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Marketo vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Marketo's ROI varies; its value depends on business needs, setup quality, and may not suit email-focused strategies.
Sentiment score
7.0
Salesforce Marketing Cloud users see ROI potential through enhanced marketing capabilities and optimized campaigns, despite measurement challenges and investment gains variability.
I have seen some return on investment with Salesforce Marketing Cloud through features such as reporting, automation, and Journey parts that save resources.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Marketo's customer service receives mixed reviews, with areas for improvement in technical support, response time, and communication.
Sentiment score
6.6
Salesforce Marketing Cloud's customer support is rated highly at the premium level but needs improvement in addressing complex issues.
I have communicated with the technical support of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and would give them a rating of 9.5 since they have resolved my issues most of the time and are quite responsive.
Customer support could be improved, especially for new features.
Salesforce customer service is excellent.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Marketo is highly scalable, handling large databases efficiently post-Adobe acquisition, despite longer Salesforce sync times and higher costs.
Sentiment score
7.7
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is highly scalable, ideal for expanding companies with strong performance and integration, but costly for smaller businesses.
The scalability of Salesforce is very good.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate its scalability at 9.5.
Not everyone can use Salesforce Marketing Cloud unless they have some exposure to the platform and understand how it works, which informed my scalability rating.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Marketo is reliable with minor disruptions, efficient syncing, and generally rated highly for stability despite occasional Salesforce delays.
Sentiment score
8.1
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is praised for stability and reliability, managing data loads effectively despite occasional integration issues.
Stability depends on the data center.
I have never experienced any issues with stability, outages, or downtime.
The maximum downtime I faced was about two to three hours.
 

Room For Improvement

Marketo users request improvements in UI, pricing, integration, analytics, support, scalability, and features for better efficiency and functionality.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud needs user experience, analytics, security, integration, pricing improvements, and enhanced personalization, dashboards, and support.
Having some calculated formulas in a default format would enhance functionality.
The user interface could be improved.
It takes the default language and doesn't accept custom language specifications, which creates discomfort in certain scenarios.
There are inaccuracies in how AgentForce retrieves information or interprets data.
We cannot debug the AM Script or SSJS code, which makes code debugging manual.
 

Setup Cost

Marketo's pricing varies by size and features, proving costly for small businesses but relatively affordable compared to some competitors.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers rich features and flexibility, but its high cost is a concern for enterprise buyers.
The solution is cheaper than Alacor.
The pricing is around $10,000 per annum per user.
 

Valuable Features

Marketo excels in automation, Salesforce integration, user interface, analytics, support, integrations, and community training, enhancing marketing efficiency.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides robust marketing tools with automation, CRM integration, and insights for effective cross-channel campaigns.
Marketo helps us segment leads into very specific buckets, allowing us to send the right email at the right time.
We are scoring based on behavior without pressure, and it keeps producing excellent results.
The feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that has had the largest impact on improving my campaign outcomes is the recent WhatsApp integration, which allows Salesforce to connect with subscribers through different channels such as SMS, email, or WhatsApp.
The automation features, including AI Copilot actions, enhance functionality by providing information via chatbots as a substitute for physical representatives.
The most valuable features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud include the timely alerts and notification systems, which greatly enhance communication not only with customers but also within dealerships.
 

Categories and Ranking

Marketo
Ranking in Marketing Automation
2nd
Ranking in Marketing Management
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Ranking in Marketing Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Marketo is 14.7%, down from 16.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 22.4%, down from 24.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Anika Gaur - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective lead management and useability with room for reporting improvements
Customer support could be more helpful. The reporting could be better, with more engaging reports and the ability to collaborate more objects, like opportunities. Incorporating AI features similar to tools like HubSpot and Salesforce account engagement would be beneficial. Additionally, Marketo should work on automating tools and updating the product since it looks similar to how it did five years ago.
ADAIR WATHIER - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides efficient data integration features and good technical support services
Our primary use cases for the product include website personalization and email campaign evaluation The platform has significantly expedited our campaign implementation process and provided centralized control over operations. The platform's most valuable features include ease of implementation…
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Marketing Automation solutions are best for your needs.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Educational Organization
54%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Marketo?
One of the most important things about Marketo is its focus on GDPR compliance. It helps you follow GDPR and CAN-SPAM rules. For example, with Marketo, I won't accidentally target audiences without...
What needs improvement with Marketo?
The user interface could be improved. I would like to see an updated UI for 2025.
What is your primary use case for Marketo?
As a seasoned Marketo Expert with a decade of experience and a deep understanding of Adobe's ecosystem, I can confidently say that the primary use case for Marketo lies in empowering businesses wit...
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marketo has a customer base of thousands of companies, including Sony, Citrix, BrightTALK, Curves International, HootSuite, Hyundai, SanDisk, and Samsung Electronics.
American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about Marketo vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.