Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Marketo Logo

Marketo pros and cons

Vendor: Adobe
4.2 out of 5
Badge Leader

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.
Get the report

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Smart Campaigns are highlighted as a valuable feature for tracking and managing user interactions effectively.
The extensive features for email campaigns, including sending and tracking, are considered Marketo's main strength.
The system's flexibility and ease of use, including customizable templates and robust lead management, are highly regarded.
Marketo provides strong support for GDPR compliance, ensuring that users respect privacy and consent regulations.
Features like progressive profiling, lead scoring, and seamless lead generation and segmentation enhance user engagement and reporting capabilities.

CONS

Marketo should allow more flexibility for data manipulation and JavaScript integration, especially for form customization.
The APIs of Marketo need to be more flexible, as some functionalities are missing and not available through existing APIs.
Challenges exist with processing delays in data syncing, particularly when sending data from Marketo to other applications like CRMs.
Marketo's segmentation is limited to 20 segments, which might not be sufficient for companies requiring more detailed segmentations.
Pricing could be more competitive as Marketo is not the cheapest option, potentially making it a less appealing choice compared to other platforms like HubSpot.
 

Marketo Pros review quotes

it_user600 - PeerSpot reviewer
CSO at a tech company with 51-200 employees
May 8, 2012
Marketo gives me the toolset necessary to create automated drip email campaigns to my customers and prospects, delivering HUGE ROI with great customer service and a relatively nimble dev team always willing to help, even in special or one-off scenarios.
it_user585 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Operations at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Sep 24, 2012
This is the best marketing automation solution out there, for the ease of use, the amazing metrics, the integration to SFDC, and the price.
it_user4029 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 28, 2013
Advanced capabilities for closed-loop lead management
Learn what your peers think about Marketo. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user2838 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Mar 8, 2013
Overall - I am very pleased with Marketo for email automation and lead management.
it_user239700 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Marketing at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
May 15, 2015
Automated customer outreach from sign up to upgrade
it_user479847 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing Campaign Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Jan 5, 2017
Great ease of use creation for campaigns.
it_user264924 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing Campaign Manager with 51-200 employees
Jul 17, 2017
Marketo makes it easy to stay in contact with our base of customers, prospective customers, and partners.
it_user188523 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing at Kenes Group
Jun 20, 2017
Marketo helps us easily segment and target the appropriate users for the relevant events.
it_user670116 - PeerSpot reviewer
Growth Strategies and Demand Generation Consultant at a marketing services firm with self employed
Jun 30, 2017
We have a better alignment of sales and marketing.
Feb 3, 2020
The most valuable feature of this solution is Smart Campaigns.
 

Marketo Cons review quotes

it_user600 - PeerSpot reviewer
CSO at a tech company with 51-200 employees
May 8, 2012
Pricing. It is NOT cheap, given the functionality of the product. Feels like I could be paying less.
it_user585 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Operations at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Sep 24, 2012
This solution also doesn't scale for the large enterprise - a huge downside for them.
it_user4029 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 28, 2013
Wish it had a better user interface
Learn what your peers think about Marketo. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user2838 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Mar 8, 2013
Changing a campaign in progress (i.e. changing the wait period between emails) is unnecessarily complicated.
it_user239700 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Marketing at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
May 15, 2015
Takes time to setup and manage.
it_user479847 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing Campaign Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Jan 5, 2017
Customer Service: This is where Marketo falls short. Their customer service is awful.
it_user264924 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing Campaign Manager with 51-200 employees
Jul 17, 2017
Our experience with the renewal process has been frustrating. Marketo bakes a substantial price increase into each contract which has required renegotiation every year.
it_user188523 - PeerSpot reviewer
Marketing at Kenes Group
Jun 20, 2017
Marketo is still very slow.
it_user670116 - PeerSpot reviewer
Growth Strategies and Demand Generation Consultant at a marketing services firm with self employed
Jun 30, 2017
In terms of scalability, the more leads you have, the longer it takes to sync with Salesforce.
Feb 3, 2020
Marketo should give more power to the users for data manipulation.