Short answer
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is Salesforce's family of marketing products. It includes Marketing Cloud Engagement for large-scale email, SMS and journeys, Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) for B2B marketing automation, and newer Marketing Cloud capabilities built natively on the core platform and Data 360.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud explained
Marketing Cloud Engagement, which grew out of the ExactTarget acquisition, is built for high-volume consumer messaging with Journey Builder, Email Studio, Mobile Studio and Contact Builder. Account Engagement serves B2B teams with lead nurturing, scoring and Salesforce-synced prospect data. Salesforce's newer marketing products run on the core platform, so marketers can use CRM and Data 360 data without a separate connector.
Choosing between these, or moving off one, is a common decision for firms whose contracts are up for renewal.
How Vantage Point helps: we implement, optimize and migrate Marketing Cloud, and help firms compare it with alternatives such as Braze and HubSpot Marketing Hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pardot still available?
Yes, under the name Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Salesforce renamed Pardot in 2022.
Should we move from Marketing Cloud to Braze?
It depends on your channels and data. Braze is strong for real-time, app and cross-channel engagement; Marketing Cloud is strong when you want marketing tightly inside Salesforce. We compare both on our Braze vs. Marketing Cloud guide.