Account Engagement vs. Marketing Cloud Engagement

At CloudMasonry, we’ve worked with dozens of clients on both Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE, formerly Pardot) and Marketing Cloud Engagement (MCE) implementations. Each unique client has had specific business needs and requirements that were better suited to different applications.

Let’s break down their differences by category to help you decide which one best fits your business, or talk to an expert from our team today!

1. Target Audience & Use Case

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE) (formerly Pardot) is purpose-built for B2B marketing. Its strength lies in lead generation, nurturing, and scoring prospects through longer, relationship-driven sales cycles. Think of it as a tool for marketing teams that work closely with sales to move leads down the funnel.

Ideal for:

• B2B companies
• Longer sales cycles
• Sales and marketing alignment
• Lead qualification and nurturing

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement (MCE) is the legacy Salesforce Marketing Cloud Product, originally ExactTarget and is geared more towards B2C marketing, where customer engagement is broad, multi-channel, and often transactional. It’s built for creating sophisticated journeys at scale with real-time personalization across email, mobile, social, and more.

Ideal for:

• B2C companies
• High-volume communications
• Ecommerce, retail, media, travel
• Multi-channel, real-time engagement

2. Core Features & Capabilities

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

• Lead Scoring & Grading: Automatically evaluates lead quality based on behavior and demographics.
• Engagement Programs: Automate lead nurturing via drip campaigns.
• Form & Landing Page Builders: Easy-to-use tools for capturing leads.
• Salesforce Integration: Deep native integration with Salesforce CRM, including lead assignment rules.
• Lead Lifecycle Reporting: Tracks a lead’s journey from visitor to customer.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

• Journey Builder: Design and manage personalized customer journeys across channels.
• Email Studio, Mobile Studio, Advertising Studio: Specialized tools for each digital channel.
• Audience Segmentation: Advanced filtering and targeting using behavioral and demographic data.
• AI with Einstein: Predictive capabilities like send-time optimization and content personalization.
• Real-Time Interactions: Respond to customer behavior in the moment.

Bottom Line: MCAE is laser-focused on lead nurturing and sales enablement, while Marketing Cloud Engagement is a multi-channel engine for broad, dynamic customer engagement.

3. Salesforce Integration

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

MCAE is tightly woven into Salesforce’s CRM system. It shares the same database, which means seamless syncing between sales and marketing data. Sales reps can view prospect activity directly in Salesforce, making follow-ups much more informed.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement offers an application called Marketing Cloud Connect to integrate with Salesforce CRM. While powerful, it’s not as natively embedded as MCAE. Syncing requires setup and may involve some data modeling work, especially if your use case spans multiple clouds or business units.

Bottom Line: MCAE offers cleaner, simpler integration for Salesforce-centric teams. Marketing Cloud Engagement has the ability to scale from simple integrations/out-of-the-box features, to highly advanced use cases that may require more technical support.

4. User Experience & Interface

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

MCAE has a more streamlined UI that marketers with minimal technical experience can quickly get used to. The interface is relatively straightforward—great for small to midsize marketing teams without dedicated technical staff.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement offers a robust but more complex user interface. It’s modular, which is powerful but also means there’s a steeper learning curve. You’ll likely need certified users or an implementation partner to unlock its full potential.

Bottom Line: MCAE is more user-friendly and accessible. Marketing Cloud Engagement is highly powerful but needs more onboarding and expertise.

5. Automation & Journey Management

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

Automation in MCAE is linear and rule-based. You can set up lead nurturing sequences, autoresponders, and segmentation with relative ease.

• Engagement Studio: Visual builder for lead nurturing.
• Automation Rules: Trigger actions based on behaviors or data changes.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement’s Journey Builder is far more advanced. You can trigger journeys based on real-time events, customer attributes, purchase history, or web behavior. These journeys can branch out, loop, and adapt based on customer interaction.

Bottom Line: MCAE offers simpler automation flows for predictable lead nurturing. Marketing Cloud Engagement also has the ability to set up basic flows with scalability in mind, allowing advanced and adaptive customer journeys across multiple channels.

6. Data Handling & Segmenting

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

MCAE works best when tied closely with Salesforce CRM. Its segmentation is primarily driven by CRM fields, activity tracking, and prospect lists. It’s good for building segments based on lead data and behavior, but somewhat limited in flexibility compared to Marketing Cloud Engagement.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement allows advanced data segmentation using Data Extensions, SQL queries, and Attribute Groups in Contact Builder. You can pull from multiple sources and create highly customized segments.

Bottom Line: Marketing Cloud Engagement is far more robust for complex data management and segmentation, especially when dealing with multiple data sources or real-time data.

7. Personalization

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

Personalization is mainly based on CRM data and prospect activity. You can use variable tags to insert personalized content in emails, but real-time behavioral personalization is limited.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement shines in personalization. Using tools like Einstein Recommendations, Dynamic Content, and Personalization Builder, you can tailor messages dynamically based on customer profiles, behaviors, and preferences across multiple channels.

Bottom Line: If deep, multi-channel personalization is critical, Marketing Cloud Engagement is the better choice.

8. Channels Supported

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

• Primarily email
• Limited web personalization
• Some paid media integration (via Salesforce Advertising Studio or 3rd parties)

Marketing Cloud Engagement

• Email
• SMS and push notifications
• Social media
• Web and mobile personalization
• Paid media (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn)
• Direct mail (via partners)

Bottom Line: MCAE is primarily an email and CRM-driven platform. Marketing Cloud Engagement is a true omnichannel solution.

9. Analytics & Reporting

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

Reporting is focused on lead generation, campaign performance, and ROI tracking. The B2B Marketing Analytics app (built on Tableau CRM) offers advanced dashboards for Salesforce users.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Marketing Cloud Engagement offers Datorama Reports, Email Studio Analytics, and advanced integrations for real-time campaign reporting. It can pull in data from outside platforms to offer a 360-degree view of marketing performance.

Bottom Line: MCAE is great for sales-aligned reporting. Marketing Cloud Engagement is the winner for enterprise-level, cross-channel analytics.

10. Pricing & Scalability

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

Pricing is more predictable and typically lower for smaller teams. It’s sold in tiers (Growth, Plus, Advanced) based on features and number of prospects.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Pricing can be complex and often requires a custom quote. It’s modular, so you pay based on which Studios and features you use. That means it can get pricey—but it also scales well for enterprise needs.

Bottom Line: MCAE is more budget-friendly for small to mid-sized businesses. Marketing Cloud Engagement is scalable but more expensive.

11. Implementation & Support

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE)

Faster to implement. You can go live within weeks. Many admins can handle MCAE internally with some basic training.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

Takes longer to implement and often requires external partners or Salesforce specialists. The setup process can be more technical.

Bottom Line: MCAE has a shorter time-to-value. Marketing Cloud Engagement may need more upfront effort but offers long-term benefits for complex use cases.

Final Thoughts

Both MCAE and Marketing Cloud Engagement are powerful platforms—but they serve fundamentally different needs. Choosing the right one depends not just on your industry (B2B vs. B2C), but also on your goals, team resources, and data maturity. Many companies even use both, especially if they have hybrid audiences.

If you’re a growing B2B company looking to align closely with sales, MCAE is likely the better fit. If you’re managing large-scale, consumer-focused campaigns across multiple channels, Marketing Cloud Engagement will give you the firepower you need.

Still not sure? A clear marketing automation strategy—and an audit of your current data and customer journeys—can make the choice a lot easier. 

The Marketing Automation Practice at CloudMasonry can help your business determine what’s best.

Contact us today to learn more: