Lately, we haven’t been able to scroll through industry news sites without seeing at least one mention of “AI” or “artificial intelligence.”
Just last week, Salesforce announced the public beta availability of Einstein Copilot, its native AI-powered assistant.
AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon—so if you haven’t learned how to use it strategically, now is the time.
The world of generative AI in marketing can feel like exploring a new galaxy. There’s so much to see, but knowing where to start can be overwhelming, right?
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content.
While its applications span multiple fields, marketing has seen a lot of benefits from AI. Professionals in our field are using AI for:
- Content creation
- Content discovery
- Campaign performance analysis
- Chatbot assistance
…and much more!
The applications of generative AI are extensive, but most marketing automation (MA) platforms have begun using it for the tasks mentioned above.
Each MA platform has its own way of accomplishing tasks to fit different marketing needs and business sizes.
Today, we are going to explore four different MA platforms and assess the generative AI capabilities available in each one. We’re about to compare:
Here at MAC, we have consultants with certifications in all these platforms. We’d be happy to help you select the right platform for your organization based on your business objectives.
Ready to see how these platforms’ AI capabilities stack up? Let’s dive into the comparison!
Content Generation
All of the platforms can generate content for blogs, websites, landing pages, emails, social media posts, ad copy, and images.
But don’t be fooled—there are key differences. Here they are:
Marketo Engage Adobe Sensei
Marketo’s generative content comes with templates to help users create posts, emails, product descriptions, and other assets.
However, Marketo also allows users to create workflows, allowing them to replicate content creation processes to save time.
HubSpot AI
The HubSpot AI content assistant integrates OpenAI’s GPT into your content creation dashboard. That means you’ll receive content that is generated with ChatGPT but enhanced by HubSpot’s data.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Einstein)
Einstein GPT uses ChatGPT to create personalized content. It can be trained and customized with an AI model.
Einstein can also generate images based on assets from your asset catalog, so you can expect a highly personalized image for each piece of content you generate.
Pardot Account Engagement (Einstein)
Pardot uses the same AI as Salesforce. However, the focus here is on creating landing pages, forms, and emails.
You can use its assistant to create new assets or edit existing ones. The content is also optimized according to your key accounts.
Content Discovery
The content discovery process involves users searching for relevant content on your owned digital channels. It uses algorithms and user behavior analysis to suggest content to users based on their preferences, interactions, and other aggregated data.
Marketo Engage Adobe Sensei
Marketo Engage’s Adobe Sensei generates recommended content using its segmentation engines, highlighting the best-performing assets for specific users.
You can adjust the algorithm of Adobe Sensei’s AI to recommend content based on specific performance metrics like clicks and conversions.
You can use Marketo’s AI to auto-discover all the content assets on a website domain. For it to work, you need to set up URL patterns and make web visitors click them. Only content that has been interacted with will be found via content discovery.
HubSpot AI
For HubSpot AI, content discovery is limited to a content idea generator.
Based on your prompt, it leverages keyword generation and search volume analysis capabilities from an external platform called Semrush to suggest relevant topics.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Einstein)
Einstein Discovery is a prediction tool. In the simplest terms, it analyzes all your internal data to write predictions on what will happen next.
For example:
- Sales Trends: Predicts deal closures and identifies key success factors.
- Customer Churn: Forecasts at-risk customers for proactive retention.
- Campaign Effectiveness: Optimizes marketing strategies with predictive success analysis.
- Product Recommendations: Generates personalized suggestions based on customer behavior.
- Operational Efficiency: Identifies process bottlenecks and predicts issues for improvement.
- Trendspotting: Detects emerging content trends for higher engagement.
You can create custom AI models with Einstein Prediction Builder and Recommendation Builder to make it analyze data in a certain way, generate predictions with specific goals in mind, and create article recommendations.
Pardot Account Engagement (Einstein)
Pardot uses Einstein Behavior Scoring to identify the personality and behavior of each customer. With this information, it recommends the best content for that person. You can assess the “readiness to buy” of each customer easily with the help of Einstein.
Einstein also predicts whether each prospect has received too many, too few, or the right number of emails.
Campaign Performance Analysis
Campaign performance analysis is about measuring the effectiveness of your content across various channels.
By collecting and analyzing data, the AI generates insights to help you enhance your marketing goals.
Marketo Engage Adobe Sensei
Marketo takes a segmented approach—it uses Adobe Sensei AI to analyze the performance of different assets across different audiences. With that, you know what content works best for both new and returning visitors.
It highlights active predictive content assets, direct leads, views, channel performance, conversion rates, and more.
HubSpot AI
HubSpot generates AI-powered reports by using your prompts.
Basically, it analyzes your data, compiles the information, and tries to find the best answers to your prompt. You can make additional changes by customizing the report later.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Einstein)
Einstein Analytics is the tool you can use to create sales, service, and marketing reports. In practice, you also ask questions and get answers from the AI.
Pardot Account Engagement (Einstein)
Pardot uses Einstein Campaign Insights machine learning to find relevant data for specific campaigns, assets, or even prospects. The tracked marketing assets are email, marketing forms, and landing pages.
Chatbot Assistant
Chatbots are likely the application of AI you’re most familiar with—but in case you’re not, we’ll summarize what an AI-powered chatbot is.
A chatbot simulates conversations with human end users, and it can use generative AI to automate responses.
Here’s an overview of the chatbot capabilities available in each MA platform on our list:
Marketo Engage Adobe Sensei
Marketo’s chatbot, called Dynamic Chat, uses Adobe Sensei GenAI to offer responsive interaction for freeform questions with the users.
Its purpose is to help you generate conversations with prospects. Check out our comparison between Dynamic Chat and Drift (another AI-powered chatbot tool) to learn more.
HubSpot AI
ChatSpot.ai helps HubSpot customers complete a variety of tasks using a natural language chat-based user experience. The tool helps users create custom reports, draft emails, create content, and more. Keep in mind that ChatSpot uses ChatGPT to create the messages.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Einstein)
You can use Einstein bot builder to create a customer service chatbot that generates conversations with your clients.
Remember, Salesforce also offers Einstein Copilot, an assistant that helps your internal team with productivity by automating repetitive tasks and providing insights and recommendations based on data analysis.
Pardot Account Engagement (Einstein)
At the moment, Pardot doesn’t provide the same bot builder capability that you get with Salesforce.
Prices
We always keep your bottom line in mind here at MAC, so let’s talk prices!
Not all of the AI functionalities come free with each platform. Your choice may have a major impact on your budget. Here’s a breakdown for you:
Marketo Engage Adobe Sensei
The advanced AI personalization capabilities and predictive content are available in the Select, Prime, and Ultimate Plans, but only for 50 assets. After reaching this limit, you need to buy a new assets pack of 50 assets.
Also, the Adobe Sensei GenAI capabilities for Dynamic Chat are only available on the Prime plan. This requires an additional investment beyond the Select plan that’s included with Marketo.
HubSpot AI
The base license for HubSpot AI is free and has unlimited users. This is a great option if your budget is small. But the AI functionalities are limited compared to other platforms.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Einstein)
It may be pricey for a small business. Einstein Generative AI costs $75 monthly per user (billed annually). The more users are generating content, the higher your costs.
Pardot Account Engagement (Einstein)
The AI for marketing and sales is only available for the Advanced plan or above.
The Advanced plan costs $4,400 monthly for up to 10,000 contacts.
Also, the predictive analytics feature is only available in the Premium plan, which costs $15,000 monthly for up to 75,000 contacts.
How to Know Which AI is Right For Your Organization
Starting from the price perspective, Marketo and HubSpot’s free AI capabilities are cost-effective solutions, but they have limited functionalities. For example, HubSpot uses OpenAI’s technology, and you can expect similar results to ChatGPT.
As for Marketo Engage, Adobe Sensei is a powerful AI that not only creates new assets but also saves time in your content creation process. But you’re limited to 50 assets. You can pay a higher fee to access more.
Salesforce’s Einstein AI offers unparalleled personalization. Its bot builder allows you to create your own bot to create content, make predictions, interact with users, etc. However, it becomes more pricey as your business grows, since its costs increase per user.
Finally, Pardot AI seems very limited at first glance, but it has a laser focus on key accounts. Instead of generating content, predictions, and reports for a large audience, it’s suitable if your strategy is to maximize conversions for a few, but exceedingly highly-valued prospects.
Still Not Sure Which AI is Best for You? Count on MAC to Help!
At MAC, we have certified MA/CRM consultants who are ready to help you select the right platform for your organization and leverage it to its fullest potential.
Contact us to learn how we can help you take your MA strategy to the next level with generative AI.
