Impact of Adobe-Marketo Merger on Marketers

In September of 2018, Adobe announced that it would purchase Marketo for $4.75 billion, creating a partnership that would finally be able to go toe-to-toe with the other juggernauts in the marketing world — HubSpot, SalesForce, and a dozen others.

So what does this mean for marketers? And how has this merger affected the marketing world at large? Let’s dive in.

Leveling the Playing Field

One of the things that had held Marketo back in the enterprise world was its plug-and-play interface — the same simple interface that endeared it to so many small and mid-sized companies in the first place.

On the enterprise scale, though, larger in-house production teams found the drag-and-drop tools too simplistic and limiting. Now, with Adobe’s enterprise software experience and suite of top-shelf production software, Marketo can appeal to big companies and small businesses alike.

Changing the DAM Game

Early in 2019, Marketo introduced a powerful digital asset manager (DAM) designed to increase accountability, control, and organization to corporate databases when it comes to asset storage, file duplication, and naming conventions — all potential obstacles to efficient website management.

When the new DAM is paired with Adobe’s content creation software, it’ll allow customers to effectively have a one-stop shop for asset creation, organization, publication, and management — all under one roof.

How the Merger Helps Marketers

Firstly, innovation and new product experimentation should flourish under this partnership. Both companies are known for pushing the envelope, so their attitudes should complement each other well when it comes to making new marketing tools.

As we mentioned before, scalability should improve too. Where before, Marketo was known for being somewhat slow, especially with larger accounts, having Adobe’s cloud software capabilities in their camp should make a substantial difference.

The Potential Downsides

It’s only been two years since Marketo announced a partnership with Google’s Cloud Platform, where Marketo’s software is run entirely on Google’s architecture. It also meant that Marketo was integrated with G Suite software and could take advantage of Google’s data analytics and machine learning abilities, getting rid of its own data centers in favor of Google’s.

Now that Marketo is joining forces with Adobe — and, presumably, Adobe’s Creative Cloud — that partnership with Google may be in jeopardy. If that partnership and integration ends, it might disappoint Marketo users who are used to Google’s powerful tools.

Finally, there’s the question of cost. When one vendor acquires another, subscription rates tend to go up — more is being included with your service, so you’re paying for the extra, even if you don’t need it.

Better Integration Across the Board

Ultimately the partnership between these two platforms will make it easier for businesses of every size to deliver a customized, personalized experience to their customers. Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) customers are now able to leverage Marketo when their visitors land on AEM websites. Marketo customers, in turn, can take advantage of Adobe’s world-leading production software, not to mention the performance boost that’s likely to come to Marketo from Adobe’s server power.

The marketing world is always evolving, and it’s hard for smaller companies to keep up with the capabilities of the bigger players. This should help level the playing field.