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Oracle Eloqua vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 2025

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

Oracle Eloqua
Ranking in Marketing Automation
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Oracle Eloqua is 8.1%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 21.4%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Aniket Sukale - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers the ability to create lesser campaigns and drip campaigns, flexible to use and robust
Eloqua's reporting is very strong. Oracle, by default, provides many out-of-the-box reports – probably more than 150 – that cover the most common use cases. Additionally, there's a feature called Insight, where you can build customized reports without any coding. These reports can be scheduled for delivery to your inbox at regular intervals – monthly, weekly, etc.
Napitch K - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration challenges impact workflow efficiency
The features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that I have found most valuable are the Journey Builder and Flow. These capabilities are valuable because they make managing automation easy. Automating customer journeys saves time when scheduling content through every channel, and we can set the automation in advance when planning marketing content. The AI-powered tools such as Salesforce Datorama and Einstein save time and have an impact on marketing strategy decisions for my customers. I have noticed a positive impact from Salesforce Marketing Cloud through customer feedback. For example, a customer mentioned after project completion that it had a significant impact on their marketing team by eliminating the need to hire additional staff for marketing content and planning.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's engine framework is quite simple, giving you the agility you need in the business."
"I've used other marketing automation tools, like Marketo, that require more technical knowledge. Eloqua is straightforward and user-friendly."
"The solution is stable."
"​Lead scoring is very useful for both measuring the effectiveness of campaigns as well as deciding which leads to send sales’ way."
"It is a user-friendly product."
"The solution is good for B2B email marketing."
"In Oracle Eloqua, the most valuable feature from the marketer's user experience perspective is the design editor, which is very feasible, allowing a marketer to design emails and landing pages in a very short amount of time through drag and drop of email components, making them ready to use instantly."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"The most valuable features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud are the ease of use of the basic features."
"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."
"Marketing Cloud has improved our productivity and our team enjoy using it."
"The most valuable features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud are that it performs well and gives me what I need. It's the most friendly interface system for CRM I've worked with. Additionally, it integrates fairly well with different kinds of AI and ML to allow you to receive more out of your application."
"The most valuable part of the solution are the selling features."
"Email Studio is one of the core parts of Salesforce Marketing Cloud."
"We haven't had any issues with integration."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud's journey builder is very easy to handle and quickly sets up a journey for clients who use a lot of communication."
 

Cons

"There are some things where improvement is needed. For me, it would be great if they integrated a tool like AI configuration capabilities within Eloqua itself."
"The product's initial setup process could be better."
"This product hasn't kept up to date on features."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"​Reporting is very clunky and not user friendly.​"
"Eloqua doesn't have built-in features for WhatsApp marketing or SMS functionality."
"The solution should consider adding functionality related to event listening, such as webhooks."
"The solution does not have a good database architecture."
"Managing large volumes of data takes too long."
"Customer support could be improved, especially for new features where I do not always receive proper solutions from the platform provider."
"The performance is sometimes sluggish, but I think that's to be expected with a heavy CRM tool because they're running reports in real-time on the data that you have entered."
"I found that the tool is more complex than expected. It requires a deeper understanding to utilize its capabilities thoroughly."
"The encryption and decryption have room for improvement."
"Marketing Cloud should change the script language that it uses because it's not good. It's tricky and difficult to develop."
"Clarity around new features could be improved when they are released."
"The general setup and understanding of how to use it can be improved. There should be easier self-service for setting up dashboards. Currently, we have someone setting them up for us. I wish it was easier."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"Oracle Eloqua's pricing is medium."
"It's quite expensive."
"Oracle Eloqua is quite an affordable solution."
"Oracle Eloqua can be expensive compared to alternatives."
"The tool is pricey compared to products like Marketo."
"Our licensing costs are yearly."
"It is a license per user."
"Salesforce has different versions of the solution and some are more suitable for smaller clients. However, Salesforce is expensive."
"This solution is priced in the medium to high price range."
"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"The licensing cost for the solution is on a yearly basis."
"My company pays to use this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Oracle Eloqua?
Eloqua doesn't have built-in features for WhatsApp marketing or SMS functionality. They provide SMS, but you need to purchase it as an add-on. It would also be helpful to have a social media manage...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Eloqua?
We generally use it for B2B (business-to-business) marketing automation. We can build customer journeys and generate emails. And we can do email marketing. It also has the ability to create Lead ca...
What do you like most about Oracle Eloqua?
I've used other marketing automation tools, like Marketo, that require more technical knowledge. Eloqua is straightforward and user-friendly.
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.
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.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
An area of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that could be improved is the connectivity between Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud platforms. The issues with integration between different platforms arise bec...
 

Also Known As

Eloqua, Oracle Marketing Cloud
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Thomson Reuters, The Dow Chemical Company, Avid, LifeSize, and Avalara.
American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Eloqua vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.