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Oracle Eloqua 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Oracle Eloqua
Ranking in Marketing Automation
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Oracle Eloqua is 9.6%, down from 12.8% 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

Aniket Sukale - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers the ability to create lesser campaigns and drip campaigns, flexible to use and robust
Eloqua's reporting is very strong. Oracle, by default, provides many out-of-the-box reports – probably more than 150 – that cover the most common use cases. Additionally, there's a feature called Insight, where you can build customized reports without any coding. These reports can be scheduled for delivery to your inbox at regular intervals – monthly, weekly, etc.
SantoshKrishna - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable
The encryption and decryption have room for improvement. We need to be confident that the customer's data is secure when shared outside of the organization. I would like to request additional mobile app features that go beyond push notifications. As the mobile development industry continues to advance with new technologies, such as AI components, it is important to consider these advancements when setting up campaigns. Currently, campaigns are scheduled to be sent to customers at a prescribed time, but they may not be relevant to the customer unless they see them as valuable. For example, if I want to run a campaign offering loans, I would need to consider the customer's needs and balance. In the future, I hope Salesforce can incorporate an AI component that utilizes the shared data, rather than just scheduling campaigns.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"​Lead scoring is very useful for both measuring the effectiveness of campaigns as well as deciding which leads to send sales’ way."
"It is a user-friendly product."
"It provides good support for really large databases."
"I've used other marketing automation tools, like Marketo, that require more technical knowledge. Eloqua is straightforward and user-friendly."
"The solution is good for B2B email marketing."
"The solution is stable."
"Lead scoring has helped with the process of qualifying leads."
"I like the insight part, where we can pull the reports. Oracle Eloqua can generate reports on the activities that customers take or that we do. That is one interesting part that I enjoy working with."
"It's a software-as-a-service solution. Everything is managed centrally from the cloud. As far as I can tell, installation is relatively simple."
"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."
"It is a great solution. I like its stability, scalability, and performance."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the seamless conversion of lead to opportunity, in relation to orders is good. That seamless connection is beneficial and simple."
"The most valuable features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud are the ease of use of the basic features."
"Offers many great features and is intuitive."
"I think the product's best feature is its analytics, as that's where customers derive value. The second thing is its ease of implementation."
"It is very easy to use from a marketing standpoint."
 

Cons

"Eloqua doesn't have built-in features for WhatsApp marketing or SMS functionality."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"​Reporting is very clunky and not user friendly.​"
"The solution could improve by having a more user-friendly interface."
"The product's initial setup process could be better."
"The solution should consider adding functionality related to event listening, such as webhooks."
"The reporting features should be improved."
"This product hasn't kept up to date on features."
"Marketing Cloud's forecasting could be improved."
"Salesforce could benefit by implementing further integration with more platforms."
"There is a lot of room for improvement in Salesforce Marketing Cloud's dashboards and the visualization of information in each journey."
"We would like an improvement to the 'Einstein Engagement Frequency'; the optimal range of emails that our subscribers will engage with."
"When you use your iPhone or Android phone, Salesforce is not as user-friendly as it could be. That UX needs to be improved."
"The product could use a little bit of BI in the sense of rule-based building."
"The solution can have a better UI. Salesforce Marketing Cloud should consider making its solution more robust for error handling."
"User management could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Oracle Eloqua can be expensive compared to alternatives."
"Oracle Eloqua is quite an affordable solution."
"Our licensing costs are yearly."
"The tool is pricey compared to products like Marketo."
"Oracle Eloqua's pricing is medium."
"It's quite expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is a license per user."
"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."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a highly expensive solution, it needs to be less expensive. We are on an annual license to use the solution."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
73%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Computer Software Company
4%
Healthcare Company
2%
Educational Organization
56%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Oracle Eloqua?
Eloqua doesn't have built-in features for WhatsApp marketing or SMS functionality. They provide SMS, but you need to purchase it as an add-on. It would also be helpful to have a social media manage...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Eloqua?
We generally use it for B2B (business-to-business) marketing automation. We can build customer journeys and generate emails. And we can do email marketing. It also has the ability to create Lead ca...
What do you like most about Oracle Eloqua?
I've used other marketing automation tools, like Marketo, that require more technical knowledge. Eloqua is straightforward and user-friendly.
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?
Salesforce is one of the most expensive tools. The pricing is around $10,000 per annum per user. It is a very expensive solution that I would rate a nine out of 10 in terms of cost.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
I would like to see improvements in the integration between Salesforce platforms and AgentForce. There are inaccuracies in how AgentForce retrieves information or interprets data. It still shows so...
 

Also Known As

Eloqua, Oracle Marketing Cloud
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Thomson Reuters, The Dow Chemical Company, Avid, LifeSize, and Avalara.
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 Oracle Eloqua vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.