There are so many Salesforce Partners out there, but very few offer real specialization. In this list, we highlight the top ten implementation partners for Marketing Cloud projects across Enterprise, Mid-Market, and SMBs.
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The hardest part about finding a reliable Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Implementation Partner is that the biggest Partner doesn't necessarily mean the best Partner.
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For a CRM like like Salesforce, when selecting a Salesforce Consulting Implementation Partner, you want to go with a specialist. This means finding a vendor that focuses on 1-2 Salesforce products and nothing else! These days, the most prominent firms - Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, IBM - are generalists. At least when it comes to the Salesforce platform. The Salesforce service ecosystem is wide, but there’s a reason the customer experience is so varied; choosing the wrong Salesforce Consulting Partner can be catastrophic for your business needs.
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Generalist Salesforce Consulting Partners usually have some dedicated Marketing Cloud Consultants in the organization, but overall, it's not a core focus or area of specialty. If you have a project that involves implementing a variety of different Salesforce products simultaneously - for example, you want to deploy Service Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and Marketing Cloud together - then these big Partners are the best option for you. They’ll be able to optimize all three Salesforce solutions without significant issues.
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However, if you have a project that only involves implementing SFMC and integrating it into your existing tools, you might want to look for a smaller, more specialized implementer. The functionality of Marketing Cloud is unique, and as such, you need a unique set of skillsets to make sure the implementation is carried out correctly, end to end. Finding the right Salesforce Marketing Cloud Partner depends on a variety of factors. (This might not be what you wanted to hear, so we put together the Best Salesforce Marketing Cloud Partners in 2022 to help guide you!)

Marketing Cloud Partners for Enterprise

These are the largest Salesforce Consulting Services Partners for the North American market and should typically be reserved for projects in the $5m to $10m budget.

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The way they operate is they deploy larger-scale, cross-disciplinary Delivery teams comprised of multiple Consultants, Developers, Administrators, Architects, and Email Automation Campaign Specialists.

An expected hourly bill rate for these Partners is in the $250/hour to $400/hour range, and you will encounter a Delivery team of 20+ individuals.

1. Slalom Consulting

While they are one of the largest Salesforce Implementation Partners, they do have an extremely well-established SFDC Marketing Cloud Practice. Unlike some of the more prominent firms that only focus on 'multi-Cloud' projects, Slalom does maintain a focus on standalone SFMC engagements, which provides a unique specialization at their scale.
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Their team of Salesforce experts looks like this:

• ‍67 Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants
• 34 Certified Marketing Cloud Developers
• 202 Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
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2. Dentsu (formerly DEG Digital)

In 2018, DEG Digital (an established Salesforce Implementation Partner that had acquired numerous mid-sized Partners along the way) was acquired by Dentsu, a Japanese advertising giant. Prior to that acquisition, DEG Digital was the largest standalone Salesforce Marketing Cloud Partner in the United States. This has remained a core competency while also being integrated into a broader Marketing and Advertising agency. This is a Salesforce Consulting company with years of experience in Marketing Cloud.
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Their team of Salesforce experts looks like this:

• ‍145 Certified Marketing Cloud Administrators
• 123 Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants
• 67 Certified Marketing Cloud Developers
• 412 Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialists
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3. Deloitte Digital

This is the Digital arm of Deloitte, one of the largest Management Consulting companies in the world. While Deloitte does a little bit of everything inside and outside of technology, Deloitte Digital is solely focused on digital transformation strategy, and they have an enormous focus on Salesforce customization.

While they start to creep into 'generalist Partner' territory, the scale of their Marketing Cloud capabilities and the number of Consultants (all with tons of certifications under their belt) across the Practice make them a strong option for any Enterprise engagements.

Their team of Salesforce experts looks like this:

• ‍338 Certified Marketing Cloud Administrators
• 303 Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants
• 151 Certified Marketing Cloud Developers
• 934 Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialists
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4. WPP

A multinational British communications and advertising agency, WPP is a relatively new entrant to the Salesforce ecosystem. Given their core focus on Marketing Automation & Advertising strategy, a logical expansion for them was moving into technology consulting and digital transformation. These efforts focused strictly on Marketing tools.

For this reason, they are unique in the fact that they are a huge company overall with a relatively modest Salesforce Practice, but the entirety of that Practice is focused on Marketing Cloud.
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Their team of Salesforce experts looks like this:

• ‍35  Certified Marketing Cloud Administrators
• 70 Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants
• 33 Certified Marketing Cloud Developers
• 271 Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialists
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5. Pierry (now Wunderman Thompson)

In 2017, Pierry was acquired by Wunderman Thompson, which is another global Marketing Communications agency with 20,000+ employees that had no presence in the Salesforce ecosystem until acquiring their way into it.

At the time of acquisition, Pierry was a top 10 Global Salesforce Partner with one of the most established, strongest Marketing Cloud Practices. This brilliant integration of Marketing Cloud expertise into an existing behemoth in the Marketing landscape.
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Their team of Salesforce experts looks like this:

• ‍33 Certified Marketing Cloud Administrators
• 25 Certified Marketing Cloud Developers
• 60 Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialists
  

Marketing Cloud Partners for Mid-Market

These are the Partners best suited for mid-market projects with a budget anywhere in the $450,000 to $2m range.

A typical Delivery team may still consist of Consultants, Developers, Administrators, and Architects, but, likely, you are only working with 1-2 of each, so the Delivery team will often be under ten people. Contrary to popular belief, it’s easier to stay on top of your roadmap if you’re coordinating a smaller group of experts.

You will still encounter a hefty $175/hour to $250/hour bill rate, though! So consider yourself warned.

6. Torrent Consulting

Founded in 2010, Torrent Consulting is what we would consider a smaller, “boutique” Salesforce Consulting Firm (even though it has an international presence). Their core practice focused on Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, with a smaller operation dedicated to Marketing Cloud. The industries they specialize in are Healthcare and Life Sciences, Manufacturing, and High Tech.

Their reviews on the Appexchange rate them with a 5.0 out of 5.0.
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7. OSF Digital

An early implementer specialized in Commerce Cloud, OSF Digital is backed by Salesforce Ventures and maintains a global Salesforce Implementation Services Practice across North America and parts of Eastern Europe, which can offer some nice cost benefits compared to other vendors in this category that are strictly onshore. Since pretty much all Salesforce investments are pricey, getting access to a more accessible Marketing Cloud implementation is worth looking into.

Given how often Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud exist in the same org, they quickly developed a core competency in SFMC and have continued to grow there.
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8. Bubblebox

Prior to the mid-2021 acquisition by VntCap Technologies, this was one of the leading mid-market Marketing Cloud Partners in North America. While having a modest Practice of 50 Consultants, they were 100% dedicated to Marketing Cloud across all industries, making them one of the largest pure-play agencies focused on this Cloud with experience leading hundreds of projects.

Their focus on Marketing Cloud also allows them to offer a broader range of Digital Marketing strategy services, from ABM to marketing automation and customer engagement through email marketing.
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9. Belmar

Belmar is a smaller firm with extensive experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. As a Salesforce Partner, Belmar has a team of certified experts who have successfully delivered numerous Marketing Cloud projects. While they’re not solely focused on Marketing Cloud, their certified experts are balanced across the board.

Marketing Cloud Partners for SMB

The SMB market is interesting when it comes to Salesforce Consultants because there are vendors that service this specific segment of the market.

However, since most of the projects are smaller, the Partner you select is likely only staffing 1-2 Consultants to your project. Still, they are doing so at a significantly higher hourly rate than if you looked at Independent Salesforce Contractors.

‍For this reason alone, if you are looking to implement a small Marketing Cloud instance, deploy new modules to your Salesforce CRM (email studio, interaction studio, social studio etc.), add a new Salesforce integration to your existing instance, or find help with building and deploying email and automation campaigns, you should absolutely look for a Salesforce Freelancer.

If you’re unsure about needing a Consulting Firm or an Independent Consultant, check out this post that highlights the pros and cons of choosing either one.

10. FoundHQ

The largest Freelancers Network purely focused 100% on the Salesforce technology ecosystem. While not a Consulting Firm (and proud of it!), at FoundHQ, we provide direct access to a pre-qualified network of 1,000+ Independent Salesforce Consultants, including:

• ‍150+ Certified Marketing Cloud Administrators
• 100+ Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants
• 125+ Certified Marketing Cloud Developers
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‍Since these are Freelancers (as opposed to companies), the Marketing Cloud Consultant hourly rate is often $100/hour to $145/hour for the same experience that a Partner charges double. When it comes to identifying Independent Salesforce Consultants, the options are limited. You can leverage a services-based Recruitment Agency in the space, but this will involve cumbersome interactions with less experienced Technical Recruiters.

While there are alternatives for Freelancer Marketplaces (Upwork, Toptal), these are generalist marketplaces. A quick scan through Salesforce Developer profiles on these platforms will show that the platform isn't suited for identifying niche skill sets like Marketing Cloud, specifically. They also aren’t vetted Consultants like the ones you can find with FoundHQ.

How it works

FoundHQ’s process is beautifully simple. We keep our customers in control of how they want to scale up or down. That’s why with FoundHQ, there are:

• No long-term commitments
• No rigid SOWs

You decide how many hours you need any given week or month. If you want to learn more about how FoundHQ can help you find the perfect Salesforce Consultant, click here.

Find the best Marketing Cloud Partner for your project.

In summary, there is no one-size-fits-all Salesforce Implementation Partner.

It is highly dependent on the size of your company, the current Salesforce infrastructure you have in place, and how ambitious your digital transformation goals are.

Suppose you are kicking off project work that involves a variety of Salesforce Clouds. In that case, it can make sense to look to larger Partners, but if you are strictly focused on Marketing Cloud or other Cloud projects, identifying a smaller, more flexible, and highly specialized Partner for that particular domain makes a lot more sense.