Pardot → Marketing Cloud: When is it time to make the switch?

This is a common dilemma our customers face, and it’s important to understand when Pardot is sufficient for your business and when it’s time to upgrade to Marketing Cloud, a more scalable solution that will grow with your business, your customers, and your data. So, what’s the difference?

Pardot and Salesforce Marketing Cloud are both powerful marketing automation platforms offered by Salesforce, but the choice between Pardot and Salesforce Marketing Cloud depends on your specific business requirements, goals, and budget.

You are likely using Pardot if you are heavily, and solely, using Sales and Service cloud in order to execute simple sends. Pardot is primarily designed for B2B (business-to-business) marketing, and it excels for lead management, lead nurturing, and B2B marketing automation. Its robust lead scoring capabilities allows you to prioritize and nurture leads effectively based on your customers’ engagement and behavior. Pardot is often a better fit for smaller and medium-sized businesses due to its user-friendly interface and straightforward setup process. To top it off, Pardot is an amazing tool for email marketing, allowing you to create and automate email campaigns, track email performance, and segment your audience with ease.

But what if you need to incorporate multiple objects? Or you have B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing needs? Or your marketing strategy involves multiple channels? If this sounds like you, you may want to consider an upgrade to Marketing Cloud. . Salesforce Marketing Cloud is more robust  than Pardot, and suitable for both B2B and B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing. As these strategies often involve large volumes of data and multiple channels such as email, SMS, social media, advertising, and AWS, you’ll want the versatility of Marketing Cloud to support you. Moreover, it can handle complex customer journeys and personalized consumer experiences with its various tools like Automation Studio, Email Studio, and Journey Builder, to name a few. Additionally, with Package Manager, you can ensure consistency across all your business units as you can bundle branding, journeys, automations, email templates, and even email content. With these capabilities, Marketing Cloud can handle any business need, industry nuance, or edge case you need it to.

Scalability, advanced features, and the ability to handle large volumes of data and interactions? Come on, it’s a no brainer.

Your business is unique, and you deserve a platform that will grow with you. The reality is you can use Marketing Cloud for the same functionalities as Pardot AND so much more. 

In summary, Pardot is a great choice for B2B-focused businesses, smaller and medium-sized companies, and those looking solely for Salesforce CRM integration. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is ideal for larger enterprises, B2B and B2C businesses, multi-channel marketing strategies, and organizations that require advanced personalization and automation capabilities. Ultimately, your choice should align with your specific marketing goals, target audience, and budget considerations. 

Still have questions? Let’s chat about your specific use-case to determine the best fit for your company’s needs.

Written By

Katy August