Pardot Mixed Thoughts
Updated June 19, 2015
Pardot Mixed Thoughts
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Ultimate
Overall Satisfaction with Pardot Marketing Automation
We use Pardot for all of our automated drip emails across several brands within the organization. It is used only by the corporate marketing department. We synch lead data from Salesforce via the Salesforce Connector so we have the most up-to-date data on our prospects. They receive messages tailored to their stage in the lead cycle. We have several custom fields that come across from Salesforce that dictate which dynamic lists they qualify for. The prospects will then will receive specific messaging based on what dynamic list they qualify for. They can move within the different lists depending on their lead states. Each drip series (drip program) has a series of 5 email messages over a period of 30-40 days.
- Page action notifications: You can set up alerts based on a page being viewed on a web site, like a Thanks Page.
- User assigned notifications: If some action is taken, you can alert the assigned user. This is helpful if you have sales people who need to know a specific action (form completed, site visited)
- Pardot-hosted Landing pages and forms are easy to create and use.
- Reporting! This has been such a struggle to be able to get decent reports that have basic metrics. For each drip campaign, they have a Drip Program Report. This info is not exportable via CSV and it's extremely frustrating that I cannot export this data. I have to look at it on screen and manually enter it into a report I created. Since each Drip Program has 5 emails, it's very time consuming. Also, these Drip Program reports do not have the unsubscribes/spam counts. I have to look at the stats for a particular Email Template being used and select a date range and manually get this number. If it were on the actual screen with the rest of the stats (# sent, #open, #clicked, # bounced), it would be very convenient. This is a no-brainer.
- Good Data reports are very confusing and not easy to build or use. This is for more analytical data. I've had to call their support dept just so I can understand how to pull basic things like clicks, unique opens, etc.
- Faster lead conversion is a positive impact. We are seeing higher levels of conversions since each communication we send through Pardot encourages the prospect to take the next step in our lead to conversion process.
- Negative impact is the time I have had to spend on the metrics/reporting. I have to spend at least 25-30% pulling stats that should be more automated. An automation company should have automated reporting and Pardot simply does not.
This was selected before I joined the team. In their selection process pricing was an issue as we couldn't afford the likes of Marketo and Eloqua. I have evaluated Marketo and Eloqua and Act-On at previous employers.
Using Pardot Marketing Automation
2 - I am the day-to-day user in Corporate Marketing with an IT Project Manager also using the system.
2 - IT database folks and CRM experts for the synching issues.
- Prospect/candidate Application conversion optimization
- Lead nurturing
- Communication and branding
- We were able to pilot a retention program aimed at those who have already converted.
- We will synch data from our applications database to Salesforce and then Pardot. We will touch an entirely new group of prospects to help with retention efforts. So these are people who have already converted.
Evaluating Pardot and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Vendor Reputation
- Third-party Reviews
We would have spent more time reviewing their reporting capabilities.
Pardot Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Pardot Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed Immediate help available Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - There was an issue with the tool over-reporting the Opens. It has been resolved but it took a while (over a month I believe).
I can't say they went above and beyond on a particular instance.
Using Pardot
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Easy to use Technical support not required Consistent Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Setting up the drip logic
- Importing lists
- Adding dynamic content blocks.
- Reporting, grabbing info for unsubscribes is cumbersome