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Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Pardot
Ranking in Marketing Automation
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (1st), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Pardot is 4.0%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 22.6%, down from 26.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Vikram Rawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 19, 2024
Offers an easy initial setup phase and good ROI
With Pardot, users can do the segmentation based on their requirements. You can segment your prospects based on their interests, locations, companies, or the sales cycle. You can also use the engagement studio to create a journey for the people you have segmented with the help of automation feature of the tool. The aforementioned area consists of the most useful features I found in the tool apart from its out-of-the-box features. The integration between Pardot and Salesforce is beneficial if you know how to share the leads that a company finds useful so that they don't have to invest in manual work or do anything blindly to reach out to leads. Users can segment the leads using the features that the tool provides. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. If a business is into B2B marketing and can afford to purchase Pardot, then they should buy it. If the product of a company is good, then Pardot can help multiply such an organization's ROI. Based on the product and how the sales and marketing team works, the tool can be useful. In short, the tool can be as good as the person who is using it. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
SantoshKrishna - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 7, 2023
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

"I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"For me, the best thing is the Custom Redirect. That's one key thing I like because using that particular Custom Redirect, I can track a link wherever I'm sharing it. I can track how and when people are accessing it."
"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."
"It's easy to create email templates and landing pages."
"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the ability to sell the products we have made to customers. Overall the solution is very useful for business."
"The notification system for customer alerts, including the integration of various communication channels such as email, SMS, and mobile push, is excellent."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud's journey builder is very easy to handle and quickly sets up a journey for clients who use a lot of communication."
"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."
"Salesforce allows for the integration of different data sources."
"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."
"The most valuable features of Salesforce are the automation and the ability to create dashboards which provide a wider picture of what is going on."
"You can schedule reports, there's a lot of supporting tools, and you have access to all that information."
 

Cons

"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
"Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"Needs to improve list building."
"Lacks sufficient free custom fields."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"Marketing Cloud should change the script language that it uses because it's not good. It's tricky and difficult to develop."
"We have struggled to get resolution of support tickets from the Salesforce team."
"This solution could be more user-friendly."
"There could be easier tools to configure the product and to create landing pages to better handle large data sets."
"The product could use a little bit of BI in the sense of rule-based building."
"The dashboards should be more intuitive, as there are far too many items on them. You're not always sure what you're looking for."
"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 encryption and decryption have room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"We pay about $4000 a month."
"It's normal pricing."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"Salesforce has different versions of the solution and some are more suitable for smaller clients. However, Salesforce is expensive."
"It is a license per user."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"This solution is priced in the medium to high price range."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a highly expensive solution, it needs to be less expensive. We are on an annual license to use the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
66%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Educational Organization
54%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pardot?
It has no limit for sending marketing emails.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pardot?
Pardot was somewhat costly for our requirements, nonetheless, the capacities of the item were limited.
What needs improvement with Pardot?
Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design studio, limiting our ability to perform various design activities efficiently. Yo...
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?
The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Salesforce Marketing Cloud should provide some debugging facilities for every user. Apart from Data Views, nothing is available for debugging purposes. I cannot check for any errors or status behin...
 

Also Known As

No data available
ExactTarget
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arketi Group
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 Pardot vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.