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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
6.7
Marketo's ROI varies; its value depends on business needs, setup quality, and may not suit email-focused strategies.
Sentiment score
6.0
Users report improved efficiency and satisfaction with Salesforce Marketing Cloud, despite challenges in directly measuring ROI.
I have seen some return on investment with Salesforce Marketing Cloud through features such as reporting, automation, and Journey parts that save resources.
Consultant at SNDT
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
Marketo's customer service receives mixed reviews, with areas for improvement in technical support, response time, and communication.
Sentiment score
6.2
Salesforce Marketing Cloud support varies, with Premium support rated high, but improvements needed in response time and documentation.
Customer support could be improved, especially for new features.
Practice Manager at Katzion
Salesforce customer service is excellent.
Lead BSA at cloudperitus
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.
Consultant at SNDT
 

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 offers scalable multi-business architecture, ideal for large organizations, despite cost challenges for smaller entities.
The scalability of Salesforce is very good.
Practice Manager at Katzion
On a scale of one to ten, I rate its scalability at 9.5.
Lead BSA at cloudperitus
I find Salesforce Marketing Cloud to be scalable, as we can easily send out campaigns.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Marketo is reliable with minor disruptions, efficient syncing, and generally rated highly for stability despite occasional Salesforce delays.
Sentiment score
8.2
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is highly stable, with reliable uptime, minimal bugs, and efficient issue notifications, inspiring user confidence.
Stability depends on the data center.
Engineer - Technology at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is highly stable.
Practice Manager at Katzion
The maximum downtime I faced was about two to three hours.
Consultant at SNDT
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is stable, with issues occurring sometimes, but it is stable approximately 90% of the time.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

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 better user management, analytics, integration, support, personalization, AI, cost efficiency, and user-friendly interfaces.
Having some calculated formulas in a default format would enhance functionality.
Engineer - Technology at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The user interface could be improved.
CEO at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It takes the default language and doesn't accept custom language specifications, which creates discomfort in certain scenarios.
Lead BSA at cloudperitus
Overall, I know there are lots of features and options that are very reliable and sustainable, but it's complicated and it's expensive.
Partner & Senior Consultant at BO - Business Online
There are inaccuracies in how AgentForce retrieves information or interprets data.
Practice Manager at Katzion
 

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 is costly but valued for advanced features, with varied pricing based on storage and module choices.
The solution is cheaper than Alacor.
Engineer - Technology at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The pricing is around $10,000 per annum per user.
Practice Manager at Katzion
 

Valuable Features

Marketo excels in automation, Salesforce integration, user interface, analytics, support, integrations, and community training, enhancing marketing efficiency.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud enhances marketing with content, automation, and integration tools, improving customer engagement and multi-channel strategies.
Marketo helps us segment leads into very specific buckets, allowing us to send the right email at the right time.
CEO at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
We are scoring based on behavior without pressure, and it keeps producing excellent results.
Engineer - Technology at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
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.
Consultant at SNDT
Salesforce Marketing Cloud has positively impacted my organization by reducing costs while significantly increasing the return on investment.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
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.
Practice Manager at Katzion
 

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
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Ranking in Marketing Management
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Marketo is 10.4%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 12.3%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud12.3%
Marketo10.4%
Other77.3%
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Anika Gaur - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Digital Solutions Analyst at Rich Products
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.
GauravSingh2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Targeted email journeys have boosted campaign insight and now need better data access and support
I feel that Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be improved in how the data views are accessed; it would be better to have something more physical. With data extensions, you can view them directly, but for data views, it is very difficult as you can only send it out or load it into data extensions. Improvements can also be made in the connections to different external tools such as Azure or AWS. Customer support can be improved in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, as sometimes it is not clear what the issue is or how to approach solving it, and it also takes time to resolve issues.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Construction Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise31
 

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 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?
I feel that Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be improved in how the data views are accessed; it would be better to have something more physical. With data extensions, you can view them directly, but ...
What is your primary use case for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
The main use case for Salesforce Marketing Cloud is email marketing through Salesforce for the B2B segment on a day-to-day basis.For B2B email marketing using Salesforce Marketing Cloud, I can prov...
 

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 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.