Marketing Cloud pricing can be a challenge to understand, with many modules available (‘Studios’ and ‘Builders’) according to your organization’s needs. Recent Marketing Cloud acquisitions have only added to the number of offerings.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud pricing is based on which modules you purchase, which can be confusing to match up what’s offered with what you need.
Until recently, Salesforce kept Marketing Cloud pricing and packaging under wraps. Now, you can increasingly find this information that indicates the budget you will need to become a Marketing Cloud customer (or expand your Marketing Cloud usage).
So, how much does Marketing Cloud cost? Let’s find out.
Note: For the most up-to-date pricing, check Salesforce’s official pricing page.
What Does Marketing Cloud Include?
Salesforce Marketing Cloud pricing is broken down into 5 separate bundles.
- Marketing Messaging & Automation (Email, Mobile & Web Marketing)
- Social Media Marketing
- Data & Advertising
- Analytics (Datorama, Google Marketing Platform)
- Real-time Interaction Management
The key bundle is “Marketing Messaging & Automation” which contains the core Marketing Cloud features you would expect from any marketing automation platform.
Email, Mobile & Web Marketing Pricing
There are four editions included in this bundle: Basic, Pro, Corporate, and Enterprise. Licenses for this bundle start from $400/org/month, through to four-figure amounts that aren’t even quoted on the website.
You can find the full comparison chart here. There are some key facts:
- No Einstein (AI-enabled) features are available with the ‘Basic’ or ‘Pro’ edition which supports only the Email channel. This means missing out on Einstein Send Time Optimization, and more.
- For Journey Builder, the visual campaign, and automation mapping, you need to purchase the ‘Corporate’ edition, at least.
- For managing multiple brands across geographies (Business Units), ‘Enterprise’ edition will be the go-to option for you.
In Salesforce’s own words: “with Marketing Cloud, you can start with email and upgrade to another edition to add more channels — mobile, social, ads, and web — or more features as your business grows.”
Let’s take a look into these additional channels and features…
Social Media Marketing (Advertising and Social Listening)
Reach your customers where they’re most actively engaged and manage your social posts across platforms in one go with Social Studio.
Automate Social Service at scale using Service Cloud, and listen to what your audience has to say about your brand using Social Studio. Then, use these insights to drive your marketing and communications strategy.
Integrate your Facebook account with Marketing Cloud Journey Builder to build cross-channel journeys and nurture freshly generated leads via email to help convert quicker.
Social Studio Pricing
- This follows a tiered approach, similar to the core Marketing Cloud platform, however, the subscription plan starts from $1000/month for the Basic edition, up to $40,000 for the top-level, Enterprise edition.
The main reason for the price difference is the number of social media accounts you can connect, from 2 (Basic) to 20+ (Enterprise).
Data and Advertising
Increase your digital presence across search, display, and social media with Advertising Studio and leverage first-party data in Marketing Cloud, Sales, or Service Cloud to get more ROI from your advertising spend.
Go one step further, and define lookalike audiences based on your “best customer profile” to generate even more leads and interest in your brand. These leads can then be configured to go into Marketing Cloud nurture journeys and further down the funnel, to your CRM, to be followed up by your sales team.
The power really lies behind all these different channels being connected and data flowing seamlessly from one to the other, without requiring multiple teams or manual intervention.
- Advertising Studio comes in only one edition, Professional, which is priced at $2000/month.
Analytics (Datorama and Google Platform Marketing)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud has come a long way in regards to its reporting capabilities. This is primarily thanks to Datorama Reports that allow you to connect all of your tracking data in nice-looking dashboards that are easy to use and analyze – all out of the box!
However, the functionality that comes free of charge (the catch) is limited to the Email & Push channels. Be prepared to pay more for advanced capabilities!
- Datorama editions: Starter, Growth & Plus. Prices start from $3000/month.
The relationship between Marketing Cloud and Google Platform Marketing (also known as Google 360) has only grown stronger over the years. And so has its integration capabilities – from website content tagging and engagement tracking, to integrating Google Analytics 360 audiences straight into journeys in Journey Builder.
- The basic option, starting at $12,500/month, comes with Google 360 Integration for Marketing Cloud.
- You can top up the basic option with Optimize 360 for an extra $5000/month
Interaction Studio Pricing
Elevate your marketing strategy and use real-time personalization across all channels, both online and offline (think in-store or in-branch experiences). Match anonymous and known visitors to specific profiles, and really get to know your customers’ wants and needs, at a deeper level.
Use the power of AI (Einstein) to drive personalized recommendations and leverage data from many other sources to paint the full picture of your customers’ profiles. Join the dots and connect all these channels to help deliver a more unified message and consistent customer experience.
- If Interaction Studio was a car, it would be a Lamborghini…with a luxury price tag! Interaction Studio pricing is available upon request only (not publicly available).
Marketing Cloud for Nonprofits Pricing
Marketing Cloud for Nonprofits is a solution that integrates fully with the Nonprofit Cloud, enabling you to use the power of Marketing Cloud with your supporter data and create engaging campaigns for your constituents.
- The pricing guide starts from $500/month and features include Email Marketing, Content Creation, Integration with Salesforce Sales Cloud and NPSP, 10,000 contacts, and 5 users.
Summary
Yes, Salesforce Marketing Cloud does come at a price, however, knowing what to shop for can help you navigate all the options available. The different options and bundles offer you the opportunity to start small and grow your platform capabilities as you grow your business and customer base. I hope this article can help you find the right Marketing Cloud pricing for your budget and marketing goals.
