salesforce vs marketo [2023]

Marketing Automation Platform

Marketing automation is an industry that is growing at a rapid pace and has a bright future ahead. This cutting-edge technology and the market growth of marketing automation will interest anyone looking to improve their company’s marketing strategies.

According to factual data, the compound annual growth rate of the marketing automation industry is projected to be 8.55% from 2021-2026. Hence, it’s clear that businesses are investing in this technology and reaping its benefits.

Overview of Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation is a must-have software platform for businesses today. It helps automate various marketing efforts. Personalized content and performance tracking are two key features of this technology. Organizations can generate better leads in an efficient manner, while reducing operational costs.

It simplifies marketing activities and enhances customer experience. Companies can understand user behavior patterns, and tailor messages to their demands. Marketers can plan and execute campaigns at scale, with data from customer interactions.

Mundane tasks like lead capture and segmentation become faster and more accurate. Integrating business systems like Salesforce CRM or Marketo also becomes easier.

Marketing Automation is essentially a part of any marketing team’ strategy for growth, customer acquisition, and driving sales efficiency. It minimizes operating costs while maximizing revenues.

Marketo Vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud: The Top Shortlisted Choices

In the world of business, choosing the right customer relationship management can have a significant impact on success. If you’re in search of top marketing automation choices, consider Salesforce and Marketo. This section will provide an overview of both options and compare them to help determine the best fit for your needs.

Overview of Salesforce and Marketo

Salesforce and Marketo are two of the most popular marketing automation platforms. Both offer tools to manage and automate processes, like lead generation, email marketing, and analytics. Salesforce is known for its CRM, while Marketo is known for lead management.

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform. It offers products for sales, marketing, customer service, and more. Its Marketing Cloud provides personalized customer experiences across channels. It integrates with multiple data sources and has strong reporting and analytics.

Marketo is a marketing automation platform. It helps businesses generate leads, nurture them, and convert them to customers. It has features like email automation, landing page creation, and social media marketing. Marketo is an excellent choice for businesses of all sizes.

What platform should you choose? It depends on needs. Budget, team size, technical expertise, and integration requirements should be considered when evaluating the right platform. Have a clear overview of Salesforce and Marketo before deciding.

Comparison of Salesforce and Marketo

Salesforce and Marketo present fantastic marketing automation software solutions for businesses to streamline their processes. A comparison of these two can help businesses make an informed decision.

To explain, a table can be created to compare their features. Salesforce offers email marketing, social media management, lead scoring, segmentation, analytics and more. Marketo focuses on email marketing, lead nurturing and generation.

Features	Salesforce	Marketo
Data Management	Offers data management tools like storage, admin controls, data cleansing and mapping for third-party integration	Has simple data management with basic editing, but no complex features
Campaign Management	Has advanced options for personalized messages	Has drip campaigns and lead nurturing only
Lead Management	Does not provide much information	Has limited personalization and a complex pricing structure. It offers integrations with third-party apps such as Webex Event Center and Google AdWords. It also has reporting dashboards on leads and campaign performance.
Workflow Automation	Has excellent workflow automation with customizable rules and dashboard creation. Its data management is superior to competitors.	Experienced UI/UX problems, so they launched the Sky next-gen improvement initiative to address them

In conclusion, both Salesforce and Marketo have unique strengths and weaknesses. A detailed comparison can help businesses choose the right marketing automation tool.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Superiority in Data Management

Salesforce Cloud Marketing is a popular player in the marketing automation industry, known for its robust data management expertise. But above all, its AI-powered Einstein Analytics is a standout feature. It gives users advanced data insights and predictive analytics, so they can make more informed decisions and get higher ROI.

Tools like data cleansing, deduplication, segmentation and scoring, make more targeted campaigns easier.

Data cleansing is about removing inaccuracies, duplicates and inconsistencies from databases. It makes data ready to use for marketing. 

Deduplication deletes duplicate records import data or contacts from the database. This makes it easier to manage and analyse data.

Segmentation splits individuals or groups according to behavioural, demographic and psychographic factors. This allows companies to create campaigns that target exact audiences. This increases conversion rates.

Scoring models use predictive analytics to review data insights, such as website visits and origin. This helps businesses concentrate on high-value leads and opportunities.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Connect integrates with 3rd party platforms like Google Analytics and LiveRamp. This provides deeper understanding of target audience behaviour. With its data management features and streamlined processes, Salesforce Marketing Cloud is ideal for enterprises wanting to optimise their marketing.

Marketo’s Strength for Simple Data and Lead Management

Marketo is a marketing automation software that provides businesses with extensive data and lead management capabilities. In this section, we will explore Marketo’s strength in simple data and lead management by providing an overview of its core features. It’s packed with email marketing, data analysis, lead and more data management expertise and campaign management features.

Marketo’s data management features allow businesses to effectively manage their customer data, including demographic and other data architecture and behavioral information. Its lead management capabilities also enable businesses to efficiently capture, qualify, and nurture leads through the sales funnel.

Overall, Marketo is a powerful marketing automation tool that can help businesses improve their marketing campaigns and drive revenue growth.

Marketo stands out from other complex tools as it’s super easy to use and integrate with third-party apps. Data and lead management tools are a standout feature, enabling businesses to track customer engagement across emails or social media. This helps companies stay ahead of their rivals, making Marketo a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. Lead Management allows for custom tracks based on behavioral data. Data Enrichment automatically enriches the database with market insights and lead profiles.

There’s an advanced funnel analysis feature to track and analyze leads’ progress in the sales funnel. Plus, Marketo offers robust reporting for better decision-making. All these features make Marketo a top choice for companies to optimize their marketing efforts.

Campaign Management as a Critical Factor

Effective campaign management is essential for successful marketing automation. It serves as a link between sales and marketing teams, ensuring alignment across all business functions. It also helps businesses plan campaigns based on their goals, target customers and measure results. This way, businesses can send the right message to the right audience, at the right time.

Campaign management is also important for the engagement programs turning leads into customers, and consequently, driving sales. A good strategy can help increase brand awareness, get quality leads, and customize messages for prospects.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Marketo both offer campaign management features. They include A/B testing, segmentation, tracking, and lead scoring systems. This helps businesses craft messages and promotions that grab attention and follow up with people who open emails.

Having access to analytics tools, like those from Salesforce Marketing Cloud or Marketo, lets marketers generate data-driven strategies smart campaigns that boost ROI. Knowing the significance of campaign management can help businesses create successful campaigns that drive sales and build customer loyalty.

Campaign Management Features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Marketo

Campaign Management is a key part of Marketing Automation. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Marketo both offer diverse features to help businesses manage their campaigns effectively.

See the table below for a comparison of Campaign Management features between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Marketo.

Campaign Management Features	Salesforce Marketing Cloud	Marketo
Create and handle email campaigns	✓	✓
Track and report on campaigns	✓	✓
Test campaigns for optimization	✓	✓
Create and manage landing pages	✓	✓

Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides many tools for successful Campaign Management. These cover every step of a campaign: from creation, launching, tracking to analyzing results. 

Marketo focuses mainly on lead management tasks and offers similar Campaign Management features.

It’s important to note that Salesforce Marketing Cloud has analytics integration with platforms such as Google Analytics. This boosts campaign tracking. In contrast, Marketo emphasizes personalization features, such as dynamic content and visitor tracking.

Businesses wanting to manage complex campaigns on multiple channels may find Salesforce Marketing Cloud more suitable. Those looking for simple lead management tasks may prefer Marketo.

Businesses should think about their campaign management needs before selecting a platform. They need to factor in budget, scale, campaign type, target audience and more. They should also examine each platform’s integration capabilities with third-party services and applications relevant to their business.

Pros and Cons of Marketo as a Marketing Automation Software

Marketo is a major player in the marketing automation software market, known for its robust features and intuitive interface. However, it should be noted that Adobe acquired Marketo in 2018. In this section, we will explore both the pros and cons of using Marketo for your marketing automation needs, including its benefits and drawbacks for businesses of all sizes.

Pros of Marketo

Marketo is a highly sought-after marketing automation software. Its user-friendly interface, versatile integrations and efficient lead management capabilities are renowned. Plus, its powerful reporting and analytics enable marketers to make data-driven decisions. Customization options allow for personalized messaging too.

It seamlessly integrates with third-party applications, data extensions and tools, making it versatile. AI segment builder accurately generates targeted segments based on user activity. Marketo Sky provides improved UX/UI frameworks for customizing tools. A renowned customer support team is also available, known for responding to queries and concerns.

Marketo is a comprehensive solution. It offers robust features and exceptional customer support, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to streamline their marketing efforts.

Cons of Marketo

• Limitations in Customization
• Complicated Interface
• Inconsistent Reporting
• Expensive Pricing

Despite the cons, Marketo has personalization options with Hyperise integration which makes it a popular choice. It’s essential to compare pros and cons with specific business needs before choosing. Historical reviews also suggest that Marketo is slow in addressing UI/UX issues, which may affect their consumers’ growth.

Pros and Cons of Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a customer relationship management software that provides various functionalities for enterprises to connect with their customers in a personalized way. It can be used in multi channel campaigns to drive customer engagement and retention. In this section, we will explore the features and benefits of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and discuss how organizations can leverage these features to achieve their marketing goals and enhance their brand image.

Pros of Salesforce

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a power-packed marketing platform, with plenty of perks for businesses that want to amp up their marketing automation. It has advanced features and functions, making it easy to streamline processes and craft personalised customer experiences. Plus, it’s a unified platform for all marketing activities, such as email marketing, social media management, mobile messaging, web personalization, and advertising.

AI and machine learning analyse customer data and provide insights for smart decisions. This assists marketing teams to make strategic calls for better results. It also has collaboration tools like shared calendars, and content management, planners, and approval workflows, allowing teams to work together more efficiently.

Tracking campaign performance is a breeze with Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s reporting capabilities. Businesses can monitor campaigns in real-time and make necessary changes. It integrates with Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Community Cloud, and other third-party applications, creating seamless customer experiences across channels.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Social Studio tool is a unique feature. With it, businesses can effectively manage their social media presence by listening in on brand conversations in real-time. This tool provides market insights and identifies key influencers for brands to collaborate with. All in all, Salesforce Marketing Cloud has an array of tools to help companies reach their marketing goals and grow.

Comparison between Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud

To compare Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, it’s important to understand their features. Each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, so you need to decide which is best for your organization.

To help with the comparison, create a table that includes the following features:

Feature	Marketo	Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Data Management	Segmentation, targeting, personalization, lead management	Personalization across channels(SMS, Mobile), Integration options for sales enablement reporting
Campaign Management	A/B testing, email marketing automation	—
Integration options	—	—
Pricing plans	—	—
Customer Support	—	—

Marketo is good for data and lead management with its configurable interface. It also offers A/B testing and email marketing automation.

On the other hand, Salesforce Marketing Cloud does great data management, with personalization across channels like SMS or mobile devices through integration with third-party services. It also has integration capabilities for sales enablement reporting.

When deciding between automation software, consider onboarding tools, scalability, budget allocations, licenses, and strategic considerations. Evaluate each tool’s strengths against your goals before basing your decision on price alone. Knowing your needs can make it easier to customize the system to your organization’s goals.

Factor	Marketo	Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Data Management	Offers segmentation options	Offers data tools across multiple channels
Campaign Management	Has email marketing, lead tracking, and online advertising features	Has a Journey Builder platform for automated journeys across channels
Integrations	Includes AdWords, WebEx, and GoToWebinar	Includes Zendesk, ZoomInfo, and WordPress
Features	Includes multi-channel engagement, account-based marketing solutions, SEO optimization tools, and lead generation features	Includes Social Studio, ABM, and prospect engagement platforms
Pricing	Starts at $895 per month	Offers customizable pricing plans upon request

Comparison of Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud Pricing

Weighing up options for marketing automation software? Consider pricing for both Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Both platforms have a range of pricing plans for customers. Compare them based on cost and features.

Create a comparison table. It should have columns for each platform’s subscription tiers. Also, include features, integration, and support.

Platform	Subscription Tiers	Features	Integration	Support
Marketo	Basic, Standard, and Elite	Lead Management, Email Marketing, Reporting and Analytics	Native Integrations with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, API Integrations	24/5 Phone, Email, and Community Support; Additional Online Training and Support Services
Salesforce Marketing Cloud	Email, Pro, Corporate and Enterprise	Personalization, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Mobile Marketing	Native Integrations with Salesforce and Other Salesforce Clouds, API Integrations	24/7 Phone, Email, and Chat Support; Additional Online Training and Support Services

FAQs about Salesforce Vs Marketo

Differences between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Marketo

The global marketing automation market is predicted to grow from $3.3 billion in 2019 to $6.4 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 13.9%. This trend is driven by the need to automate marketing processes, customer retention, personalization, and predictive lead scoring. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Marketo are often shortlisted by marketing teams.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is better for data management, especially for handling large and complex data and allowing for complex segmentation. On the other hand, Marketo is better for handling simple data and treats all data as ‘leads’. Campaign management is critical for a marketing automation platform, with a focus on customer experience, personalization, and conversion.

Pros and Cons of Marketo

Marketo is a marketing automation software for businesses of all sizes. It offers tools for lead management, email marketing, social media, and analytics. Pros include powerful attribution modeling and deep integration with Salesforce. However, cons include the need for external support and consultants to manage, expensive pricing that increases exponentially, and poor landing page and form builder.

Marketo offers a variety of features, including lead scoring, segmentation, web activity tracking, SMS marketing, and predictive analytics. It integrates with Outlook, Gmail, Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, Netsuite, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics, and Zapier. Marketo uses HTML code embed method to integrate with Hyperise, allowing for personalized images to be added to messages, and provides data points to Hyperise for personalization in images and landing pages. Marketo was founded in 2006 by B2C marketing software executives with a mission to change the way marketing and sales teams collaborate throughout the revenue process.

There is increased competition in the marketing automation industry with more companies adopting digital marketing. Marketo has grown into one of the best and leading marketing automation platforms with over 2,300 customers and more than 100,000 users worldwide. Its capability to make the marketing process simple, enhance efficiency, streamline a number of marketing-based tasks, and generate more revenue for users makes Marketo one of the popular options for various B2B players. Marketo also provides live personalization.

Common Issues with Marketo

Occasionally, email formatting issues occur and are difficult to fix. The UI is poor, but Marketo Sky is expected to improve it, although it is taking a long time to become usable. Some features cost extra, but can be selected as needed.