A Note about Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement 

You might be more familiar with Pardot than Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE), but these are actually the same solution. 

Salesforce rebranded several of its solutions in 2022, with Pardot being renamed to fit in with Salesforce’s traditional naming conventions. MCAE is simply Pardot with a new, wordier name.  

Integrations

HubSpot’s CRM software is built to integrate with the other tools in your software environment, while Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is paired almost exclusively with the Salesforce CRM platform.  

Marketing Hub is one piece of HubSpot’s CRM platform. Businesses that don’t have a CRM in their software environment can still purchase HubSpot Marketing Hub and reap the benefits. Although Marketing Hub is powerful on its own, its custom integrations—including a Salesforce connector developed by HubSpot—help the software shine. 

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is an add-on for the Salesforce CRM platform. Companies hoping to use MCAE must build a CRM environment with Salesforce. While MCAE boasts a robust integration with Salesforce CRM, connectivity with other tools is limited. 

Small and Mid-Size vs. Enterprise

HubSpot Marketing Hub and Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement are comparable marketing automation solutions built for vastly different organizations. While HubSpot’s software is best for smaller organizations with lower budgets, Salesforce’s software is ideal for larger organizations on the Salesforce CRM platform.  

HubSpot Marketing Hub is a scalable solution with flexible pricing, making it well-suited for small and mid-size organizations. HubSpot’s focus on inbound marketing strategies means your marketing team draws leads in rather than seeks them out. Marketers can use the time they save to develop new strategies and build value for the company. 

Salesforce MCAE is a component of Salesforce’s CRM platform, which means it’s better suited for larger organizations using the CRM suite. Its customizable reporting features are helpful for organizations with large volumes of data, and its smooth data sync with Salesforce ensures data is up-to-the-minute and accurate. 

Feature Focus

HubSpot Marketing Hub boasts more features than Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. However, other Salesforce tools may cover the capabilities absent in Salesforce’s marketing automation solution. 

The tools available in HubSpot Marketing Hub cover every aspect of marketing, with different levels of functionality depending on the user license. HubSpot prioritizes inbound marketing methodologies, and the software’s breadth of functionality helps teams capture leads and convert them into loyal customers. 

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement mainly handles sales enablement and customer journeys. Its limited feature set lacks the bells and whistles of larger marketing automation platforms like Salesforce Marketing Cloud. However, teams that already use a variety of other solutions, such as Salesforce CRM, can avoid feature bloat and overlap with MCAE.  

Sum It Up

HubSpot Marketing Hub is an excellent fit for small and mid-size companies needing powerful marketing features. The software can connect with disparate systems to give marketing teams a unified view of the business, which helps them draw from data to build powerful campaigns. 

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is an add-on for Salesforce CRM, giving the software additional tools focused on sales enablement and customer journeys. Since an investment in MCAE requires a Salesforce CRM license, the software is best for larger companies with higher budgets. 

At Cargas, our expert consulting team specializes in marketing automation solutions, including HubSpot Marketing Hub. If you’re trying to understand whether or not HubSpot is a good fit for your business, we’d love to help. Let’s connect to talk about your needs and what you’re looking for in a software solution.