Highly intuitive.
Updated August 21, 2019
Highly intuitive.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Small and Medium Business
Modules Used
- Marketo Lead Management
- Marketo Sales Insight
- Marketo Revenue Cycle Analytics
Overall Satisfaction with Marketo
Marketo is used by almost our entire organization. It works together with our CMS to track the buyer journey, automate perpetual nurtures, track multi-channel success, capture ROI, and much more! Marketo is the foundation to our marketing strategy and success!
Pros
- Very user friendly. Easy to get up to speed and train others how to use it. Similar to SFDC in the fact that it is intuitive.
- Increasing marketing efficiency. It's so simple to clone landing pages, emails, programs, and campaigns that it makes us very proficient.
- It makes up for deficiencies in SFDC. Sometimes there are limitations with SFDC workflow rules that Marketo can handle. It also allows a deeper view into each lead that would not be available in SFDC without Marketo.
- Provides valuable lead information, visibility, and tools for Sales.
- Marketo has a great native integration with SFDC. It's easy to set-up and troubleshoot if an issue arises.
Cons
- Sometimes it can be very slow. Sometimes just finding a value on a pick list takes much longer than it should. Sometimes it can take a long time for a list to run. Database size and quantity of database activity can play a role on speed. Some of this was due to years of accumulated anonymous lead data that was clogging up system. These are now archived automatically after 3 months by Marketo. This helped, but we still have periods where it is slow when we work with clients with large databases.
- It would be nice to be able to assign priorities to smart campaigns to help control race conditions.
- RCA stage accuracy could be improved by making the model intuitive enough to correctly handle merges.
- If a SFDC administrator makes a mass update, this can cause backlogs in the system. For example, campaign triggers or alerts can be delayed by a couple of hours.
The main decision was between Eloqua and Marketo . We did consider some other systems, but these were the main contenders.
We called references and the general consensus was that Marketo more user friendly and capable of what we needed. Their references were generally happier than Eloqua references. This feedback was probably the determining factor is choosing Marketo.
We called references and the general consensus was that Marketo more user friendly and capable of what we needed. Their references were generally happier than Eloqua references. This feedback was probably the determining factor is choosing Marketo.
Adobe Marketo Engage Feature Ratings
Learnings & Advice
Using Marketo's core features
Using Marketo
46 - One person in the marketing department uses all the modules.
One person in the marketing department uses the lead management and RCA modules.
Four people in the marketing department use the lead management module and Sales Insight. 40 members of the sales team have access to use Sales Insight - some use it a lot, while others use it a little.
One person in the marketing department uses the lead management and RCA modules.
Four people in the marketing department use the lead management module and Sales Insight. 40 members of the sales team have access to use Sales Insight - some use it a lot, while others use it a little.
1 - It's just me in house, but we also have an agency (Spear Marketing - our implementation partner) which does a lot for us. We use them for support too. When it comes to supporting Marketo, it really helps that I am a certified SFDC administrator. It helps me know how the the two work together and what is possible using the two together.
- The primary process is marketing campaign management: We use Marketo for all forms, landing pages, emails, and campaign responses. All lead information is captured on Marketo landing pages and forms, which is then pumped directly into SFDC.
- Our sales department also depends on Marketo Sales Insight for lead data when prospecting.
- We also use Marketo for reporting and alerts. We report and alert on certain web behaviors to improve sales and retention.
- We use Marketo for workflow that SFDC cannot always handle, such as updating fields or sending alerts based on certain record inputs.
- We use reporting of certain behaviors in Marketo to watch for possible client cancellations, increasing retention.
- There is a lot of reporting available in Marketo that we do not currently use. In the future, I see us gearing towards more of that reporting.
- Within 2 years of implementing Marketo, we realized a 135% increase in opportunities created, and a 148% increase in opportunities won. In order to support that increase in opportunities, we expanded our sales team in excess of 200%. Within the first 2 years of implementing Marketo, we doubled the size of our marketing department and increased the marketing budget by 73% to support new marketing demands.
- The sheer quantity and efficiency of campaigns that we can put out, along with associated reporting for each, is dramatically higher than we could ever achieve before Marketo. We could not continue at our current pace without Marketo. This is the primary reason we renew.
Evaluating Marketo and Competitors
We were using Vertical Response and other lightweight tools, but they were not really competitive tools.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Analyst Reports
Product features and usability were the most important factors. We needed a product that had all the functionality, but was user friendly and easy to learn. We wanted to get up and running quickly.
We would not change anything. We are happy with our decision.
Marketo Implementation
- Professional services company
We used a Marketo partner: Spear Marketing.
Not sure - I was not at the company when Marketo was implemented, but am told it went well.
- We would recommend hiring an experienced team over implementing in house.
Marketo Training
- Online training
- Self-taught
I took the online training, but it was very basic. I learned most of Marketo through self-teaching just because there is not a lot of advanced online training. I would recommend using all the online resources they have available, but there is a lot you have to learn on your own.
Marketo Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No - We don't really need it. We do not have a very high volume of support issues and can handle most problems in house.
Yes - Some things we have reported were fixed by the engineering team on Marketo's end. Of the bugs we have reported, I would say none of them were of an extreme nature.
There was one time we were trying to figure out how to change the visibility around a web activity report. The support team informed us that what we were trying to do was not possible at this time. They said they liked the idea, though, and told us to put it up on the Marketo community. As soon as we did, the support team backed the idea. It hasn't been implemented yet, but it was nice to know that they do listen and support what their customers are trying to do.
Using Marketo
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Setting up programs to sync with SFDC campaigns is very easy.
- Cloning programs/assets is very easy and saves a lot of time.
- For us, since we have RCA, keeping RCA stages updated is difficult due to record merges.
- Getting Marketo reports to match SFDC reports can sometimes be difficult - you have to find the discrepancies in order to make sure the reporting is working as intended.
- Territory updates sometimes take a long time in Marketo.
Yes - They do not currently have a mobile interface, but it is coming soon.
Marketo Reliability
Integrating Marketo
- SFDC
Standard. Out of the box integration.
- Not for now.
- File import/export
- API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
Mass updating in SFDC can backlog the sync between SFDC and Marketo. Any mass updating should be done at the end of the day or later.
Relationship with Marketo
They are pretty tough when it comes to negotiating free Marketo University training at the Marketo User Summit. We have negotiated free passes to their User Summit, but no discounted training. We have also negotiated a discount for the Revenue Cycle Analytics module one year, but this was because our experience of using it during the first year was unacceptable. The product had a lot of flaws. We think they probably released it too early and then ultimately gave us a discount.
Do not hesitate to reach out when you have a question. They will do whatever it takes to keep you satisfied. Your relationship with the people at Marketo does not end after you purchase the product.
Upgrading Marketo
Yes - We have upgraded our Sales Insight product while with Marketo. It went easily with no down time.
- New features and functionality were available with the latest Sales Insight Release.
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