Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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Helped 864,053 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Intercom Customer Communica...

Ranking in Social CRM

6th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM Customer Engagement Centers (10th), CRM (25th)

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Ranking in Social CRM

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Marketing Automation (1st), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Social CRM category, the mindshare of Intercom Customer Communications Platform is 2.9%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 12.6%, up from 10.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Social CRM

Featured Reviews

Kumar Abhishek Anand

Director at Revivo Technologies

Customer support has improved significantly with seamless chat integration for quick resolutions

The feature we appreciate most about the Intercom Customer Communications Platform is the messenger functionality. We are able to integrate it into our application and provide support to customers directly through our application. The messenger works efficiently, allowing users to have conversations without entering their details repeatedly. There is conversation history available for each customer interaction, and they can access the help section within the chat itself. The Finn AI agent handles conversations both in chat and WhatsApp, which is particularly beneficial. Regarding automation tools, we have enabled the AI agent to answer customer queries instantly, reducing the need for constant staff presence. The AI agent quickly responds to customers and summarizes their issues, informing us when it cannot resolve a problem independently.

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Napitch K

Chief Executive Officer & Founder at growth innovation

Integration challenges impact workflow efficiency

The features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that I have found most valuable are the Journey Builder and Flow. These capabilities are valuable because they make managing automation easy. Automating customer journeys saves time when scheduling content through every channel, and we can set the automation in advance when planning marketing content. The AI-powered tools such as Salesforce Datorama and Einstein save time and have an impact on marketing strategy decisions for my customers. I have noticed a positive impact from Salesforce Marketing Cloud through customer feedback. For example, a customer mentioned after project completion that it had a significant impact on their marketing team by eliminating the need to hire additional staff for marketing content and planning.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The feature we appreciate most about the Intercom Customer Communications Platform is the messenger functionality, allowing users to have conversations without entering their details repeatedly."

"The live chat is pretty good because you can create a macro, which is a predefined input we can give customers."

"The automation is great. It saves us a lot of time and it makes us move faster."

"Email automation is most valuable."

"Offers many great features and is intuitive."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."

"The most valuable feature is the 'Accelerators', which are expert-taught subject matter webinars on items such as personalization of emails and SMS to contacts and prospects."

"I like that I can constantly add leads to Salesforce Marketing Cloud and look at accounts there. I also like that the solution lets me set up meetings."

"The Journey Builder and the Email Studio features are most valuable."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its automation. We can integrate data with the Salesforce hub. Its Einstein feature tells us whether our campaigns are on the right track. It also helps with ideas."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud pros

Cons

"It would be beneficial if there was a way to train the AI to better understand customer language."

"Sometimes, the solution lags and takes time to update something."

"The product could use a little bit of BI in the sense of rule-based building."

"They can perhaps simplify the dashboards. In my opinion as an end-user, reports could also be simplified, but it also depends on how your company is set up. It depends on how the processes are set up within your company natively. It is linked to the way you do business. So, it varies."

"The encryption and decryption have room for improvement."

"I would like to see more ways to accomplish specific tasks."

"In a future release, adding end-user personalization would be a benefit."

"The cost is always a concern for anyone using a SaaS product."

"There could be easier tools to configure the product and to create landing pages to better handle large data sets."

"Managing large volumes of data takes too long."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"I don't know if my company pays for Salesforce Marketing Cloud monthly or yearly. It's a SaaS, so it's a recurring cost, but I have no information on its price."

"It's normal pricing."

"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."

"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."

"We did a yearly license. We negotiated and got a great deal. I don't think we would have gotten far with the regular price, but they negotiated, so it was worth that."

"We have two types of licensing. We have a yearly license for end users and we have a concurrent login for selling."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

The live chat is pretty good because you can create a macro, which is a predefined input we can give customers.

What needs improvement with Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

For the Intercom Customer Communications Platform, we are updating our knowledge base to help the AI read more proactively. It would be beneficial if there was a way to train the AI to better under...

What is your primary use case for Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

When asked about AI tools and AI coding tools, we were using ChatGPT until recently. We switched to GitHub Copilot, which we have integrated into our IDE for software development purposes. Regardin...

What do you like most about Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

Datorama is part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which is quite a valuable feature that provides customer analytics.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

I did not work on any pricing or implementation aspects but learned on my own when dealing with Revenue Cloud products.

What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

In terms of improvements, it would be beneficial to enhance the Copilot actions. The issue lies with the internal language setup. It takes the default language and doesn't accept custom language sp...

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Product Reports

CRM Customer Engagement Centers

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Intercom Customer Communications Platform report

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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Also Known As

Intercom

ExactTarget

Overview

Intercom Customer Communications Platform enhances interactions by offering robust tools designed to streamline customer engagement and support, effectively catering to modern business communication needs.

Providing a comprehensive approach to customer interaction, Intercom facilitates seamless conversation management through its adaptable suite of messaging, logistical, and analytical features. Frequently utilized for customer support and marketing, its flexibility and user-friendly design encourage efficient communication. While offering valuable insights through analytics, some users note areas for improvement in customizability and pricing models, pointing towards a potential enhancement in fine-tuning its cost-effectiveness and adaptability to diverse business strategies.

What are the standout features of Intercom?

Live Chat: Immediate customer support through real-time messaging.
Automated Bot: Streamlines inquiries by handling routine questions.
Integration Capabilities: Connects seamlessly with third-party tools.
Inbox Management: Organizes conversations for efficient response.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Faster resolutions lead to happier clients.
Improved Team Efficiency: Automation reduces manual workload.
Actionable Analytics: Data-driven insights optimize strategies.
Scalable Solutions: Adapts to growing business demands.

Industries such as e-commerce, SaaS, and tech-driven businesses often implement Intercom for its ability to provide personalized customer journeys. Its messaging platform excels in maintaining customer relationships and resolving issues quickly, which is crucial in these fast-paced sectors.

Intercom

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that enables businesses to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

With its robust set of tools and features, marketers can easily manage and automate their email marketing, social media advertising, mobile messaging, and customer journey mapping.

The platform offers advanced segmentation capabilities, allowing marketers to segment their audience based on various criteria and deliver tailored messages to each segment.

Additionally, Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides powerful analytics and reporting features, enabling marketers to track the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

With its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Salesforce products, Marketing Cloud offers a seamless and efficient marketing automation solution for businesses of all sizes.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

Expensift, Moz, Invision, Salesforce, Droplr, Vend, BugHerd, Ghost, Put.io, Codeship

American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips

Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud