Introduction

Salesforce is evolving its marketing ecosystem at a rapid pace. New capabilities powered by AI, shifts in product naming, and the emergence of agent-based automation mean that many marketers and even seasoned consultants are asking the same question:

If you’ve felt a bit lost in the product vocabulary: Marketing Cloud Next, Marketing Cloud Growth, Marketing Cloud Advanced, Marketing Cloud+, Agentforce Marketing – you’re not alone. The good news is that the logic behind this new structure is far more coherent than it first appears.

This article breaks it all down in practical, human language and explains how each piece fits into the broader Salesforce marketing stack.

The New Marketing Cloud: One Platform, Multiple Editions

Salesforce is reshaping its marketing technology around a simple idea: one unified, AI-powered platform that runs on Data 360 and Salesforce CRM. This modern vision is called Marketing Cloud Next, often referred to as the next-generation Marketing Cloud.

Think of Marketing Cloud Next as the overall platform, with two editions that sit underneath it:

Marketing Cloud Growth (MCG)

Designed for small and medium-sized teams or businesses taking their first steps into data-driven omnichannel marketing. Growth focuses on speed, simplicity, and guided automation.

Marketing Cloud Advanced (MCA)

Built for enterprise organizations needing deep customization, advanced segmentation, real-time intelligence, and scalable orchestration.

In short, Growth and Advanced are simply two versions of the same platform: Marketing Cloud Next, each designed for different levels of sophistication and scale.

Source: Salesforce

Marketing Cloud Plus: A Bridge for Existing Engagement Customers

With thousands of organizations using Marketing Cloud Engagement (the former ExactTarget platform), Salesforce created a transition pathway into the new ecosystem. Enter Marketing Cloud Plus (Marketing Cloud+).

Marketing Cloud+ is:

  • Not a new standalone product
  • Not an additional edition like Growth or Advanced
  • An add-on SKU designed specifically for existing Marketing Cloud Engagement customers

Its purpose is straightforward:

Marketing Cloud+

Engagement customers keep Journey Builder while gaining access to Next-Gen Marketing Cloud capabilities. In practice, this means you can:

  • Keep all your existing journeys
  • Avoid any sudden or forced migration
  • Start adopting next-generation capabilities – like AI agents, modern segmentation, and Data 360-powered tools – at your own pace

For many organizations, Marketing Cloud+ becomes the practical on-ramp to the future Salesforce marketing architecture.

Agentforce Marketing: Autonomous AI for Marketers

The newest member of the Salesforce marketing family – and arguably the most transformative – is Agentforce Marketing.

Source: Salesforce

Source: Salesforce

Agentforce introduces autonomous AI agents that work alongside marketing teams. These agents are designed to take on operational tasks, accelerate campaign work, and react to customer interactions in real time.

Agentforce Marketing

It includes agents that can:

  • Analyse customer behaviour
  • Build segments and recommendations
  • Create or optimize campaigns
  • Monitor performance
  • Respond to customer messages dynamically
  • Trigger next-best actions across channels

Rather than replacing human marketers, these agents operate as assistants – automating operational work so teams can focus on strategy, creativity, and optimization.

Think of it as a co-pilot that can actually take the wheel when you ask it to.

How All These Names Fit Together

Here’s the simplest way to understand the new landscape:

Marketing Cloud Next

The modern platform, built on Data 360 and AI. Includes the Growth and Advanced editions.

Marketing Cloud+

An add-on for Engagement customers who want access to Next-Gen capabilities without abandoning Journey Builder.

Marketing Cloud Engagement

The legacy platform (ExactTarget). Still widely used, still actively supported.

Agentforce Marketing

The AI-powered agent suite that spans across Salesforce’s marketing ecosystem.

Why This Matters for Businesses

The implications are significant:

  • A clearer innovation path
    Organizations no longer need to jump between disjointed Salesforce marketing products.

  • AI and data at the core
    With Data 360 as the backbone, personalization becomes more intelligent and more scalable.

  • A smoother migration experience
    Marketing Cloud+ enables hybrid use cases while easing the transition from Engagement to Next.

  • Automation that thinks
    AgentForce brings a new level of operational efficiency and real-time customer interaction.

For companies planning their future digital marketing architecture, understanding these components is essential to building a roadmap that maximizes ROI and minimizes disruption.

Final Thoughts

Salesforce’s marketing transformation reflects a broader reality: modern marketing is increasingly data-first, AI-powered, and experience-driven. The new Marketing Cloud structure: Growth, Advanced, Plus, and Agentforce – brings order to what used to be fragmented, overlapping tools.

It simplifies the ecosystem, while giving marketers more power than ever before.

If your organization is considering how to navigate these shifts, evaluate your current setup, or plan your path into the next-generation stack, the asUgo team is always ready to guide you through that journey.

Authors: Marie-Noëlle Moinet, Manager, asUgo

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