Marketing Automation Solutions for Salesforce Users

Salesforce Marketing Automation Products

Salesforce currently offers two of its own marketing automation platforms: Salesforce Pardot (Sales Cloud) and the Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Both of these marketing automation solutions target different user requirements and different marketing needs and they each have their advantages depending on your business and its marketing mission. Pricing for both licensing and implementation typically varies considerably.

In simplistic terms – Salesforce Pardot (Sales Cloud) is better suited for organizations with a B2B focus and excels with B2B sales that are sales intensive, involve professional services and long term sales cycles, channel partners and are opportunity centric. The Sales Cloud product is more tightly integrated with Salesforce.com’s traditional CRM / sales force automation functionality and is the result of Salesforce’s acquisition of the Pardot product.

Salesforce Pardot – Sales Cloud

The Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be thought of as a different product running on its own stand-alone platform (with integration to Salesforce CRM) and is typically better suited for organizations that are B2C and eCommerce focused. Salesforce Marketing Cloud includes a number of add-on modules for functionality such as digital display advertising, social media marketing, sophisticated audience segmentation and testing, SMS and mobile, eCommerce integration, and consumer demographics and marketing analytics. The Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the current evolution of the Exact Target marketing automation platform that Salesforce acquired several years ago.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Third-Party Marketing Solutions and Salesforce

Most major third-party marketing automation and e-mail marketing solutions on the market today have mature connectors for integration with Salesforce. Examples include Hubspot, Marketo, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, Act-On, and industry specific platforms like Real Magnet and Informz targeted at non-profits and associations, and many others. There are hundreds of e-Mail marketing and marketing automation tools and solutions on the market today and many of these products have integration connectors for Salesforce.

The e-mail marketing or marketing automation solution(s) your organization selects should align with your type of business, industry (or non-profit mission), and your unique marketing objectives – both traditional and digital. But be careful and do not underestimate the business preparation and documentation, integration, testing, resources, and implementation effort required for your particular environment – as these are the keys to success.

In summary this high-level overview of marketing automation for Salesforce is not intended to simplify your evaluation process. You should not make brash buying decision purely based on this description. Instead, go into the evaluation with a basic understanding of these differences, and what factors you should be considering.

CRM to Marketing Automation – The By-Product of Todays Digital Transformation

As can be seen by the rapid proliferation of marketing automation tools and stand alone e-mail marketing, marketing automation, and marketing analytics solutions on the market today – the quickly evolving digital marketplace has placed entirely new demands on the functionality and capabilities of the established CRM vendors including Salesforce.

Everyone on both sides of this changing business paradigm – technology providers and businesses – is striving to keep up with the demands and expectations of today’s digital consumer – be they a business customer, individual consumer, constituent, or member. We are in the middle of the growth curve of an evolving product category – marketing automation and digital marketing software and services and this is affecting the changing utility of CRM applications.

This presents a challenge for both line-of-business users and senior management and decision makers. Which platforms to choose and commit to, to carry your organization into the digital future? This is particularly challenging when selecting marketing automation and customer experience platforms that will affect your ongoing customer relationships years into the future.

Digital Marketing Health Check-Up for Salesforce Users

4Front Marketing Technologies is committed to assisting organizations using Salesforce to select and deploy the best marketing analytics and marketing automation tools to accomplish your mission and deliver the customer experiences to drive your organization forward in the digital age – and to maximize your investment in the Salesforce Classic CRM or Lightning platform. This starts with a careful assessment of your current marketing operations and processes, your marketing technology eco-system, and an evaluation of your current Salesforce CRM and e-mail marketing solutions.

If you are currently using a marketing automation or e-mail marketing tool – integrated with Salesforce or stand alone, is it meeting your needs and are you able to measure your results and return-on-investment? Is your organization considering a marketing automation solution for the first time or looking at alternatives to your current system?

4Front is here to help your organization assess your current marketing automation and e-mail marketing tools and provide recommendations to improve your current Salesforce marketing operations or to assist in the selection of the best option for a marketing automation solution for your unique Salesforce implementation.

Free Initial Consultation and Assessment: Click on the Button below to register for a free consultation and assessment of your current Salesforce digital marketing eco-system and receive recommendations on marketing automation and data analytics tools to improve your organization’s digital marketing performance.

Consulting Services for Salesforce Clients

Salesforce Product Selection – Compare Salesforce Marketing Solutions for Best Fit for your Organization
Marketing Automation Evaluation – Benefits of Third-Party vs Salesforce Marketing Platforms
Digital Marketing Strategy Review – A Digital Marketing Roadmap and Strategic Plan
Benchmark Evaluation – Compare your Digital Marketing Performance Metrics with Industry Standards
Salesforce Marketing Resources – Technical, Marketing Operations, Strategy and Creative, Data Analytics
Data Privacy and Security Health Check – Is your Organization Meeting Data Privacy Standards?