If you can’t decide between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot, you are in the right place. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot are two CRM platforms available, but their intended audiences are quite different. Compare them side by side:
Key Takeaways
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive digital marketing platform that offers a range of features, including email marketing, social media marketing, advertising, and customer journey management. It allows businesses to create and execute personalized marketing campaigns across multiple channels. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is suitable for businesses with complex marketing needs and those looking to integrate marketing efforts with their CRM system.
- Pardot is a marketing automation platform designed primarily for B2B businesses. It offers features for lead generation, lead nurturing, email marketing, and analytics. Pardot integrates seamlessly with Salesforce CRM, providing a cohesive solution for B2B marketing and sales teams. It is well-suited for businesses seeking to automate their marketing processes, engage prospects, and track campaign performance within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Main Differences Between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an extensive marketing automation and engagement platform, while Pardot is a marketing automation tool specifically designed for B2B marketing. Users can choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud for its broader marketing capabilities or Pardot for targeted B2B marketing automation needs.
Pricing of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot
Here is the pricing information for Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot based:
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
- Marketing Cloud Account Engagement plan: starts at $1,250/month for up to 10,000 contacts billed annually
- Plus plan: starts at $2,500/month
- Advanced plan: starts at $4,000/month
- Premium plan: starts at $15,000/month
- Additional monthly charges for addons, including sales communication addon Salesforce Engage, engagement history dashboards, and B2B Marketing Analytics Plus.
Pardot
- Pricing starts at $1,250/month for up to 10,000 contacts
- Additional pricing tiers available for larger businesses.
It’s worth noting that Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot are both marketing automation tools owned by Salesforce, but they have different pricing plans and features. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s pricing plans range from $1,250/month for the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement plan to higher prices based on the specific plan and features needed. Pardot’s pricing starts at $1,250/month for up to 10,000 contacts, with additional pricing tiers available for larger businesses. Therefore, the choice between the two platforms will depend on your specific needs and budget. If you are a small business looking for a marketing automation tool, Pardot may be the better option. However, if you require a more comprehensive suite of marketing automation tools with more advanced features and integrations, Salesforce Marketing Cloud may be the better choice.
My experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
In my understanding, Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that offers a wide range of tools for creating, managing, and analyzing marketing campaigns. It’s a powerful choice for businesses seeking advanced personalization and scalability.
However, be prepared for a steeper learning curve with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Its extensive capabilities might require more time and training to fully harness.
Pardot
Pardot is a marketing automation platform that’s part of the Salesforce ecosystem, designed to help B2B marketers streamline their efforts. It’s great for lead generation, nurturing, and aligning sales and marketing activities.
While Pardot is robust, it might have a slightly easier learning curve compared to Salesforce Marketing Cloud. It’s a solid option if you’re focused on B2B marketing and want a platform that integrates seamlessly with Salesforce.
Consider your business needs – Salesforce Marketing Cloud for a more comprehensive marketing solution with advanced features, or Pardot for a focused B2B marketing automation tool within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Our Winner: Salesforce Marketing Cloud
After analyzing both Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot, 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.
