- Sep 21, 2023
- Category: Automation Marketing
With marketing automation software having come a long way in recent years, it can get quite tedious to select the best CRM and marketing automation (MA) tools for your company. For very different reasons, HubSpot and Marketo constitute some of the most widely used offerings available today.
As a result, you must compare Marketo and HubSpot with respect to your own business requirements.
So, along what parameters do we compare the two marketing automation platforms? Well, this insightful blog from InfoClutch will definitely shed some light on the accurate difference between Marketo and HubSpot.
Should you wish to delve into a more in-depth comparison, read on!
Hubspot vs Marketo: which one’s better?
So, let’s take a look at certain comparison parameters, and expand on them to point out the real difference between Marketo and HubSpot:
| Comparison parameters | HubSpot | Marketo |
| Starting price | Free CRM costs nothing; a premium Sales Hub subscription costs $20 each month | All plans are priced individually. |
| Ease of use | Overall, it is simple; there is a minimal learning curve for advanced features | Overall, it is straightforward; advanced capabilities have a minor learning curve |
| Email Marketing | You only get to send a selected number of emails with the HubSpot branding, per month | You can send unlimited emails through the month |
| Contact management | 25% Supports contact management | 10% CRM through SFDC or MSD |
| Free trial | 25% 14 days | 10% No free trial offered |
| Sales forecasting | 25% Offers sales forecasting. | 10% Doesn’t offer sales forecasting. |
| Lead management | 25% Both offer lead management | 10% Both offer lead management |
| Customer support | 25% Offers options like Online chat, phone, email, HubSpot Community, HubSpot Academy, and online Knowledge Base. | 10% Phone, email, online chat, Twitter, Marketo University, and an online Help Centre are all options. |
| E-commerce integrations | Offers integrations with the likes of:
| No limits on the screening of all plans |
1. Pricing
HubSpot is a CRM platform that offers all of its capabilities in a singular system – unlike Marketo’s model which differs starkly.
You can further elevate your membership status as your database expands, and there are various bolt-ons you can pay for additionally, in order to further improve your marketing methods or reports.
Even at the starter level, HubSpot allows you to use all of its capabilities. You can upgrade the full package rather than upgrading each individual module. In essence, HubSpot’s pricing model ranges from $45 to $3,200 a month and rises based on the number of users and marketing contacts managed.
On the other hand, Marketo follows a much more modular approach to its entire solution. Marketo is made up of seven major modules:
- Lead management
- Mobile Marketing
- Account-based marketing.
- Customer-based marketing
- Revenue attribution
- Consumer marketing
- Email marketing
Based on your niche business needs, you may buy these modules individually, in bundles, or as a single fully integrated platform.
This means that you can design your own solution, and you can cast your own marketing automation mould for smoother and more streamlined business processes. However, this perspective is hugely dependent on your unique business needs.
Additionally, Marketo modules are priced in categories based on size:
- Select (Specifically for SMEs)
- Prime
- Ultimate
- Enterprise
2. Overall versatility
The overall versatility offered by Marketo can be explained in two parts.
Marketo provides targeted marketing solutions for certain industry sectors. As previously stated, they encompass seven major marketing modules that may be purchased singly or in bundles.
Marketo gives good in-depth coverage of the singular module you end up purchasing. So, if it is a more modular experience you are looking for, then singular Marketo modules offer slightly better versatility as compared to HubSpot.
However, you will have to pay a lot more if you want a holistic marketing automation experience, without modular breakdowns.
On the other hand, HubSpot happens to be a robust CRM tool that allows you to create targeted content for your web pages, blogs, emails, etc. utilizing customer data. It enables you to make reports, examine analytics, and do other things all in one location. If you want to flex your marketing muscles even more, HubSpot’s App Integration Ecosystem allows you to link up to 1,000 additional apps.
So, if we talk about a fully-integrated model setup, then HubSpot definitely has more to offer in terms of versatility.
3. CRM integration
Due to the interdependence between customer relationship management and marketing automation, many firms seek tools which integrate with their CRM.
Although Marketo does not have a CRM module, their solution was created on the Salesforce platform, which means they have some of the greatest and most inventive Salesforce integrations in the current technological landscape. Some other native integrations include ones with Microsoft Dynamics and SAP, ensuring that marketers do not lose out by using their platforms.
Contrarily, HubSpot is a true that can interact with popular systems such as Zoho, Microsoft Dynamics, SugarCRM, Salesforce, and so on. Marketo’s CRM connectors are more sophisticated and may provide more comprehensive service, but HubSpot is considerably more intuitive and user-friendly because its primary job is that of a CRM platform.
It provides an assortment of products that can be developed atop of the CRM, combining a single backend experience with a consistent user interface to provide end users with both power and ease of use.
4. Ease of use
HubSpot and Marketo have earned a track record for being reasonably simple to use, owing to cutting-edge, intuitive dashboards designed with usability in mind. Nonetheless, both platforms have advanced capabilities that frequently necessitate a minor to modest learning curve to execute.
If you wish to improve your Marketo skills, attend the Marketo University course. On the other hand, the HubSpot Academy provides training to help you improve proficiency of using HubSpot.
5. Lead Management
Lead management in Marketo can be handled at individual and account levels, which is beneficial for ABM organizations. Marketo not only manages leads, but it also assists you in mapping whole client journey from awareness through revenue collection.
Whereas, the basic HubSpot CRM provides the essentials for organizing and managing all your leads and contacts. On all plans, HubSpot includes transaction pipelines. The higher your tier, the greater the number of pipelines you can manage on your account. The Professional and Enterprise plans include account-based administration and automatic lead rotation tools.
6. Email Marketing
Marketo and HubSpot both provide 1:1 emails for making individual connections with leads, contacts, and other members of the sales team. With HubSpot and Marketo, you can also develop full-fledged customized marketing email campaigns.
You can leverage Marketo’s intuitive tool which makes way for dragging and dropping emails or predesigned email templates. As a result, you can create adaptable email campaigns with dynamic content for all of your marketing needs.
Send personalized emails based on user action or lack of engagement, as a component of a segmentation effort, or as part of a larger marketing journey. Your personalized Marketo dashboard allows you to track campaign parameters and outcomes in real-time.
On the contrary, HubSpot’s free and starter subscriptions offer restricted email automation features. The Professional and Enterprise plans include the following features:
- Unlimited advanced automation actions
- Email health reporting
- A/B testing
- 1,000 to 1,500 active send lists
- Omni channel marketing automation
Furthermore, you may access email campaign results from your dashboard at any time.
So, who really wins?
Well, there is no clear winner in the above competition. Both these marketing automation platforms take starkly different approaches, and suit different business needs.
Both have their own set of distinguishing characteristics, some of which intersect and some of which are obviously separate. They aim to automate and enhance your internet content so that your inbound marketing initiatives can be carried out more efficiently and successfully.
Ultimately, your decision will be based on what your team needs. Remember that it is not just the level of complexity the features appear, it is also about how simple it is for you to obtain the information you require.
So before you settle the HubSpot vs Marketo debate, analyze your business needs thoroughly, and make the right call. And should you wish to get in touch with the users of either of these two platforms, InfoClutch is the way to go!
We analyze your niche marketing needs and come up with a customized email and mailing list solution catered to your niche needs. So, get in touch with us today to watch your marketing campaign skyrocket!