Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

Intercom and Salesforce are both solutions in the Social CRM category. Intercom is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.0, while Salesforce is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6. Intercom holds a 5.6% mindshare in SC, compared to Salesforce’s 5.7% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Intercom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

Intercom Customer Communica...

Read 3 Intercom Customer Communications Platform reviews

1,152 Views
253 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Read 62 Salesforce Marketing Cloud reviews

4,072 Views
366 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Intercom Customer Communica...

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Intercom Customer Communications Platform are in the digital marketing and customer engagement category, with Salesforce often having the advantage due to its extensive tool suite. However, Intercom is noted for its user-friendly interface and strong communication features.

Features: Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides powerful automation for email, mobile, social media, and advertising. It has robust analytics capabilities and a comprehensive set of marketing tools. Intercom focuses on live chat, messaging, and precise targeting features that integrate well with websites and mobile apps.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be complex and challenging in deployment but compensates with extensive customer support and resources. Intercom is known for its ease of use and rapid setup, alongside responsive customer service that aids straightforward integration.

Pricing and ROI: Salesforce Marketing Cloud often requires a higher initial setup cost but offers significant ROI through advanced functionalities and detailed analytics. Intercom typically involves a more affordable entry cost with high returns credited to its efficient customer engagement solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud

December 2025

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Intercom Customer Communica...

Ranking in Social CRM

6th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM Customer Engagement Centers (8th), CRM (20th)

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Ranking in Social CRM

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Marketing Automation (1st), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Social CRM category, the mindshare of Intercom Customer Communications Platform is 5.6%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 5.7%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Social CRM Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud	5.7%
Intercom Customer Communications Platform	5.6%
Other	88.7%

Social CRM

Featured Reviews

Kumar Abhishek Anand

Director at Revivo Technologies

Customer support has improved significantly with seamless chat integration for quick resolutions

The feature we appreciate most about the Intercom Customer Communications Platform is the messenger functionality. We are able to integrate it into our application and provide support to customers directly through our application. The messenger works efficiently, allowing users to have conversations without entering their details repeatedly. There is conversation history available for each customer interaction, and they can access the help section within the chat itself. The Finn AI agent handles conversations both in chat and WhatsApp, which is particularly beneficial. Regarding automation tools, we have enabled the AI agent to answer customer queries instantly, reducing the need for constant staff presence. The AI agent quickly responds to customers and summarizes their issues, informing us when it cannot resolve a problem independently.

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GauravSingh2

Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Targeted email journeys have boosted campaign insight and now need better data access and support

I feel that Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be improved in how the data views are accessed; it would be better to have something more physical. With data extensions, you can view them directly, but for data views, it is very difficult as you can only send it out or load it into data extensions. Improvements can also be made in the connections to different external tools such as Azure or AWS.Customer support can be improved in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, as sometimes it is not clear what the issue is or how to approach solving it, and it also takes time to resolve issues.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The feature we appreciate most about the Intercom Customer Communications Platform is the messenger functionality, allowing users to have conversations without entering their details repeatedly."

"With Zendesk, we have much more signals that we could use to understand better our client patterns."

"The live chat is pretty good because you can create a macro, which is a predefined input we can give customers."

"It is easy to use."

"The notification system for customer alerts, including the integration of various communication channels such as email, SMS, and mobile push, is excellent."

"The Journey and CloudPages and automation are all great."

"The Journey Builder and the Email Studio features are most valuable."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its automation. We can integrate data with the Salesforce hub. Its Einstein feature tells us whether our campaigns are on the right track. It also helps with ideas."

"The ability to automate processes is one of the most valuable features of Salesforce. This sets it part from other systems. We use the journey builder to design a fully automated journey."

"It has excellent lead and opportunity tracking."

"It is easy to send emails and SMS's."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud pros

Cons

"It would be beneficial if there was a way to train the AI to better understand customer language."

"Sometimes, the solution lags and takes time to update something."

"The problem with Intercom Customer Communications Platform was a little bit of the implementation. It was complicated to use to actually get the automations and everything."

"Managing large volumes of data takes too long."

"The data extension tools are not very user-friendly."

"Marketing Cloud should change the script language that it uses because it's not good. It's tricky and difficult to develop."

"The processing speed, the way information displays, and scrolling options can be improved."

"In the SMS area, it is not up to the mark, compared to what has been developed for email."

"If someone wants to implement a best-of-breed solution, I'm uncertain whether Salesforce Marketing Cloud will be able to work, fit, or integrate smoothly."

"Salesforce Marketing Cloud should be linked to an email ID, so the features after 15 days can update on the opportunity. You should not have to update them manually to the next step."

"Marketing Cloud's forecasting could be improved."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"This solution is priced in the medium to high price range."

"This is a low cost solution suited to larger organizations."

"Salesforce is an expensive solution."

"The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies."

"It is a license per user."

"I don't know if my company pays for Salesforce Marketing Cloud monthly or yearly. It's a SaaS, so it's a recurring cost, but I have no information on its price."

"The solution is a bit expensive."

"We did a yearly license. We negotiated and got a great deal. I don't think we would have gotten far with the regular price, but they negotiated, so it was worth that."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	31

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

We did not explore them. The problem with Intercom Customer Communications Platform was a little bit of the implementation. It was complicated to use to actually get the automations and everything....

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What is your primary use case for Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

Intercom Customer Communications Platform is for monitoring and visualizing data. Basically, it is used to know exactly what is happening. We monitor the software via logs, and whatever errors appe...

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What advice do you have for others considering Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

Since I was not part of the pricing discussion, I am not completely sure about the conditions that we had at the moment, so I could not tell you exactly. My overall review rating for Intercom Custo...

See all answers

What do you like most about Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

Datorama is part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which is quite a valuable feature that provides customer analytics.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

I did not work on any pricing or implementation aspects but learned on my own when dealing with Revenue Cloud products.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

I would recommend that Salesforce Marketing Cloud improve on three-dimensional or 360-degree reporting, as I feel that is something missing. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is expensive; it can be more ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sprinklr vs Intercom Customer Communications Platform

Compared 16% of the time

Nimble CRM vs Intercom Customer Communications Platform

Compared 14% of the time

Attio vs Intercom Customer Communications Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Zendesk vs Intercom Customer Communications Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Qualtrics XM Platform vs Intercom Customer Communications Platform

Compared 10% of the time

More Intercom Customer Communications Platform Competitors

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 19% of the time

Marketo vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 13% of the time

Adobe Campaign vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

Zeta Marketing Platform vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

Amazon Pinpoint vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Intercom Customer Communications Platform

January 2026

Intercom Customer Communications Platform report

Download Intercom Customer Communications Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

January 2026

Download Salesforce Marketing Cloud product report

Also Known As

Intercom

ExactTarget

Overview

Intercom Customer Communications Platform is designed to enhance interactions between businesses and their customers, offering a suite of tools for communication management. It caters to businesses looking to streamline communication and improve customer experience.

Intercom facilitates seamless customer interactions, supporting businesses in delivering personalized communication at scale. Its capabilities range from live chat and email integration to automation features. Known for its usability, Intercom simplifies customer support and engagement, supporting teams in reducing response times and improving satisfaction rates.

What are the key features of Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

Live Chat: Real-time messaging to engage customers effectively on your website.
Email Integration: Seamlessly connects with email systems to ensure consistent communication.
Automation: Automates repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more complex customer interactions.
Customer Segmentation: Allows tailored messaging based on customer data, enhancing personalization.

Why invest in Intercom Customer Communications Platform?

Enhanced Customer Experience: Tools that provide personalized customer interactions, improving satisfaction.
Increased Efficiency: Automation and segmentation reduce manual workload and optimize resources.
Faster Response Times: Reduces the time taken to address customer queries, improving service quality.

Intercom is utilized across sectors such as e-commerce, where live chat features enhance the shopping experience. In SaaS, it integrates with various apps to streamline user support. Its automation aids customer service in tech industries, providing consistent support without additional workforce strain.

Intercom

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that enables businesses to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

With its robust set of tools and features, marketers can easily manage and automate their email marketing, social media advertising, mobile messaging, and customer journey mapping.

The platform offers advanced segmentation capabilities, allowing marketers to segment their audience based on various criteria and deliver tailored messages to each segment.

Additionally, Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides powerful analytics and reporting features, enabling marketers to track the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

With its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Salesforce products, Marketing Cloud offers a seamless and efficient marketing automation solution for businesses of all sizes.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

Expensift, Moz, Invision, Salesforce, Droplr, Vend, BugHerd, Ghost, Put.io, Codeship

American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips

Buyer's Guide

Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud

December 2025

Free Report: Intercom Customer Communications Platform vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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