The use of marketing automation tools continues to grow for businesses. In fact, 75% of marketers say they currently use at least one type of marketing automation tool. Marketing automation tools are powered by technologies that make marketing more effective and results driven. It streamlines customer interactions and makes it easier to attract, nurture, and convert more leads. From email to social media, to websites, to reporting, automation makes some of the repetitive marketing tasks automated and more effective. Specifically, automated marketing tools are often used for:
● Enhancing the alignment of sales and marketing goals
● Automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks
● Boosting lead conversions
● Tracking and Achieving better return on marketing investment
Organizations these days have numerous marketing automation tools to choose from and with so many options available it can be difficult to choose which one is best for your business. As two of the biggest players in the cloud-based marketing automation space, HubSpot and Marketo are prime candidates giving you the tools you need to deliver highly targeted marketing strategies at scale.
With a lot of common features, these two tools are both great for marketing, but the two should not be confused—several key differences help determine which tool is a better fit for your business. So when it comes down to it, which one should you choose? Read on to learn more about these marketing automation powerhouses and which is the best-fit solution for your business requirements.
Table of Contents
● All About Marketo
● The HubSpot Rundown
● Key Differences Between HubSpot and Marketo
● Features
● Analytics
● Support
● Usability
● Pricing
● Integrations and Partner Networks
● Which Tool Is Right for You?
● Takeaways
All About Marketo
Marketo is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketing automation solution owned by Adobe.
It allows B2B and B2C marketers to target qualified leads, produce lead-to-revenue opportunities, and execute automated, personalized marketing campaigns across multiple digital channels. Marketo is also known for its advanced analytics. After being acquired by Adobe in 2016, the Marketo software stack now integrates into the Adobe Experience Cloud and includes a mobile app to let users stay connected on the go.
Who Uses Marketo?
Marketo was originally created as an automation solution for large enterprises, especially those that handle mass amounts of data and complex marketing processes. The target audience for Marketo falls into three groups:
● Marketing practitioners that work for large enterprises and need complex lead nurturing campaigns operationalized.
● Sales and sales development representatives who are looking for deeper insights into the digital behavior of their prospects to provide more contextual engagement.
● Marketing executives who want to be able to correlate marketing investment with sales revenue.
● Organizations that need advanced analytics and workflow, including predictive analytics and modeling.
The HubSpot Rundown
HubSpot is known for pioneering the efforts behind inbound marketing, and the all-in-one marketing automation platform centers around the idea of getting customers inbound to your organization. Within HubSpot, there are three hubs: marketing, sales, and service, and each of those hubs is built to help automate communications with your audience. HubSpot is built to be the engine behind all digital marketing including website content management, CRM, email marketing, social media, and reporting. It can help you manage the entire lifecycle of a prospect from the first encounter with a brand to becoming a loyal customer.
Who Uses HubSpot?
HubSpot works for businesses that are looking to streamline their digital marketing and align their marketing with sales. The platform was created to focus on small and mid-sized B2B and B2C but has taken strides recently to cater to larger businesses as well. They have also made recent moves towards eCommerce, building integrations with Shopify and other eCommerce tools.
HubSpot is great for marketers who need an all-in-one tool or are looking for a tool that allows them to visualize automation in real-time to build simple follow-ups and multi-stage journeys for customers.
Key Differences Between HubSpot and Marketo
We’re diving into the two most popular marketing automation tools to find out what’s the best fit for your business and gives you the features and automation to help you reach your marketing goals.
Features
The product features are of course one of the most important parts of marketing automation software. Both HubSpot and Marketo allow users to automate workflows that can easily scale for any type of company, but there are a few key differences.
Marketo
Everything from developing campaigns, to collecting leads, to scoring and reporting on performance can be done within Marketo. Marketo includes the core capabilities of marketing automation, such as sending email, but there are upcharges for integrations with CMS, CRM, and other tools to fully integrate.
Marketo’s system is broken down into five main modules:
- Lead Management
- Email Marketing
- Consumer Marketing
- Customer Base Marketing
- Mobile Marketing
Each of these modules can be purchased separately, bundled, or purchased together in an integrated platform. The automation in Marketo is built to handle thousands of leads at any given time, which makes it a natural fit for large corporations.
HubSpot
HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing software that includes content creation, email, a CRM, and automation in a single platform. You can even build your blog or your whole website on the HubSpot CMS to fully integrate each part of your content marketing into the platform. Its specialty is content production—you can use the platform to create dynamic content that caters to various audiences then track them through their customer journey. HubSpot is best suited for small to mid-sized companies who want to generate leads and leverage marketing automation to scale the process.
Analytics
Tracking marketing campaigns is an essential piece of any strategy because it allows marketers to adjust as needed to improve the process. Here are the ways each platform stacks up in terms of analytics.
Marketo
Marketo provides rich and advanced analytics and visibility into how marketing tactics are working. Some of the more advanced capabilities include revenue modeling and seeing the correlation between marketing and revenue—with the caveat that customer data needs to be integrated into the platform. Advanced analytics can predict digital behavior patterns and content preferences based on demographics and CRM data input from customer information.
HubSpot
HubSpot also provides powerful analytics and a comprehensive set of insights to give marketers the ability to create reports, track campaigns, and look into customer behaviors. HubSpot has the benefit of being able to break down reports all the way to the company-level to see trends. While HubSpot doesn't offer predictive analysis or revenue modeling, HubSpot's analytics are easy to use and reports are quick to create.
Support
It’s not ideal to have something go wrong using your marketing automation platform, but if it does, you want to make sure that there is a strong support team to help you through it. Luckily both platforms have support teams to keep your marketing automation running smoothly.
Marketo
The Marketo team is available by phone, email, and live chat. Users have access to a robust Knowledge Base or use the support portal to submit a case to the support team. Marketo also has a strong user forum and community, the Marketing Nation, with discussions and blogs to get you the answers you need.
In addition to self-service and general support, every new customer on the platform has the option to onboard with a dedicated consultant, and there are paid tier options that give users the ability to talk to someone that can help optimize campaigns.
HubSpot
Similarly, HubSpot's customer support is available by phone, email, and live chat, as well as a comprehensive Knowledge Base with answers to common questions customers have. HubSpot also has a customer forum where users can start discussions and a developer community to bring users together. HubSpot also has training through the HubSpot Academy, which gives users and potential customers alike the ability to learn about inbound marketing and earn certifications in using the platform. Higher-tier customers have the option to request personalized support from a dedicated HubSpot representative.
Usability
When it comes to looking at Marketo vs. HubSpot, both platforms offer great features, but no software is useful if it’s not usable. We’re diving into the usability of each platform.
Marketo
In terms of usability, Marketo has a visual editor that allows users to create landing pages. That being said, it does require knowledge of CSS and HTML to make the pages visually appealing and optimized for mobile. Users who are interested in customization through coding will appreciate Marketo.
HubSpot
HubSpot is known for its ease of use, which is one of the reasons the platform is growing in popularity. Customers can quickly and easily create the content they want within an intuitive user interface that’s easy to integrate and roll out across your team.
Pricing
Of course, for most companies, the ultimate decision comes down to the bottom line: what will it cost me? Both platforms have tiered packages, depending on what you’re looking for. Here are the differences:
Marketo
Marketo has four tiers of services that they offer: select, prime, ultimate, and enterprise. Pricing is based on the number of customers that are imported into a database, and while the company doesn't list their pricing readily on their website, they are known for being on the more expensive end of the software spectrum. They encourage people interested to contact their sales team to get an accurate quote based on the database size and needs of the department.
HubSpot
HubSpot offers various tiers spanning various levels throughout the marketing, service, and sales hub. That being said, they have free tools to get small teams started at the most basic level of automation, including a CRM, forms, email marketing, landing pages, ad management, and a conversations inbox.
In addition, pricing for various tiers including:
● Starter CRM Suite: including the starter pack of all three hubs start at $50/month
● Professional CRM Suite: $1343/month
● Enterprise CRM Suite: $4200/month
These tiers start at these prices and increase based on the number of contacts within the CRM. Hubspot also has special pricing for startups and allows teams to choose tiers within the individual hubs as well.
Integrations and Partner Networks
Businesses can benefit from marketing automation, but only if it can integrate with all the other software that’s your business is using. Here is where these two platforms stack up in regards to app integrations.
Marketo
Marketo’s integration marketplace, Marketo Engage, has more than 550 integrations into various products including Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, and many other CRM, social media, and event management platforms. You can see the full list on their site: https://www.marketo.com/software/plug-play-integrations/
HubSpot
The HubSpot App Partner Program, also has an extensive list of integrations, with new partners joining each month. Another list of more than 500 powerful integrations includes eCommerce powerhouses like Shopify and Square, customer support platforms like Zendesk and Intercom, social media and website platforms, and more. You can see the full list on their site: https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/marketplace/apps/
Which Tool is Right for You?
While HubSpot and Marketo are both great and powerful marketing automation tools the tools do differ based on the needs of an organization.
If you’re looking for a tool to handle a great number of leads with powerful analytics and predictive technologies, Marketo would likely be a good fit for you.
If you’re looking for more of a less expensive, and all-in-one tool that combines all your marketing (and even support and sales) needs in one place, HubSpot is a better fit for you.
Takeaways
Your growing brand needs all the right tools in place to reach your customers and grow your business. To complement a strong marketing automation tool, top brands are more and more considering using digital asset management tools. These tools allow you to speed up the time it takes to produce and publish great content . Learn more about how the Sparkfive platform can unleash the power of your brand.
