Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud: Which is your perfect pick?

When it comes to Salesforce marketing automation tools, Pardot and Marketing Cloud have a lot in common. They both use advanced automation features to streamline marketing tasks for the user, and both can provide substantial benefits to businesses that fully utilise their wide variety of tools. But, what are the differences between these two software packages, and which one is right for your business?

Salesforce Marketing Automation Software

Before we can talk about how both pieces of software are different to one another, we first need to understand what they do and who they are designed for.

What Is Pardot?

Since 2006, Pardot has been a marketing automation tool used for lead generation and scoring, customer interaction tracking, campaign management, email marketing and much more. Whilst it is not exclusively used for B2B sales, its flexibility means it is strongly favoured by companies with longer sales cycles – the ability to automate and streamline important steps in the nurturing process makes it a valuable tool in the sales process.

Salesforce first acquired Pardot back in 2013, adding it to their extensive marketing services as a separate product rather than integrating it into their existing software packages. It was renamed Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement in 2022, but continues to be called by its original name by the majority of marketers.

What Is Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

With similar features to Pardot, Salesforce’s own Marketing Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) suite that uses different solutions for different platforms and marketing channels, including email, mobile, social media, and websites. It works by using predictive analytics and event-driven triggers to help make decisions during the nurturing process, such as which channel would be best suited for a certain customer to receive a message.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud uses data points from across the entire Salesforce ecosystem to influence its automation decisions. Marketing Cloud integrates tools and features from across many different platforms, so users can see everything in one place. Although Marketing Cloud is not exclusively used with B2C selling models, this makes it the preferable choice for many businesses managing multiple marketing avenues.

What Is The Difference Between Pardot & Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

The short answer is that Pardot is generally used for B2B marketing, whereas Marketing Cloud is typically used for B2C marketing. Of course, it’s a little more complicated than that.

Pardot is utilised by businesses which have a ‘considered purchase cycle’, meaning that the sales process involves multiple decision makers or products with a high sales value – think buying a new car or booking a package holiday. These types of purchase cycles tend to be business-to-business, but as we have just shown, this type of purchase cycle is not B2B exclusive.

Similarly, Marketing Cloud is best suited for more ‘transactional purchases’, which involve businesses which make quick, one-time sales to customers. These might include purchases like limited edition products or holiday sales. Again, these types of transactions are normally B2C, but that doesn’t exclude B2B purchases.

Simply put, businesses that have longer, more considered purchase cycles might be better suited to Pardot, whereas businesses with shorter transactions but more prospects might choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Pardot is great for email marketing and making sales to groups, but Marketing Cloud is best for customer communications throughout a 1:1 purchasing journey.

Factors To Consider When Choosing Between Pardot & Marketing Cloud

Both Pardot and Marketing Cloud are used by businesses of different types for different purposes, but if both software packages can be adapted for various use cases, what makes a business choose one over the other?

There are a number of reasons why a business might pick Pardot or Marketing Cloud. As discussed above, the length and complexity of sales cycles is one of the main ones, but there are a number of other potential factors at play in the decision.

Integration Capabilities

If you already utilise Salesforce software, such as Sales Cloud, both Pardot and Marketing Cloud can integrate with your existing setup to ensure you can make the most of all your tools. However, Marketing Cloud and Pardot both integrate in different ways, which is why it’s always important to make sure you have a reliable implementation and setup team to support you throughout the process.

Individual Use Cases

The decision to choose Pardot or Marketing Cloud is dependent on each individual use case. Businesses working a specific industry with a certain list of clients might choose something completely different to a similar company with a different client list. Ultimately, you should base your decision around what would be the most useful for both your business and your customers.

Marketing Channels

Businesses advertise their products and services in a multitude of ways, so it makes sense that they might have a preference when it comes to marketing automation solutions. Salesforce Marketing Cloud includes tools for a wide range of different marketing channels, which makes it a perfect choice for businesses with expansive marketing avenues; but equally, for growing businesses who use specific marketing channels, Pardot may be the preference due to lead management & nurturing capabilities.

Software Costs

Another major consideration is the cost of the software. Both software packages come with different payment structures – Marketing Cloud has modules that can be added and removed as needed, and Pardot is priced by edition. The complete Marketing Cloud suite costs considerably more than Pardot alone, which can lead to some businesses choosing the cheaper option simply because of the price tag, regardless of whether or not it is the best fit.

Which Is Best For My Business?

The right software package for your business depends on a range of factors, but ultimately, the choice is different for every individual case. Larger companies capable of using Salesforce Marketing Cloud to its full extent will be able to better reap the benefits of multi-channel marketing automations but at a higher overall price, and staff members will require extensive training to become proficient with the software. Smaller businesses utilising Pardot will be able to integrate their B2B marketing efforts online more effectively, with less time required to master the necessary skills, but may be slightly restricted by the select marketing channels available.

Whichever software package you decide is right for you, without proper knowledge and experience, your marketing automation will struggle to reach its full potential. That’s why we offer advanced training from certified Pardot and Marketing Cloud specialists to help you get to grips with your new Salesforce software. For more information on our training, or any of our other digital marketing services, contact us today to take your business to the next level.