By: Puranjay Singh Last updated: 20 Sep 2017
Marketo's powerful content personalization and automation capabilities make it a favorite among established small and medium-sized businesses. However, some users might find the pricing and complexity too high. For such users, these Marketo alternatives might be more suitable.
Marketo is a an automation platform, while HubSpot is an inbound marketing platform with some marketing automation capabilities.
Yet, in terms of features, there is significant overlap between Marketo and HubSpot. Both will give you the tools you need to run an integrated content marketing campaign across multiple channels.
The similarities between Marketo and HubSpot go beyond their features as well. Both these companies are similar in market cap, employee count and target audience. They are also priced similarly - HubSpot's recommended plan will cost you $800/month (minus add-ons), while Marketo starts at $895/month.
All these similarities make HubSpot one of the best alternatives to Marketo...Full HubSpot Review
Infusionsoft is an all-in-one marketing automation platform that aims to handle every stage of your marketing and sales, from lead acquisition to eventual conversion.
Both Infusionsoft and Marketo are automation-first marketing tools. They both act as "platforms" to run an integrated content marketing campaign with a focus on capturing and nurturing leads.
However, Infusionsoft lacks Marketo's extensive content personalization capabilities. On the positive side, it offers e-commerce pages and a built-in payment processor.
For smaller businesses, Infusionsoft would be a better choice given its ease of use and substantially lower pricing...Full Infusionsoft Review
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the marketing automation product from Salesforce. Packed with features, it works perfectly for organizations already using the Salesforce CRM.
If you compare Salesforce and Marketo in terms of features, Salesforce is clearly the better choice. You get better social media and emial automation capabilities. Salesforce is also better at handling and segmenting data at scale. It also integrates easily with Salesforce CRM, which is still the best CRM solution on the market.
The problem is that Salesforce Marketing Cloud is hard - and expensive - to buy. Don't be fooled by the $400 initial price tag; for any meaningful package, you'll spend thousands each month. It is also not particularly user-friendly for small businesses.
If you're a larger business and have the resources to support a Salesforce deployment, it can be a good alternative to Marketo...Full Salesforce Review
Marketo's content personalization capabilities and automation strengths make it one of the better marketing automation softwares on the market.
However, Marketo does have two weaknesses: pricing and ease of use.
This might not be a problem for established businesses with adequate resources, but smaller businesses will find the software prohibitively expensive. It is also not easy to use or deploy; you will need a dedicated person and/or extensive training to use it.
Thus, any Marketo alternative you choose should ideally have similar features, but at a lower price and with more ease of use.
Based on this criteria, I recommend the following:
Need help finding the right alternative to Marketo? Get in touch with us on our contact page to get personalized recommendations.
