State of Marketing Automation Certifications Report 2023
Introduction
Sloane Staffing’s "State of Marketing Automation 2023" report provides an in-depth analysis of the leading marketing automation platforms, namely Marketo, Pardot, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Eloqua, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
This report examines key findings in the certification process and how many certified experts per platform their are worldwide.
As a leading GTM and MarTech recruiting company, we specialize in hiring marketing automation specialists.
Key Features
Lead Management: All platforms offer lead capturing, nurturing, and scoring capabilities, helping businesses identify and prioritize high-potential leads.
Email Marketing: Effective email campaigns can be designed, automated, and tracked using these platforms, ensuring targeted and engaging communication.
Analytics and Reporting: Robust analytics tools empower marketers to measure campaign performance, track key metrics, and optimize strategies.
Personalization: Each platform emphasizes personalized customer experiences through dynamic content, segmentation, and behavioral tracking.
Integration: Integrating with other tools and systems, such as CRMs, enhances the overall marketing ecosystem and data management.
Market Positioning
Each platform caters to a distinct audience and use cases:
Marketo and Eloqua are well-suited for large enterprises with complex marketing needs.
Pardot focuses on B2B marketing and Salesforce Marketing Cloud focus on B2C marketing. Both are Salesforce products and integrate with Salesforce CRM.
HubSpot historically has been positioned for SMB and mid-market, but we are now seeing enterprise organizations starting to leverage the platform as well.
Understanding the strengths and focus areas of these platforms is crucial for businesses to make informed decisions aligned with their unique marketing goals and strategies.
Marketo Engage
11k+ Certified Marketo Experts*
Marketo is a robust marketing automation platform that empowers businesses to create, manage, and measure personalized engagement strategies across various channels. With features like lead management, email marketing, and marketing analytics, Marketo enables marketers to nurture leads through targeted campaigns and track their progress along the sales funnel. Notably, Marketo's integration with Adobe Experience Cloud offers enhanced capabilities for seamless customer experiences.
Certification Requirements:
800-1500 hours of real-world Marketo usage of the product before-hand.
Practitioners who have worked in other enterprise marketing automation software for over a year
Using Marketo for at least six months
Actual usage of the Marketo product. A broad basis of Marketing Automation alone is not enough to succeed on this test.
Certification is valid for two years.
Notes
Proctored online OR proctored onsite at testing centers
To become Marketo certified, expert must work for a Marketo customer
Time: 90 minutes to complete 75 multiple choice questions
Hardest to obtain, highest quality certification, and highest number of certifications
Marketo offers an instructor-led 3-hour MCE prep class
Our Key Takeaway:
Marketo’s certification leaves certified users with a deep understanding of how to effectively leverage Marketo's features due to their platform usage requirements, testing, and quality of certification.
Experts are required to work for a Marketo customer before they are able to obtain their certification. You can trust that a Marketo certified expert can truly utilize the platform.
G2 Reviews
Adobe Marketo Engage
Pardot
9.5k+ Certified Pardot Experts*
Pardot, a part of Salesforce, caters to B2B marketers seeking to optimize their lead generation and nurturing efforts. Pardot offers automation for email marketing, lead scoring, and CRM integration. Its focus on aligning marketing and sales teams ensures a coordinated approach towards converting prospects into loyal customers.
Certification Requirements:
Generally has 6-12 months of experience building and executing marketing end-to-end workflows with the Pardot Salesforce platform.
Has familiarity with the capabilities of the Pardot platform
Understands the lifecycle of visitors to prospects
Understands how to create and manage marketing assets, automation, and workflows within the Pardot Lightning App
Interpret metrics from Engagement History and standard dashboards in B2B Marketing Analytics
Understands administrative settings such as configuring scoring and grading models, configuring custom fields in Pardot, and using the Recycle Bin
Notes
90 minutes for 60 multiple choice questions
72% passing score
Once a year Pardot Specialist certification maintenance module on Trailhead, or your certification will expire
Registration fee: $200 USD
Retake fee: $100 USD
Proctored exam delivered onsite at a testing center or in an online proctored environment
Our Key Takeaway:
There are less Pardot certified experts in the overall MarTech talent landscape compared to other certified users (Marketo, for example), however a Pardot (AKA Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement) certification is a robust measure to ensure experts can properly use and execute with the platform.
G2 Reviews
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot)
Oracle Eloqua Marketing Automation
1.3k+ Certified Eloqua Master*
Eloqua, now part of Oracle, offers a comprehensive suite of marketing automation solutions for enterprises. Its strengths lie in advanced segmentation, targeting, and data management. Eloqua facilitates data-driven decision-making through its robust analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing marketers to refine strategies based on actionable insights.
Certification Requirements:
None
Notes
Pass Oracle Eloqua Marketing Certified Implementation Professional exam
Certifications are valid for up to two years
Recertification: If you hold multiple retired or retiring Oracle Database credentials, you can upgrade your OCA, OCP, or OCM credential and all credentials will remain active.
Our Key Takeaway:
There are zero prerequisites to become a certified Oracle Eloqua Master and a relatively small talent pool of experts.
However, certifications are valid for two years and experts must be re-certified if they would like to maintain their credentials, ensuring they must stay up to date on platform usage.
G2 Reviews
Oracle Eloqua
HubSpot Email Marketing Hub
2.8k+ Certified HubSpot Email Marketing Hub Experts*
HubSpot Marketing Hub is an all-in-one inbound marketing and automation platform designed to attract, engage, and delight customers. Its intuitive interface provides tools for content creation, social media management, email marketing, and lead tracking. HubSpot's AI-powered features assist marketers in delivering personalized experiences and optimizing campaigns.
Certification Requirements:
Zero prerequisites
9 lessons
28 videos
9 quizzes
4:05 hours
Notes
Free, no prerequisites, only 4 hours
HubSpot has 27 free certifications all without prerequisites
Each certification takes 1-6 hours
Our Key Takeaway:
HubSpot has many marketing certifications, however to compare their platform to the others in this report, Sloane Staffing chose to search their HubSpot Email Marketing Certified Experts.
A HubSpot certification is a useful way to learn how to properly use the user-friendly platform, however their certifications can be obtained by anyone, meaning that platform experience is not required and real usage is not ensured despite a certification.
G2 Reviews
HubSpot Marketing Hub
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
8.9k+ Certified Salesforce Marketing Cloud Administrators*
Certification Requirements:
None
Notes
Proctored exam delivered onsite at a testing center or in an online proctored environment.
60 multiple-choice questions
105 minutes
$200 USD registration fee
$100 USD retake fee
Self-study materials, modules, and instructor-led training options prior to exam
Required to complete the Marketing Cloud Administrator certification maintenance modules on Trailhead one time a year.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a versatile platform that enables marketers to create 1-to-1 customer journeys across multiple channels. It offers tools for email marketing, social media engagement, mobile messaging, and advertising. Salesforce Marketing Cloud's integration with Salesforce CRM provides a unified view of customer interactions, enabling personalized and timely communications.
Our Key Takeaway:
Salesforce has several different marketing certifications, however to compare their platform with the others in this report, Sloane Staffing chose their Salesforce Marketing Cloud Administrator certification.
Salesforce provides interactive study tools to prepare users for their Marketing Cloud Administrator certification exam, however it is not required.
Certifications are given after a proctored exam, onsite at a test center or online, and maintenance modules are available quarterly, ensuring your Salesforce certified user can utilize their knowledge to real word usage.
G2 Reviews
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Created by a former Marketo Account Executive, Sloane Staffing prides itself at being an expert at placing top-tier certified marketing automation experts to fit our clients’ tech stacks.
If you’re in need of a certified expert to properly see the return on investment in your marketing automation platform, contact us.
*number of certifications per platform are verified via LinkedIn Recruiter as of October 2023
11,000+ Worldwide Marketo Certified Experts: “Marketo Certified Expert” on LinkedIn Recruiter
9,500+ Worldwide Pardot Certified Experts: “Pardot Specialist Certification” on LinkedIn Recruiter
1,300+ Worldwide Oracle Eloqua Masters: “Eloqua Certified Master” on LinkedIn Recruiter
2,800+ HubSpot Marketing Hub Experts: "HubSpot Email Marketing Certification" on LinkedIn Recruiter