Features

By default, Marketing Automation (MA) platforms have built-in email campaigns with delivery optimisation tools, event-based triggers, lead nurturing, landing page builder,  A/B testing and (some) reports and analytics.
But if you need help to build your marketing strategy across multiple channels and improve it based on MA insights or need integration with third-party apps or support – to that end, MA platforms  differ in their offering.

SEO / Keyword Tool Features – Act-On landing pages rely on a different URL than your normal website, so you may want to embed Act-On forms into your existing pages for the most SEO effect.  Pardot  doesn’t offer this feature in their basic package. In addition to SEO and keyword tool, HubSpot has a built-in blog management feature.

The most powerful analytics that can perform predictive analytics and modelling based on digital behaviour patterns, content preferences, CRM data, and firmographics is embedded in Marketo. Other solutions do an okay job offering analytics tools for tracking campaigns and pulling reports to show the correlation between marketing efforts and revenue.

Cost and Modules

Marketo’s modules are priced in tiers according to scale: Spark, Standard, Select, and Enterprise. But it also lets you create a custom solution for your needs by combining any of their four modules: marketing automation, consumer engagement, real-time personalisation, and marketing management.

HubSpot’s product is priced in three tiers according to scale and functionality: Basic, Professional, and Enterprise. Its all-in-one solution is attractive to many businesses since it provides seamless functionality and is priced as a single unit. HubSpot also offers a number of pre-built integrations with popular business apps to allow further customisation.

Overall, HubSpot is a more affordable option than Marketo regardless of the company size.

Act-On is the most affordable option and the cost increases once you have 25,000 contacts.

Pardot makes a good buy for companies looking for an affordable marketing automation software. Only their ‘Ultimate’ package offers in-person call support and it starts with a spend over £2,300 (approx $3,000) per month.

Typical Company User Size

If you’re a large B2B company looking for a custom-built solution to align prospect engagement with business goals, you should consider Marketo.
HubSpot’s solution focuses on inbound and their customer list is populated with small to mid-size businesses, that said, it is suitable for large businesses too.

CRM Integration

As MA and CRM are interdependent most businesses shop for an MA solution that integrates with their CRM or vice versa. HubSpot offers its own built-in CRM, as well as integration with popular systems such as Salesforce, Sugar, MS Dynamics, among others. Marketo best integrates with Salesforce, and also offer native integration for MS Dynamics and SAP, Netsuite, Oracle, and SugarCRM.
Act-On integrates well with almost any CRM.
Pardot is part of Salesforce and natively integrates with Salesforce CRM but also with other CRM systems.

Conclusion

Each platform on the market offers slightly different features than its competitors. Remember to match the solutions to your business needs to help you find the right one. Needless to say, these aren’t the only fish in the sea.

Let me know if you have any questions.