Enterprise marketing automation software is becoming increasingly popular and for many has become a crucial component of their enterprise toolkit. With its ability to create, manage, and evaluate content delivery, a comprehensive marketing automation solution is becoming as crucial a business tool as CRM.
However, there are some things to consider before making a purchase.
Like any enterprise solution, the decision to purchase a marketing automation solution should not be made lightly. The available options should not be evaluated on what features they provide, but on how those features address the particular needs of a company.
Trying to match features with needs can be difficult if all you have to go on is a product description page.
Fortunately, crowd-sourced ratings and reviews can give a much clearer picture of how a particular product fills specific needs. Utilizing data from industry-leading peer-review site G2Crowd, we can get ratings and reviews from actual users of various marketing automation solutions.
Below, you can see how three of the top enterprise marketing automation vendors fared with the G2Crowd audience.
Note: Data presented below was collected on June 13, 2014 and is very likely to change over time as new reviews and ratings are submitted to the site.
Pardot
A Salesforce.com property, Pardot is based out of Atlanta, Georgia. This marketing automation software has the benefit of integrating with Salesforce, SugarCRM, and Microsoft Dynamics. G2Crowd users like Pardot for its integration options, but some would like to see more robust reporting.
Crowd Stats
Overall Satisfaction Ratings: Pardot earns a respectable 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Number of User Reviews: There are currently 460 reviews of Pardot.
Percentage of Positive Reviews: As of writing, 94% of reviews for Pardot were a 4 or higher.
User Satisfaction Ratings
- Meets Requirements: 8.5/10
- Ease of Use: 8.5/10
- Ease of Setup: 7.6/10
- Ease of Administration: 8.5/10
- Quality of Support: 8.6/10
- Ease of Doing Business With: 8.7/10
Pardot earns high marks in all categories. The few concerns about reporting shouldn’t turn you off of this marketing automation option.
HubSpot
HubSpot was founded out of MIT in 2006. Still based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, HubSpot focuses on multiple aspects of inbound marketing and marketing automation. Many users like the “all in one” functionality of HubSpot, while a few users express concerns about pricing.
Crowd Stats
Overall Satisfaction Ratings: HubSpot wows with 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Number of User Reviews: There are currently 393 reviews of HubSpot.
Percentage of Positive Reviews: Over 96% of G2Crowd users who have rated HubSpot give it a 4 or 5.
User Satisfaction Ratings
- Meets Requirements: 8.5/10
- Ease of Use: 8.7/10
- Ease of Setup: 7.2/10
- Ease of Administration: 8.1/10
- Quality of Support: 9.3/10
- Ease of Doing Business With: 8.6/10
HubSpot also does well in all categories, but really shines in Quality of Support. Paying a little more and getting top-notch support isn’t really a bad deal, is it?
Marketo
From their headquarters in San Mateo, California, Marketo focuses on providing marketing products that are easy to use, powerful, and complete. Most G2Crowd users like the ease of use, with some minor complaints about customizations.
Crowd Stats
Overall Satisfaction Ratings: Marketo clocks in with a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
Number of User Reviews: There are a total of 257 reviews of Marketo.
Percentage of Positive Reviews: Second only to HubSpot, 94% of Marketo’s reviews are a 4 or higher.
User Satisfaction Ratings
- Meets Requirements: 8.5/10
- Ease of Use: 8.1/10
- Ease of Setup: 6.7/10
- Ease of Administration: 7.3/10
- Quality of Support: 7.5/10
- Ease of Doing Business With: 7.5/10
While customizations may be an issue for some companies with very complex needs, the ease of use right out of the box can make Marketo enticing to many marketing departments.
Your CRM System’s Best Friend
Having the right marketing automation solution can make all the difference in the world. It can also be your CRM system’s best friend when the two systems are integrated with each other and passing critical information back and forth.
In order to find the best solution for your business, it’s important to carefully weigh each option under consideration, gather feedback from both internal and external sources — which is why crowd-sourced reviews are rapidly rising in popularity — and then make a decision based on the needs of the company and its users.
