The rise of Agentforce, powered by Data Cloud, taking the spotlight in major Salesforce tours in 2024 as part of the AI revolution, demonstrates Salesforce’s commitment to and focus on AI and CRM to continue leading the CRM business worldwide.
When shuffled with the somewhat underwhelming product updates to Marketing Cloud Engagement (ExactTarget) in the latest release notes, including Spring ‘25, it sparked fear among Marketing Cloud Engagement veterans, raising questions about Marketing Cloud Engagement’s future and relevance in the long run.
Is Marketing Cloud Engagement (ExactTarget) End of Life Around the Corner?
Lately, there has been a lively discussion around the “real” Marketing Cloud (ExactTarget) end of life. Choosing the word “real” is no mistake. I used it because this product, formerly referred to as ExactTarget or SFMC, is what made the name and reputation for ‘Marketing Cloud’. Since then, it has become a diversified product line that encompasses all Salesforce Marketing products under its flagship name – a symbol of brand and quality.
Add to that the product release (Feb 2024) of the newest Marketing Cloud Growth/Advanced editions, built on Data Cloud’s infrastructure, and you obtain Marketing Cloud Engagement veterans, rightfully wondering whether they could still grow old with their beloved Marketing Cloud by their side.
To illustrate the shock, audacious statements like “Journey Builder belongs to the past” have started popping up on social media and in specialized SFMC groups, calling for a deeper analysis around the relevancy of the product. This is a wake-up call for marketers who got too comfortable with 15-year-old technology to start learning new technologies.
In this context, earlier this year, my fellow pen-pal Alina Makarova wrote an article here on Salesforce Ben: Is This the End of Marketing Cloud (ExactTarget)?
Missing the Point
While all the questions raised are interesting, relevant, and valid, they were for the most part turning around technology comparisons and feature parity timelines, to try and predict product sunset, especially as the new contender celebrates its first anniversary. Yet, one critical angle was left out: none addressed the marketing automation philosophy, which is the vision behind any marketing automation product roadmap and its development.
Let me explain…
Lead Funnels vs. Event-Based Journeys
When it comes to marketing automation, there have been two philosophies that determine the architecture driving the marketing automation product. These are:
- Funnel Marketing: This philosophy consists of using marketing automation as early as the Lead Capture phase to capture and nurture leads automatically, with the objective of qualifying them for sales. It follows the well-known and proven path: Visitor/Prospect Capture → MQL → SQL → Opportunity → Client
- Event-Based Marketing: This philosophy consists of using marketing automation to interact with, create and optimize touchpoints with prospects and customers alike, based on their lifecycle events (captured data). Automated repeat purchases, membership models and cross-selling campaigns are very common use-cases addressed by this philosophy.
The first philosophy aligns best with mid-to-long-term sales cycles, mostly seen in B2B or larger B2C deals, where the handover between marketing and sales at the right moment is the critical component for the marketing automation product to fulfil its purpose and philosophy.
The second excels when there are higher volumes of prospects and customers, multi-channel (email, SMS, WhatsApp, POS, website, events, ads), with endless possible paths and a shorter decision-making process, typically seen in online shopping websites or B2C businesses.
Can One Tool (MCG/MCA) Excel in Both?
Considering the above, knowing which philosophy a marketing automation product aims to serve is critical for the product roadmap, where each feature that makes it in-scope means another feature is left out!
To illustrate this, the first philosophy would prioritize features such as prospect conversion (landing pages features) and prospect qualifying features such as scoring, grading, one-to-one emails, the link between top of funnel (prospect, campaign) to low funnel (opportunity) and attribution.
In parallel, the latter would prioritize multi-channel architecture, high-throughput deliverability, mass volume data digestion, advanced ETL capabilities, advanced scripting, and third-party communications with API, SFTP, or cloud services like Amazon S3, Azure Blob, etc.
While these are fundamentally different, there is common ground, which is the root cause for confusion: there is a major overlap between the needs of any marketing automation system, regardless of the philosophy behind. These include having an email editor, website tracking, UTM tracking, marketing attribution, A/B testing, subscription management, out-of-the-box reporting, and the ability to serve campaigns such as one-off email blasts, newsletters, etc.
It’s safe to assume that Marketing Cloud Growth/Advanced (MCG/MCA), built on the modern Data Cloud, is the future of Salesforce Marketing for the next decade or two.
However, can MCG/MCA be truly hybrid and excel in serving the two philosophies, within five to six years of development from its first release (by 2030)? It’s ambitious – but also dangerous, as a lack of focus would make it trail behind the more focused competition in both categories. And this is without even mentioning the dispersed focus of development efforts related to AI features.
A few examples of market leaders losing market share to competition due to a lack of focus include Skype, ICQ, and Internet Explorer. Here is how it happened…
Following its Microsoft acquisition in 2011, Skype, then a consensus, tried to serve both business and personal needs, eventually losing ground to hyper-focused products WhatsApp (personal) and Zoom (professional). ICQ added so many features – trying to be a portal, messenger, social network – that it failed to keep up with mobile-first messengers like MSN Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram. And the classic Internet Explorer was dragged down by enterprise-backward compatibility development, making it heavy. As a result, it was taken over by the lighter Firefox, and then the leaner Google Chrome – despite IE’s unfair advantage of being pre-installed and set as the default browser on all non-Mac desktops and laptops.
So, what happened there? Successful products tried to serve too many user types and too many use cases without clearly prioritizing. Meanwhile, focused competitors delivered better experiences for specific needs.
Linking this back to marketing, how many companies actually have parallel needs for both funnel and event-based philosophies? A fraction.
Focusing sharply on one core user type is the best way to stay ahead of the competition. Usability and simplicity are key, and the extra layers introduced by the Data Cloud infrastructure and complex consumption-based billing are already a barrier for some.
As for AI’s role in distracting from – or contributing to – this product’s success, one thing is clear: AI sells licenses. Hence, one would expect Salesforce to double down on efforts to add AI features and integrations with its flagship Agentforce as part of the roadmap. By doing so, Salesforce would be creating and educating users on AI-related use cases that add value to Agentforce’s existing value proposition. After all, Agentforce is the current superstar, and marketing can play a role in bolstering its position as the leader in AI for CRM. A major opportunity!
Summary: To Win in 2030, Start With the Philosophy
Let’s ask: What will MCG/MCA’s identity be five years from now? Leading and winning in the competitive and luxurious marketing automation industry, where HubSpot, Braze, Marketo, and ActiveCampaign constantly innovate, requires sharp focus.
What philosophy will MCG/MCA adopt to remain competitive and aspire to be the best in its category? Will it serve funnel marketing or event-based marketing? Or will it continue dancing between raindrops?
The features released so far, along with other technical indicators that I’ll discuss in a future article, suggest that Marketing Cloud (ExactTarget) is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Yet, things could change. One can’t ignore that Salesforce cannot afford to lose its current leader position in enterprise-level marketing, for its money and prestige.
As the old saying goes, “too many cooks spoil the broth”. In our context, the Salesforce Marketing cook has yet to step up. Bon appétit!
