Why Salesforce Marketing Cloud feels so difficult to use

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is one of the most powerful enterprise marketing platforms, but it is also one of the hardest for teams to use day to day. Anyone who has opened Email Studio, Automation Studio, and Journey Builder in the same hour has probably wondered why the product feels so complex and scattered.

The short answer is that SFMC is powerful because it is flexible, but that flexibility comes with a price. It was built through acquisitions, stitched together over more than a decade, and designed for the needs of banks, airlines, telcos, and global retailers. For most marketers this creates friction and confusion.

This guide explains the real reasons why SFMC feels so hard to use and why it behaves the way it does.

SFMC is five separate products merged into one platform

Marketing Cloud did not begin as one unified system. Salesforce acquired ExactTarget and then bolted on additional studios and capabilities over the years. Each uses its own logic, user experience, and naming conventions.

The platform is a combination of:

• ExactTarget for email and data extensions.

• Journey Builder for cross channel workflows.

• Mobile Studio for SMS.

• Personalization (formerly Interaction Studio) for web and behavioral data.

• Datorama for analytics.

It feels like one login that opens several unrelated products. The navigation and terminology are rarely consistent, which makes onboarding harder than it should be.

The data model requires engineering level thinking

Most modern ESPs abstract away data modeling. SFMC does not.

Key concepts such as Contact Key, Subscriber Key, All Contacts, and All Subscribers all behave differently. Lists still exist even though no one should use them. Data Extensions act like tables, but with none of the guardrails you would expect in a proper database system.

There is no single customer object. Everything is a Data Extension, yet each studio uses them differently. Marketers often ask where they should segment, and the honest answer is that it depends on which studio your workflow begins in.

SQL drives nearly everything

SFMC is incredibly flexible because it lets you shape your own data. That flexibility relies heavily on SQL.

A typical workflow looks like this:

• Query a source Data Extension in Query Studio.

• Write a SQL transform into a new DE.

• Push this DE through an automation.

• Use it as an entry source in Journey Builder.

• Ensure you did not duplicate the Contact Key.

• Validate subscriber status in All Subscribers.

Most marketers and CRM managers do not expect to write SQL to send email campaigns. SFMC requires it in nearly every real use case. SFMC has a robust agency ecosystem built around it for this reason; agencies with good data engineering skillsets that can handle this workflow.

The studios are siloed which makes navigation confusing

Email Studio, Automation Studio, Content Builder, Journey Builder, and Contact Builder were not designed together. You constantly move across different interfaces to complete a single task.

A simple campaign might require you to:

• Build a Data Extension in Email Studio.

• Define relationships in Contact Builder.

• Create an automation in Automation Studio.

• Set an entry event in Journey Builder.

• Review send logs in Email Studio again.

The workflow follows the internal structure of the product, not the natural flow of a marketer’s job.

The UI feels dated and slow

Parts of SFMC still resemble tools from the early 2010s. Content Builder is slow and occasionally unstable. Journey Builder can lag or freeze when moving activities. Automation Studio looks more like a visual batch scheduler than a marketing interface.

Salesforce has modernized certain areas but the platform still carries a lot of legacy UX decisions.

You must know multiple scripting and integration languages

To use SFMC effectively you need familiarity with:

• SQL

• AMPscript

• SSJS

• REST and SOAP APIs

• Email templating

• ETL style data logic

Personalization inside an email often requires AMPscript. Complex filtering requires SQL. Integrations sometimes require SOAP. Simple tasks can require glue code because the platform has no simple global logic layer.

Documentation is scattered and is often outdated

Official documentation is spread across several product areas and is not always consistent. SQL examples may reference functions that no longer work. Journey Builder behavior is not always clearly documented. Subscriber status rules take multiple pages of documentation to understand.

The result is trial and error for many users.

Enterprise requirements drive complexity

SFMC is used by organizations with strict governance and compliance requirements. This leads to:

• Multi business unit setups.

• Hierarchical subscriber permissions.

• SFTP based data loads.

• Strict role based access control.

• Complex opt out logic.

• Custom integrations with core CRM systems.

These are essential for large enterprises but add friction for smaller teams.

In summary

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the most flexible major ESP and also the least opinionated. It gives you full control over your data, your automations, and your customer logic. In exchange it requires more technical skill than any other platform in its category.

SFMC is powerful. It is also complicated. It is not built for a single marketer. It is built for the largest organizations in the world.

For teams that want enterprise scale without carrying the technical burden, this is exactly where the right partner can transform the experience. If you architect SFMC correctly, create clear data models, and apply consistent patterns, the platform becomes far more approachable for nontechnical users.