Marketing automation software is everywhere. Pardot, Marketing Cloud, Marketo — it can be difficult to figure out which to use. Is one better than the other? What does a marketing automation software really actually do? How are Pardot and Marketing Cloud different, since they’re both Salesforce solutions? Thankfully, we at Avionos are here to help.

Here’s the breakdown:

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation is the software that automates marketing actions. This can include tasks related to social media, emails, website actions, and more.

Pardot

Pardot is a Salesforce marketing platform that is designed for business-to-business (B2B) businesses. A typical Pardot client would be a B2B company that doesn’t require much social media marketing, but rather regularly scheduled email and drip campaigns. It requires less admin training and is a more moderate cost compared to other marketing automation softwares. That being said, Pardot can give companies a more limited integration when it comes to Salesforce, and no integration when it comes to external data sources. Plus, the contact management options tend to be more sparse — although if your company has fewer contacts, this wouldn’t be a concern.

Marketing Cloud

Another Salesforce marketing platform, Marketing Cloud was developed in order to meet the needs of business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. Typically, this type of client would be one that still sends out regularly scheduled email campaigns, but has greater needs when it comes to their specialized email services — triggered emails and transactional emails, for example. Plus, these clients usually have much bigger social media uses and may even integrate text message campaigns. Marketing Cloud has features like advanced website integrations as well as full integration with the Salesforce platform. Plus, the advanced contact management solutions are helpful when it comes to companies that have thousands of consumers that they need to communicate with regularly. Of course, with all these added benefits, the costs are much higher and the training times take a lot longer.

Marketo

Marketo is designed to be scalable and user-friendly. In general, it wins at having a more personalized approach to email marketing and has a super easy-to-use interface, making it accessible for anyone — beginner or pro. Marketo operates as a cloud-based marketing platform that focuses on customer retention. One of the biggest pros includes the product diversity. Not only can it be used for marketing automation, but also consumer engagement marketing, real-time personalization, and marketing management. Plus, it has an intensive strategic analytics software included. On the downside, one is locked into a one-year contract with pretty hefty prices and some of the complexities may require IT knowledge or even a specialist.

Still unsure which solution will work best for your business? Avionos’ consulting experts are here to help. Contact us here.