Salesforce Marketing Automation: Pick the Right Tool
Updated October 2026: Marketing Cloud Next is generally available and is now our default recommendation for new Salesforce marketing automation projects. Marketing Cloud Growth, which had its own section in the first version of this post, is now the entry edition of Marketing Cloud Next.
Salesforce has three marketing automation products today: Marketing Cloud Next, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) and Marketing Cloud Engagement. They overlap, and the right choice depends on your CRM, your channels and what you already run. Here is how they compare and when each one makes sense.
1. Marketing Cloud Next: the default choice for new projects
Best for: companies that use Salesforce Sales Cloud or Service Cloud and want marketing on the same platform, in B2B and B2C.
Salesforce made Marketing Cloud Next generally available in June 2025. It is built natively on the Salesforce platform, so marketing, sales and service work from the same customer data without a connector in between. Data 360 (formerly Data Cloud) comes with it as the data layer: it unifies customer profiles and builds your segments. Journeys run in Flow, and Agentforce can draft content and campaigns for your team to review.
It comes in two editions:
- Growth Edition: multi-channel journeys, forms and landing pages, consent management, campaign attribution reporting and Campaign Agent for content. A good start for teams new to marketing automation.
- Advanced Edition: everything in Growth, plus SMS, WhatsApp and RCS, conversational email, custom automation events, AI-powered engagement scoring and Campaign Agent for complete campaigns.
Data 360 is included, but metered: you don’t need a separate Data Cloud project to get started, because each edition comes with a base Data 360 allowance. Larger contact volumes are billed as Data 360 profiles, and processing such as identity resolution, segmentation and real-time data ingestion uses credits. Estimate your contact volume and how often you refresh segments before you sign.
Why we recommend it: one platform for marketing, sales and service, Salesforce’s new agentic marketing features are built for it, and you can start with Growth and move to Advanced when your needs grow. If you want to know what agents change in day-to-day marketing work, read Agentic Marketing: From Automation to Autonomy.
2. Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot)
Best for: B2B companies that already run lead nurturing and scoring in Account Engagement.
Account Engagement is built for long B2B sales cycles: lead scoring and grading, nurture programmes, forms and landing pages, and handing qualified leads to sales at the right moment. Salesforce has also started bringing Marketing Cloud Next capabilities to Account Engagement customers through the Account Engagement+ editions.
When to choose it: if your scoring, nurturing and reporting already work in Account Engagement, keep them and add the new capabilities step by step. If you are starting B2B marketing automation from scratch, compare it with Marketing Cloud Next first.
3. Marketing Cloud Engagement
Best for: large B2C brands with very high send volumes and complex journeys across many channels.
Engagement (formerly ExactTarget) is Salesforce’s long-standing enterprise platform, with Journey Builder, Email Studio, Mobile Studio and Advertising Studio. It runs on its own infrastructure and connects to the rest of Salesforce through connectors. Existing customers can add next-gen capabilities through the Engagement+ editions, and Salesforce already publishes guidance for teams moving from Engagement to Marketing Cloud Next.
When to choose it: if you run Engagement at scale today, keep it running and plan your path to Marketing Cloud Next instead of a rushed migration. For new projects, we would rarely start here now.
Which Salesforce marketing automation tool is right for you?
| Your situation | Our recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New to marketing automation, Salesforce CRM in place | Marketing Cloud Next Growth | Fast start on the same platform as your CRM |
| Need SMS, WhatsApp or more advanced automation | Marketing Cloud Next Advanced | More channels, custom events and engagement scoring |
| B2B lead management already in Account Engagement | Account Engagement (Account Engagement+) | Keep proven scoring and nurturing, add next-gen features |
| Large-scale B2C on Marketing Cloud Engagement | Marketing Cloud Engagement (Engagement+) | Keep today’s scale and plan the move to Next |
How Cumultec can help
Choosing the tool is only the first step. Your data, consent setup and team skills decide how fast you see results. Cumultec helps companies across the Baltics, the Nordics and wider Europe choose the right edition, implement Marketing Cloud Next and plan migrations from Account Engagement or Engagement. Get in touch and we will help you find the right fit.