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Marketo vs SAP CRM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Marketo
Ranking in Marketing Management
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Marketing Automation (2nd)
SAP CRM
Ranking in Marketing Management
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
CRM (3rd), Local Government CRM (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Marketing Management category, the mindshare of Marketo is 10.6%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP CRM is 20.5%, up from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Management
 

Featured Reviews

PradeepKumar25 - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful for lead capture and engagement across social media platforms
Before Marketo, I worked on the Oracle Eloqua platform, both B2B-based. Currently, I'm working on Salesforce Marketing Cloud. So, these are the three platforms on which I have good hands-on expertise. One key reason platforms like Salesforce Marketing Cloud are gaining traction is that they invest in marketing campaigns. They conduct many virtual and live events, aggressively marketing their products. This strategy convinces C-suite executives to buy into and implement the Salesforce platform, something that other bigger platforms lack. Most companies are migrating to Salesforce. I've migrated one of my projects from Marketo to Salesforce and encountered many opportunities where companies want to migrate from Marketo, HubSpot, or Oracle Eloqua to Salesforce. I've worked on Oracle Eloqua, which is also a B2B platform, and I've also worked on Marketo. The lead scoring, table structure, and rules we apply are quite straightforward compared to Marketo. In Marketo, it's a bit clumsy. Regarding lead scoring or moving leads through the sales funnel, Oracle Eloqua is better, but it's a bit pricey. So, Marketo ranks second in lead scoring or managing leads, and it highly depends on the respective CRM. The tool tracks significant events, such as form fills on websites or social media handles. All this data is captured and stored in Marketo for analysis. Marketo Analytics is connected with Adobe Analytics. This integration offers detailed reports on total clicks, views, form fills, subscriptions, lead conversions, and more. It's straightforward compared to Oracle Eloqua, which has its own Oracle Business Intelligence suite.Marketo's reporting tools are easy to use, making it a plug-and-play solution for anyone.
GodfreyNoel - PeerSpot reviewer
Excellent user experience with ease of use and reliable technical support
When SAP CRM does the maintenance, it can take a long time, which can impact business continuity because we have to wait for the maintenance team to finish their work. Maybe if SAP could establish how you can access the tool using a cloud-based environment that would be virtualization, that would be better.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's pretty good at handling customization and templates. We can put in different variables, so even someone without coding knowledge can create and develop emails that look good on different browsers."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Smart Campaigns."
"We are scoring based on behavior without pressure, and it keeps producing excellent results."
"It is a very user-friendly solution. I'm mainly working on Design Studio, which is useful for companies in tracking repeat users. The progressive proofing is also useful. It is not available in other solutions."
"The valuable features are list uploads, email campaigns, generating reports,source tracking, and lead attribution."
"One feature I like is the user interface. Compared to other tools I've used, it's much more friendly and easy to navigate. Additionally, it offers a wide range of features, which makes tasks like segmenting data much simpler."
"The most valuable features are the Marketo emails, both sending and tracking."
"The main highlights of Marketo are its support structure, the documentation available, and the features mainly related to forms, landing pages, and leads. Although other platforms like Oracle Eloqua have similar features, Marketo's support structure, lead generation, and segmentation features are easier than those of different platforms."
"The features that are used most are the lead model and the opportunity model. We can create many different pipelines with many phases. These features improved our process in the States very well."
"SAP CRM is a scalable solution."
"We like that this solution has made our whole accounting function paperless."
"The most valuable feature is real-time data. You don't have to go to the finance team for information. On one screen, you can see if stock is available and check the customer's outstanding balance, and then you can process the order. SAP CRM's integration with other applications is easier."
"The user interface is excellent."
"The solution is stable."
"It provides innovative ideas for implementation."
"SAP CRM's most valuable at a branch level."
 

Cons

"Its APIs need to be more flexible because there are some things that are not available in the API."
"One limitation is the user limit. For bigger organizations with large audience sizes exceeding, let's say, 500k, the solution may not be as efficient as larger enterprise platforms like Salesforce or Oracle Eloqua. However, Marketo is one of the best platforms for mid-scale and small-scale organisations."
"Adobe, the parent company, needs to improve on getting more information published to allow users to educate themselves on how to use the solution."
"There is a bit of room for improvement in the level-one support team. It relies too much on documentation."
"Marketo's reporting and dashboarding features could be better. Compared to other tools, the visualization options with charts and graphs seem somewhat limited."
"Segmentation in Marketo is limited to a maximum of 20 segments. Depending on the company's specific needs, these segments can be based on various attributes such as company, industry, or other values. Sometimes, there's a lag when sending data from Marketo to any CRM. It can take around five to fifteen minutes for the report to sync."
"I have encountered issues when I had to use filters repeatedly. It would have been helpful if I could duplicate them directly, instead of dragging them. Also, having an option to save filters for future use would have saved a lot of time, especially when dealing with multiple filters."
"Based on my clients ' comments, there is room for improvement in Marketo. For instance, Oracle's Eloqua had much larger databases than Marketo a few years ago, handling millions of records. Marketo has been catching up but doesn't hold the most extensive possible databases. This is less of an issue for B2B, but for B2C customers, who have millions of records, It also lacks features of HubSpot, which should be incorporated. Marketo could benefit from supporting more extensive databases and incorporating some of HubSpot's features. HubSpot is cheaper, and while Marketo is not the most expensive, it's not the least. They would be a better competitor to HubSpot if their pricing were lower. These products are typically priced per user per month."
"There could be some specific configurable options on the UI level to improve visibility."
"The B2C features of SAP are strong, but they are not very known to the public and companies. They must make it more known for B2C applications or B2C use cases."
"Content management is one area where SAP CRM could use some work because we were seeking a CRM solution that could store BLOB data, like PDF and email data, which takes up a lot of space in the database. Recently, we migrated to a content server, but it would be nice if CRM had built-in BLOB data management because BLOB data is a challenge we've been dealing with since last year."
"I think what needs to be improved is the solution for Brazil's organization."
"The solution is expensive."
"The navigation must be improved."
"In terms of visibility of the data, there's a very limited set that we have access to and sometimes it's very difficult and not user-friendly to analyze from front end to back end. It's the biggest challenge, even if I'm working with an organization where we've implemented SAP."
"Improvement is needed for SAP CRM's integration with Microsoft Teams and Outlook Its integration with Microsoft collaboration software, including Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint, is not very good. There are issues with synchronization between appointments in CRM and Outlook, as well as challenges with managing contacts, which creates problems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The fee for Marketo includes the number of users and the database size. If we ask for a unique feature, it will cost extra."
"The solution is expensive compared to others."
"Marketo is too expensive for a small-sized company but more affordable for a larger-sized company."
"Marketo's pricing depends on the number of contacts and the level of features you need. Compared to other platforms like Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo is generally more affordable. Like other platforms, it offers different packages based on your needs."
"The licensing cost usually depends on the users."
"The initial pricing was excellent, but the pricing for renewals is not as good."
"Marketo is used a lot because it's cheaper and preferred by many firms."
"The pricing is not cheap, but it's not that expensive either."
"Every user needs to have a license."
"There is a license required for the solution and most of my clients purchase an annual license."
"From the maintenance perspective, SAP CRM is quite expensive compared to cloud services because the current solution they're using is managed by us and we are hosting it on servers. There is the cost of hosting, and managing servers and applications. The overhead is substantial, but this solution is a legacy system. It will take some time for the customer to migrate out of it."
"SAP CRM offers a free trial for anyone wanting to test the product before purchasing it."
"The pricing from SAP is good but it takes time to realize the investment."
"Its price is reasonable. As compared to other CRMs, this CRM is competitively priced. They have multiple flavors with different sets of functionality. Pricing is based on the flavor that suits your requirement. If you have more users, the cost will come down."
"SAP CRM is an expensive product."
"We have to pay a yearly licensing fee for SAP CRM, which is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

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 SAP CRM?
Getting the right information at the right time across different programs is important. These programs lack interaction between them. IPA is a good option to bring them together.
What needs improvement with SAP CRM?
One area for improvement is the security model, especially regarding records management retention and the audit and legal holds. Since we're in the middle of a cloud digital transformation, it's es...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marketo has a customer base of thousands of companies, including Sony, Citrix, BrightTALK, Curves International, HootSuite, Hyundai, SanDisk, and Samsung Electronics.
Brau Union Osterreich AG, Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., AOK Bundesverband, RAK Ceramics, NHS 24, Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters, FC Bayern Munchen AG, Tumi, The Kellogg Company, MVV Energie AG, Anglian Water Services, German Football Association (DFB), Nebraska Book Company Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Marketo vs. SAP CRM and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.