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Blackbaud Education Management Solutions vs. Salesforce Agentforce Marketing

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ABlackbaud Education Management Solutions is a unified student management system for K–12 private schools. Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™: Gives schools and families the ability to track admissions progress from first impressions all the way through the application process to acceptance, enrollment, and tuition payment. Blackbaud Learning Management System™: Track students' academic performance and progression…N/A

    Agentforce Marketing

    Score7.6 out of 10
    N/AMarketing Cloud is a cloud-based digital marketing platform, used by marketers can segment their audience, deliver personalized messages, track campaign performance, engage leads and accounts, and optimize strategies based on real-time insights.

    $1,250

    per month per installation

    Pricing
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Account Engagement
    $1,250
    per month
    Engagement
    $1,250
    per month
    Intelligence
    $3,000
    per month
    Loyalty Management
    $20,000
    per month
    Personalization
    $100,000
    per year
    Data Cloud for Marketing
    $108,000
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Considered Both Products
    Blackbaud
    No answer on this topic
    Salesforce
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    73%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    88%
    Would buy again
    84 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    72 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    87%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    89 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    88%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    58 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    54 Answers
    Features
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions and Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    Feature
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    7.3
    171 Ratings
    6% below category average
    WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings7.4122 Ratings
    Dynamic content00 Ratings8.2153 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings6.3112 Ratings
    Landing pages00 Ratings7.6121 Ratings
    A/B testing00 Ratings7.0151 Ratings
    Mobile optimization00 Ratings6.7111 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings7.2132 Ratings
    List management00 Ratings8.1129 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings7.295 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions and Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    Feature
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    8.1
    124 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Lead nurturing automation00 Ratings8.9109 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading00 Ratings8.1110 Ratings
    Data quality management00 Ratings7.3116 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks00 Ratings8.2101 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions and Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    Feature
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    7.3
    114 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Calendaring00 Ratings7.3103 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing00 Ratings7.497 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions and Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    Feature
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    7.4
    88 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Social sharing and campaigns00 Ratings7.283 Ratings
    Social profile integration00 Ratings7.539 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions and Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    Feature
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    7.6
    124 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.1118 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings7.3123 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings7.2100 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions and Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    Feature
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Agentforce Marketing
    7.6
    124 Ratings
    0% below category average
    API00 Ratings6.790 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals00 Ratings6.689 Ratings
    Customizability00 Ratings6.8111 Ratings
    Integration with Salesforce.com00 Ratings7.6113 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM00 Ratings8.914 Ratings
    Integration with SugarCRM00 Ratings8.711 Ratings
    Third-party software integrations00 Ratings7.624 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Bloomreach
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Iterable
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    8.2
    (329 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    8.1
    (114 ratings)
    Usability
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    8.5
    (37 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (11 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.6
    (9 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    7.0
    (36 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (7 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.0
    (17 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (40 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsAgentforce Marketing
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Blackbaud
    A good, and constantly improving solution for private schools. I don't know that a lot of its functionality would be well suited to public schools, but maybe? The integration with other Blackbaud software is a huge plus for us, as we have several of their other products including their flagship Raiser's Edge. Smaller schools may not need the sophistication of Blackbaud solutions, and it is not an inexpensive option.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    I think the product, by definition, is meant for marketing — and we use it exactly for that, for running campaigns. That’s the best-suited use case for the product. I don’t think it’s really meant to be used for anything else — that’s just not how it’s designed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Blackbaud
    • Seamless integration between the LMS, EMS and SIS modules
    • Real-time, effective chat support helps me not only with urgent needs but also to work through possibilities for increasing how we use the product.
    • Feature upgrades monthly that respond to voiced needs from users
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    • Filter relevant content so you can priorize those that are more relevant and resolve it first
    • Measure the traffic in the different social networks, as well as the response rate, average response time and other relevant metrics
    • Configure automation rules to order the work of those who must interact with the customer
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Blackbaud
    • Forms - lack of conditional questions
    • Gradebook -lack of links to assignments
    • Not being able to customize displays, for example, Grading tab - we just finished 1st semester and teachers could only see the current quarter but not the 1st one which is still part of the first semester. Lack of customization in assessments.
    • Scheduling- even though re-running generating schedules, we're still getting a high number of unscheduled students. Lack of being able to limit the number of scheduled classes in a row for teachers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    • The email builder does not offer any way to catch/check bugs across different email service providers
    • Creating SQL is not as easy as drag-and-drop; a lot of technical knowledge is required
    • Salesforce Marketing Cloud is sold as a marketing tool, but to be honest, you need a LOT of technical IT support to run the tool
    • Einstein metrics are across the board; if you have multiple audiences in one instance of Salesforce Marketing Cloud you can't segment the data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Blackbaud
    It is a solid product. We have some issues with the capabilities of the website building components and the out dated technology behind its communications software but overall Blackbaud Education Management Software services to combine numerous functions into one product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    As of right now we have not seen any other program that integrates as seamlessly into our Salesforce platform. We have barely scratched the surface of all the features and use cases. It would be irresponsible to make a move to another platform in the near future. We have not come up against any limitations that would prompt a need to switch
    Read full review
    Usability
    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud EMS is very usable from my perspective. I am a power user and get lots of valuable functionality. It is, however, a complex system. Sometimes necessarily complex to accommodate flexibility for diverse customer needs. Some complexity seems unnecessary and/or hold-over functionality from earlier versions; nice to see this type being evolved away from over time. It is valuable to receive regular updates to the system along with good release notes of what changed and notices of significant changes in advance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    You won't find another solution that has as many features as Salesforce Marketing Cloud Interaction Studio. We all know Salesforce, we all know how big they are and it's not for nothing... Their tools do most of the things you want, need and even imagine. Using it is complicated, but the usability is infinite.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    Upgrades and timing of the upgrades were communicated well and planned during off hours for our work. If we did have a campaign scheduled during that time, it would kick-off after the system was back active. There were a few unplanned system down times, but it was a rare occurrence and those times were also short in duration.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    Though the make up of MA apps is not built this way today, it would be nice to see them become more real-time. The integration between Salesforce and Pardot is not a true real-time integration. If I modify something in Salesforce, those changes are not automatically reflected in Pardot immediately. There is a delay of about 15 minutes before the systems sync. This delay, although not long, is less than ideal We would love the systems to be integrated real time such that changes are propagated from one system to the other immediately.
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    Support Rating
    Blackbaud
    Decent support however the chat feature can take a great amount of time out of the workday. If for instance you are waiting for someone to respond in the chat and there is a fire drill, if you are not responding within a few minutes, you are disconnected and have to start all over again. It would be great if you could submit your problem and then whoever has the most experience, can respond. The training in the Blackbaud University is good but also time-consuming - a 3 hr training in the middle of a workday is a lot to ask. I like the 90-minute sessions. It would also be great to offer a shorter webinar to update on any changes implemented. Other than the email I subscribed to, there is no information on how these updates actually work.
    Incentivized
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    Salesforce
    They are really responsive and more than not solve the problem or give you insight to how you can manage the solution yourself. I do find however sometimes a long delay on the more complex issues when they need to loop in other departments. but overall a good experience with support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    The trainers at the Pardot user conference (Elevate and Connections) were very knowledgeable and presented the material well. Again, the content was targeted to more of a new user audience, and was not really relevant for folks who had been using the product for 2+ years.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    Pardot's online training touches on all topics briefly and vaguely without much indepth exploration into how a final outcome could look, such as Nurturing Campaigns, Email templates, landing page templates, etc... The only true way to uncover Pardot's full capabilities is to have Front End design and coding experience. Without this key skill set, I would not recommend Pardot to another business.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    From an IT perspective, once you set up the Javascript beacon and start collecting data there is a waiting game. During this time you can start labeling your site actions which can be labor intensive for a single person, but you don't really have the final end-users on the platform yet. We did a lot of training so users were experienced, but it wasn't until they had their first tasks to accomplish that they started using the system and had questions. I'd recommend setting up some immediate goals for an end-user to start segmenting for the purpose of displaying message campaigns so you can jump start end-user action.
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    Alternatives Considered
    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud K-12 is very similar. I feel like I would be trading one set of issues for another so it's kind of a wash. We are very much hooked into the Blackbaud website with our Google SSO, SmartTuition, and Schooldoc integrations. It would be difficult for us to transition. That is the main reason I haven't really entertained other web firms.
    Incentivized
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    Salesforce
    We use Salesforce Marketing Cloud for lead management, generating reports, tracking customer and dealer information, inputting orders, and more. I prefer HubSpot for email marketing and automation because it is easier to use and the emails are designed much better. We currently use Salesforce and HubSpot, and we are very happy to have both, as they have different pros/cons.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    was not involved with this part but i have not heard about clompaints
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    Prior to this, we had no solution and literally were doing things on paper in a world where technology is outpacing paper. Having this process optimized has made it easier for the sales and marketing people to change information. From the training perspective, it has allowed us to see holes in where we could create additional support training, so the ROI here has been a lot more than just the optimization of a process.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Blackbaud
    • Negative - The rollout is brutal. Blackbaud said it could happen in 6 months, but that is definitely not a reality. It will take well over a year, and one complete school cycle to actually integrate everything correctly.
    • Positive - The amount of time saved in data processing has allowed our office to become more involved in other areas of the school.
    • Positive - The ease of having everything in [one] place, from inquiry to application to contracts and course registration, has been a HUGE benefit to our applicants and their families.
    Incentivized
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    Salesforce
    • Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows us to more efficiently reach out to a higher number of prospects.
    • Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows us to nimbly communicate important messages in a timely fashion to facilitate conversion.
    • Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows us to track who is opening our messages so that we can stop sending to those not interested and focus on the most engaged audiences.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions Screenshots

    Screenshot of Topics pages help organize units of learning throughout the year in the Learning Management SystemScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Schedule view makes it easy for teachers to manage their daysScreenshot of Blackbaud Enrollment Management System Admissions Checklists help applicants track their progress in the admissions processScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Keep track of all the key information about your students in one place

    Agentforce Marketing Screenshots

    Screenshot of Pardot Analytics - Pardot's reporting and analytics can be used to perform true revenue impact analysis and closed-loop reporting.Screenshot of Pardot Email Analytics - The reach and impact of  email marketing efforts are displayed in real-time with advanced reporting and analytics by device, and email client.Screenshot of Pardot Forms and Landing Pages - Pardot's form and landing page builders are used to turn online traffic to leads with targeted offers and content marketing.Screenshot of Pardot Email Marketing - Lead nurturing flows are defined via an interface that enables definition of the simplest or most complex segmented and targeted campaigns.