforce as their CRM system.
Main Differences Between Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud are both marketing automation platforms, but they have different target audiences. Marketo is ideal for B2B marketers and excels in lead generation and nurturing. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is more versatile, catering to B2C and B2B marketers with a broader range of marketing capabilities. The choice between Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud depends on whether users need specialized B2B marketing automation or a more versatile marketing solution for both B2C and B2B.
Pricing of Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Specific pricing information for Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud is not readily available. However, here is a summary of the information provided:
Marketo
- Marketo offers four pricing and package plans.
- Marketo’s pricing is not transparent, and specific pricing details are not disclosed on their website.
- Marketo’s pricing is tied to the number of contacts in your database, and they offer custom pricing based on your specific needs.
- Marketo has an entrylevel Jumpstart plan designed for organizations with fewer than 50,000 contacts.
- Marketo’s pricing is generally considered to be more expensive compared to other marketing automation platforms.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers various pricing plans depending on the specific needs and features required.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s pricing is not transparent, and specific pricing details are not disclosed on their website.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s pricing is based on the number of contacts in your database and the specific features required.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud is generally considered to be more expensive compared to other marketing automation platforms.
It’s worth noting that Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud are both comprehensive marketing automation platforms that offer similar features, but Marketo is known for its marketing intelligence and automation capabilities, while Salesforce Marketing Cloud is known for its customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. The choice between the two will depend on the specific needs and budget of the business.
My experience with Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Marketo
Marketo is a marketing automation platform that excels in lead generation, nurturing, and marketing campaign management. It’s favored by larger businesses and enterprises seeking advanced marketing capabilities.
However, Marketo might come with a steeper learning curve due to its comprehensive features. If your primary focus is on marketing automation and advanced lead management, Marketo could be a strong choice for scaling your marketing efforts.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a specialized platform for marketing automation, offering features for email marketing, social media management, and more. It’s part of the broader Salesforce ecosystem and designed for businesses looking to manage their marketing efforts within a comprehensive CRM framework.
If your business is already using Salesforce or requires a more integrated approach to marketing automation within your CRM system, Salesforce Marketing Cloud could be the preferable choice. Keep in mind that its capabilities might require familiarity with the Salesforce ecosystem.
Consider your CRM integration needs – Marketo for advanced marketing automation or Salesforce Marketing Cloud for an integrated approach within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Our Winner: Salesforce Marketing Cloud
After analyzing both Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, we concluded that the best choice overall is Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
This obviously doesn’t mean that the other choice is particularly bad. For some particular cases could even be the other way around, depending on your specific needs.
