Future of SFDC Integration??

[Anonymous]

Hi All!  I just wanted to post a quick note on this thread -- the Marketo / Salesforce.com integration is very much in tact and is very safe going forward. AppExchange does not equal the product integration -- AppExchange is a marketing vehicle.  

The most important point is that our integration is built using Salesforce.com’s public web-services API’s and open Force.com interfaces.  Salesforce.com – as all modern cloud companies must be – is committed to maintaining an open platform, for us, for their AppExchange partners, and most importantly for you their end customers.  

Because Salesforce.com is now getting into marketing, we are competitors.  And, because Marketo is the #1 marketing software company, we understand their desire to take us off the AppExchange marketing vehicle.  The same is true of companies they compete with like Oracle (Eloqua), Microsoft (Sharepoint), and SAP.  Those companies all have integrations supported by Salesforce.com's public APIs -- even though they don't do joint marketing events like AppExchange and Dreamforce.

There will be no change in our strategy and support for our best in class integration with Salesforce.com’s CRM platform.  As recently as this year, Salesforce.com customers have rated Marketo as the best marketing solution, continuing a five-year streak of similar affirmation from the Salesforce.com customer base.  

We are committed to the success of our customers and would welcome a discussion with anyone who would like to discuss further. 

[Anonymous]

Are you planning to host any events corresponding, but not affiliated with Dreamforce?  I'm certain that a number of folks in the Marketing Nation will be attending and would love to connect in some way. 

[Anonymous]

The funny thing is, Marketo still has the "Review Marketo" (write a review in AppExchange) as one of the criteria in My Rewards. Clicking on the link takes me to Marketo page in the AppExchange which is labeled as Private. Do Marketo still want users to write reviews there? lol

[Anonymous]

@Hitoshi - My team and I are working on updating these assets to encourage customers to review us on sites like LinkedIn, Trust Radius, SoftwareAdvice, or G2 Crowd.  Thank your comment!

[Kimi_Heskett1]

Thanks Sanjay for taking time out of your day to correspond with us! As usual, Marketo is a class act! I'm proud to be part of the Marketing Nation!

[Anonymous]

@Heather - Will be looking forward to it. The software and the community is terrific!

[Anonymous]

@Heather - that was fast! It's already changed. Thanks. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Here are the key things to consider regarding the ET acquisition:

1. SF is going to start sending clients emails about their new capabilities. It would be silly to not educate yourself about them and the market in general.
2. Capabilities are only a small part of being successful with an email marketing or marketing automation platform. The Marketo community is the strongest of any tool (and I've used Eloqua, Pardot, Marketo, ExactTarget, TailoredMail and worked for e-Dialog). Outside of a full-service/agency-type of setup, the Marketo community is one of the best places to get questions answered, campaign ideas,...etc. 
3. Realistically, Marketo is going to be a target for the few remaining big players who don't have robust marketing automation capabilities in their portfolios (by few, I mean two). Even so, any future integrations will take time, so I think Marketo will continue to the right choice for most of us using the current Marketo/SF integration. 

Happy to chat more with anyone who enjoys being a student of the space as much as I do! 

[Anonymous]

@Raingal @kimi @Hotoshi - thank you for the kind words!  The Marketing Nation & Community wouldn't be possible without stellar customers 🙂

[Anonymous]

I will second Heather's props -- our customers are the best. Thank you for your support!