Pardot Review - why 4.1 stars?

Shlomi Lavi / updated: May 06, 2022

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What is Pardot ?

Pardot offers a cloud based marketing automation software for quality lead generation along with effective marketing campaigns intended to increase customer sales by focusing on better lead qualification, shorter sales cycles and multiple marketing channels to ensure a high Return on Investment (ROI) for generated customer sales .

Pardot was founded in 2007 as a leading B2B solution provider and was first acquired in 2012 by ExactTarget, a leading provider of email and interactive marketing solutions. Both companies became part of Salesforce.com in 2013.

Pardot is currently based at Atlanta, U.S with international offices in the UK and Australia, and its current customer base is comprised of well over 1500 satisfied clients.

Who is it best for?

Pardot Marketing Automation is focused on the sales and marketing teams. It improves sales team productivity by providing simplified yet effective lead generation, and grading and management tools that allow to quickly qualify and convert potential sales. Additionally it allows the marketing team to develop highly-effective targeted campaigns through both email and social marketing tools.

The software is designed to be cross-industry, and can be used in SMEs, mid-range, as well as larger enterprise organizations. Some of the current clients include Mediacurrent, Epicom, RedTail Solutions, Journyx and IAG Consulting.

Main features and functionalities

Pardot Marketing Automation offers the sales team tools for prospect tracking and analytics for easily obtaining key information about potential leads . With this system inbuilt scoring model, leads can be graded, thus allowing the sales team to focus on potential conversions and increasing productivity.

Pardot also offers integrated social marketing tools for the marketing team that support building presence on social networks for profile investigation, including social content sharing and posting to multiple social networks from one platform. Additionally, email marketing is simple with customizable templates and tools for optimizing email deliverability.

There is indepth analysis provided with closed loop and sales lifecycle reporting, as well as a host of other feature rich reporting options. Finally, Pardot also supports certified integrations with Aalesforce.com, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics for seamlessly transferring information to your CRM system.

What is the actual cost?

Pardot offers three license pricing options; Growth, Plus, and Advanced.

• Growth starts at €1,250 per month (billed annually).
• Plus starts at €2,500 per month (billed annually).
• Advanced starts at €4,000 per month (billed annually).

Growth comes with features like Email marketing, In-depth prospect tracking, lead nurturing, etc. Plus comes with all Growth features, including Advanced Email Analytics, Email Rendering Preview & Spam Analysis, Email & Landing Page A/B Testing, etc. Advanced comes with all Plus features, including Custom user roles, custom object integration, etc.

ITQlick pricing score is 10 out of 10 (10 is most expensive). Access ITQlick pricing guide for Pardot . You can also find here pricing information from Pardot 's website.

Pros

• Pardot enables users to track all prospects on a site, qualify sales leads, and utilize social selling
• Social selling features allow to maintain constant presence on social media for increased lead generation
• Users can slice and dice their segments towards getting more granular with contact lists
• It integrates well with many of the other platforms and social media accounts
• Certified CRM integrations with Salesforce.com, Netsuite and Microsoft Dynamics

Cons

• Pricing is a bit high and may be quite expensive for SMBs
• The solution is currently limited to 10,000 records and it is not clear whether it can handle greater volumes for larger enterprises
• The product’s social media linkage is focused only on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Users complain of a long learning curve for adopting Pardot
• As it is part of Salesforce.com the software will naturally have a tighter integration with this CRM than with the others.

How it stacks up?

Access a head to head analysis of Pardot vs alternative software solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Pardot right for you or your business?

Pardot by Salesforce is a good fit for marketing and sales firms looking for a marketing automation solution that bridges the gap between sales and marketing teams. The software assists marketing and sales teams generate and qualifying sales leads, shortening sales cycles, and tracking marketing ROI.