Adobe Marketo Engage vs. VerticalResponse

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Marketo Engage
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Marketo Engage (acquired by Adobe in 2018) is a marketing automation platform whose basic features include email marketing, drip nurturing, landing pages, and lead scoring, but other editions offer additional advanced features. Typical customers are B2B firms with complex sales cycles.N/A
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
VerticalResponse is an email campaign management software and services platform from Deluxe. In addition to providing email marketing tools, VerticalResponse offers fully managed email marketing services from campaign launch and management to reporting and analysis.
$9
per month
Pricing
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic
$11.00
per month
Pro
$16.00
per month
Pro Plus
$196.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Considered Both Products
Adobe Marketo Engage
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
The main decision was between Eloqua and Marketo . We did consider some other systems, but these were the main contenders. We called references and the general consensus was that Marketo more user friendly and capable of what we needed. Their references were generally happier …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo was implemented at my company in Sept 2010, which was before I joined the team (I joined June 2011). I know they evaluated Eloqua, but was not apart of the decision making team.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
We evaluated 16 different companies. Marketo and Eloqua ended up at the top of our list. We chose Marketo because user-adoption was critical for us. We felt we could be up and running faster with Marketo, and would need very little training. I believe we made the right choice. …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Marketo is more advanced than other inbound marketing tools and standard email marketing platforms. Marketo should be used to centralize activities to one location for accurate and consistent tracking mechanisms. If you plan on keeping other platforms, review how and if they …
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Eloqua, Pardot - We picked Marketo b/c of it's integration with SF, it's lead management tools, the features the system offered, and the price.
Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
Eloqua, Hubspot, and Silverpop.

At the time, Eloqua had just moved from Eloqua 9 to 10, which was a major re-write, and they were not yet up to feature parity with the previous version. We did not feel that it was wise to take a risk with a brand new version of the product. …
VerticalResponse
Chose VerticalResponse
Marketo covered more scope than we needed at the time.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
8.1
979 Ratings
4% above category average
VerticalResponse
9.9
8 Ratings
19% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor7.5888 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Dynamic content7.6865 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.8843 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Landing pages8.1905 Ratings10.04 Ratings
A/B testing7.9891 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.8863 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.1947 Ratings10.08 Ratings
List management8.8944 Ratings10.08 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences9.0854 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
8.7
947 Ratings
12% above category average
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation8.8922 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.8897 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management8.7895 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks8.7850 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
7.9
876 Ratings
4% above category average
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
Calendaring7.5708 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing8.3836 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
7.4
545 Ratings
1% below category average
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.5536 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration7.3375 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
7.5
949 Ratings
0% above category average
VerticalResponse
10.0
9 Ratings
24% above category average
Dashboards7.3891 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Standard reports7.8929 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Custom reports7.4884 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
8.5
939 Ratings
11% above category average
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
API8.5807 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.5685 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability7.9831 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.1808 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM8.6271 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM8.2173 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Marketo Engage
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
10.0
1 Ratings
16% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Small Businesses
Vbout
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Score 9.4 out of 10
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
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Score 8.6 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
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Score 9.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(1129 ratings)
10.0
(28 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(146 ratings)
8.6
(19 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(98 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(25 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(30 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(89 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
6.7
(29 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(37 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Configurability
6.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
7.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
1.8
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Marketo EngageVerticalResponse
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
Adobe Marketo Engage is great for lead gen because of the out of box solutions. We import leads from Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Tradeshows, and web forms. It allows me to track leads from the moment they enter the system to the point where they become customers. I use it to score leads, segment them, and nurture them with targeted content. It's especially useful as a B2B organization.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
For businesses requiring advanced email marketing features like sophisticated automation, in-depth analytics, and extensive customization, VerticalResponse might fall short due to its limited featuresVerticalResponse is ideal for small businesses or freelancers who need a simple, straightforward email marketing tool. Its ease of use and basic features make it suitable for those without extensive technical expertise in email marketing
Read full review
Pros
Adobe
  • Like I have said Marketo has been very helpful by helping us to connect us with our customers and keeps them coming back, hence saving time, effort and resources.
  • Let AI build predictive audience and segments easily.
  • Personalize experience with active listening and triggered content.
  • 24/7 responsive support and service team.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
  • I love the ease of list builder because we often times have a lot of data to import. It would be simply impossible without this tool, considering the amount of customer data we have for any one given email.
  • We really enjoy the ease of use of the HTML wizard as well. It helps even a novice be able to make a beautiful and attention grabbing email.
  • The dashboard is functional and easy to find when you need with a quick search.
Read full review
Cons
Adobe
  • Marketo's email editor is basic in comparison to other cheaper alternatives out there.
  • Marketo doesn't work as well in B2C scenarios as it does in B2B. One of the painpoints of this is it's difficult to showcase a selection of product recommendations based on purchase behaviour without a very time consuming workaround. It's manageable if you're only selling a handful of products, but it's inefficient when dealing with a large catalogue.
  • Marketo's form and landing page builder are also behind the times. Perhaps not as bad as the Salesforce Marketing Cloud platform, but for an enterprise company the product should be much better.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
  • The type face is small. Not sure if this is to avoid overwhelming the reader, but I could see this being an issue with vision-impaired people or people who don't see small print well.
  • Sometimes I find it takes multiple clicks to make one simple change. I wish there was a search field at the top of the screen that allowed me to jump directly to a client's entry to update it there.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
We're likely to renew for several reasons:
  • Now that it's been implemented, I can't imagine not having marketing automation and the easy interface that Marketo provides to run our campaigns
  • Marketo's community and customer service is fantastic; I know that when I need help, I'll get it
  • Marketo continues to improve the product, so I know that I can expect it to be even more useful in the future
Read full review
VerticalResponse
Product is easy for both technical and non-technical people to use. A cost effective solution for sending out large number of messages. We can manage unsubscribes by individual accounts, so we can have multiple multiple accounts combined to maximize our buying power on credits. Effective API for sending/receiving data makes tool a valuable asset.
Read full review
Usability
Adobe
In some aspects, the tool can feel quite clunky in parts. But with the rich feature set it has, it's understandable. There is a lot of room for improvement for the user interface. The system itself doesn't have a slick or modern feel, so the usability could feel nicer to use with these areas considered.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
I truly love this product. We are moving to an all-in-one system next year and my greatest fear in doing so is how much I will miss this platform. Although we are excited for things ahead, I will always keep Vertical Response in my back pocket incase I don't love the new platform as much
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Adobe
Marketo provides different way and abilities to connect. If you are having product support or unexplained errors you can get someone on Marketo support 24 hours a day. One of Marketo's greatest assets in my opinion however would be the community. Often times our company is just looking for case success stories from someone else. In the community you can search for problems you are currently facing and see others having the same issue and solutions for those issues. If not, you can pose a question to the whole community and champions of the product and others can chime in to provide suggestions to fix your needs. The community is truly a 24/7 place to get your answers quickly.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
Never had an issue with uptime
Read full review
Performance
Adobe
There are times when it is slightly slow for us, where we sit on a screen waiting for it to load. This could be our internet since we have had the same issue occasionally with other systems, but it is enough to make you crazy.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
No issues
Read full review
Support Rating
Adobe
On multiple occasions we've had Marketo support (technical and license based) issues. Technical issues were minor and resolved within a day. License based issues (even things encouraged by Marketo for partners, like provisioning another license) took WEEKS. They actually took so long to respond that the client we were working with withdrew from the contract because they were no longer convinced Marketo was capable of supporting their business. As an agency trying to sell the software, you can only explain away so much before they just made us look silly.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
At Vertical Response the help desk associates are courteous, knowledgeable and helpful. You can tell they enjoy what they do. And clearly, they are well trained because most times, the first point of contact is able to resolve any issue you may have. There have been very few times where an associate has needed to get back to me or escalate me to a supervisor
Read full review
In-Person Training
Adobe
Our account rep stopped out in Lincoln, NE to ensure we were properly set up and running. This was very much appreciated. I was very, very new at this point, so I can't comment very much on the extent of what was taught because I was still brand new to the company and the system
Read full review
VerticalResponse
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
I had never used Marketo prior to taking this job so online training was my starting point. I was able to follow along, it was interesting and quickly and efficiently taught me what I needed to know without a lot of fluff. It was far from boring and really helped me get my hands dirty with Marketo.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
Basic functions and online help...we used what was needed, at the time, and will continue to explore other online trainings as our functional needs expand
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Adobe
1. Have a content marketing plan to run in parallel with the marketing automation installation--you'll need a lot of content to make full use of Marketo's capabilities. 2. Work with sales (and ISRs) to define and document a workflow--build your Marketo installation around how you do business--not figure out how to apply your business to the tools 3. Spend time of data cleaning--both an initial project as well as a strategy for ongoing data management. We found some change manaement issues (no more appending ZZZ to the first name to identify contacts who have left the company, for example, or prohibiting the entry of "info@company.com" email addresses). 4. Find some champions in the sales and ISR teams. You'll have both fans and detractors--work with the fans to build some success stories
Read full review
VerticalResponse
Salesforce integration never worked right. We had to abandon.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Adobe
Prior to Marketo, we used SharpSpring. I will say that SharpSpring is more intuitive to use than Marketo, but it has much less functionality. If you have the time to really learn Marketo, it has much more to offer as well as many more options to customize the solution to your exact needs.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
In addition to using Vertical Response personally I also manage email marketing for clients that already use Mailchimp, Robly and Constant Contact. While most of these platforms all offer similar features I choose Vertical Response first if the client does not have a platform in place. Typically I am also teaching the client how to use this tool and the Vertical Response visual interface is very easy for me to teach a client how to navigate and create their own campaigns.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
The total cost is a little bit higher than we expected.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Adobe
We look at scaleability in a few different ways. First, the speed while using Marketo has remained relatively the same as our database has grown. Though I would say Marketo is slow at times, it has not gotten slower over the last few years. If anything, it has improved, and they are working to improve it. Second, the amount of programs we have developed in Marketo has exponentially grown as well. Marketo has allowed us to drastically increase our output without having to drastically increase our headcount.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Generated a 35% higher return on investment (ROI) in demand generation in the company.
  • The focus on the accounts that presented a greater sales potential, allowed us to prioritize and reduce costs by 20 Million USD.
  • Being personal and optimized. reduced efforts towards a more personalized customer experience, in working hours by almost 100 h.
Read full review
VerticalResponse
  • We were able to blast out promotions our company was having to customers which created an increase in business.
  • By blasting out any service issues, it keeps our customers informed so that they are not wondering what is going on.
  • Allows us to store unsubscribed emails so that we are not constantly pestering people who do not want to be emailed.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Adobe Marketo Engage Screenshots

Screenshot of Marketo Lead Scoring - Marketo dynamically scores leads in real-time and can trigger a timely sales call based on website or other activity. Lead scores are integrated with a connected CRM.Screenshot of Marketo Moments - A mobile app designed to deliver timely, actionable insights.Screenshot of Simple or advanced workflows, built using drag-and-dropScreenshot of Lead nurturing can be performed without having to be a programmerScreenshot of Visualizations - display the revenue influence of each program and channelScreenshot of Marketo Sales Insight, which filters out the noise