Why your Salesforce admin is not your Pardot admin
You’ve probably heard it: “Oh, our Salesforce admin can look after Pardot as well.”
Your Salesforce admin might be exceptional, great technical skills, a process-driven mindset, brilliant at automation and security minded, inside of Salesforce. But that does not automatically make them a great admin of Pardot (Marketing Cloud Account Engagement).
Because Pardot isn’t just “another Salesforce feature.” It’s a marketing automation engine. It lives and breathes segmentation strategy, buyer journeys, campaign attribution, deliverability, consent models, engagement scoring, and conversion optimisation. Handing it to someone with a purely technical or sales-ops background, no matter how talented, is usually where the trouble starts!
From my experience, here are four reasons why the two roles should never be treated as interchangeable.
1. Salesforce Admin vs. Pardot Admin: Different Purposes
| Salesforce Admin | Pardot Admin |
|---|---|
| CRM configuration (objects, fields, page layouts) | Lead generation and nurturing |
| User access, security, and roles | Email marketing and automation rules |
| Salesforce Release management | Scoring and grading models |
| Sales process automation (flows, validation rules) | Campaigns, forms, and landing pages |
| Data quality, reporting, and dashboards | Engagement tracking and attribution |
| Supporting sales and service teams | Marketing-to-sales handoff |
2. Why one admin can’t do both effectively
While Pardot is connected to Salesforce, marketing automation is not just “another Salesforce feature.”
Key differences:
| Salesforce Admin | Pardot Admin |
|---|---|
| Think in terms of data structure | Think in terms of buyer journeys |
| Optimise internal processes | Optimise conversion and engagement |
Trying to have one person do both often leads to:
3. The Business Impact of a Strong Pardot Admin
A Skilled Pardot Admin with Marketing Experience
Key Benefits:
Improves lead quality → higher close rates
Shortens sales cycles
Increases ROI on marketing spend
Aligns sales and marketing teams
Turns data into actionable insights
This role directly impacts pipeline and revenue, not just operations.
4. How the Two Roles Work Best Together
| Salesforce Admin | Pardot Admin |
|---|---|
| Owns CRM structure | Owns marketing automation |
| Supports sales workflows | Supports buyer journeys |
| Ensures data integrity | Ensures lead quality |
| Manages users & security | Manages engagement & conversion |
Together, they create:
Clean data
Aligned teams
Predictable growth
Bonus - Why a Pardot Admin with Marketing Experience Is Critical
A Pardot Admin without marketing experience may know the tool, but not the strategy.
| Pardot Admin with Marketing Experience | Pardot Admin without Marketing Experience |
|---|---|
| Correct segmentation and targeting | Automations are just technical, not strategic |
| Meaningful lead scoring (not just “email opens”) | Sales gets leads that aren’t ready |
| Buyer-stage-based automation | Marketing metrics look good but don’t drive revenue |
| Content aligned with funnel stages | Pardot becomes an “email tool” instead of a growth engine |
| Smart campaign attribution (shows revenue impact) | Poor campaign attribution (can’t link activity to revenue) |
Conclusion
You need both a Salesforce Admin and a Pardot Admin because they serve different goals, skill sets, and business outcomes, and the gap between them is exactly why a Pardot Admin with real marketing experience is so important.
Even better, you don’t just need a Pardot Admin, you need a Pardot Admin with marketing experience.
