Every Marketing Product Salesforce Has Retired, 2020–2026
This page is maintained. Last updated: October 20, 2026 (added the Braze acquisition open question).
Salesforce has retired three marketing products since 2020, and this week's Braze acquisition opens the question of a fourth rationalization. This page is the record: what was retired, when it was announced, when it actually died, and what the pattern tells you about planning your own stack. We keep it current.
The retirements
Advertising Studio — renewals ended August 15, 2026
- Announced: September 4, 2025
- Mechanism: not a shutdown date but a renewal freeze — the product keeps working until your Marketing Cloud contract renews, then the Ad Studio line comes off the order form and doesn't come back. Most co-termed contracts hit this between late 2026 and January 31, 2027.
- Heritage: the ad-audiences module marketers used inside Marketing Cloud for a decade.
- Replacement sold: Data Cloud Ad Audiences, list price $2,400 per audience per year — a replacement whose own status is now an open question (see below).
- Runway from announcement to first forced decisions: about 11 months.
Social Studio — end-of-life November 2024
- Announced: April 2022
- Heritage: built from the Radian6 (2011) and Buddy Media (2012) acquisitions — roughly $1B of acquired product.
- Replacement sold: none in-house; customers were pointed to third-party social tools.
- Runway: about 2.5 years.
Audience Studio (Krux DMP) — end-of-life February 1, 2024
- Announced: July 2021
- Heritage: Krux, acquired in 2016 for roughly $700M, rebranded Audience Studio in 2019.
- Replacement sold: Salesforce CDP — the product now called Data Cloud, after three renames of its own.
- Runway: about 2.5 years.
The renames (not dead, but not the product you bought)
| You bought | It became |
|---|---|
| ExactTarget | Marketing Cloud, then Marketing Cloud Engagement |
| Krux | Audience Studio († Feb 2024) |
| Evergage | Interaction Studio, then Marketing Cloud Personalization |
| Datorama | Marketing Cloud Intelligence |
| Pardot | Marketing Cloud Account Engagement |
| Customer 360 Audiences | Salesforce CDP, then Genie, then Data Cloud |
A rename is not a retirement. But every rename resets the roadmap conversation, and several of the renamed products now live in the shadow of newer strategic priorities. Ask at every renewal.
The open question of October 2026
On October 20, 2026, Salesforce announced the acquisition of Braze (~$5.66B, closing expected in Salesforce's fiscal 2028). Braze ships Audience Sync, its own ad-audience product. Salesforce's official Ad Studio replacement is Data Cloud Ad Audiences. One vendor, two overlapping ad-activation products: history says one of them eventually joins the timeline above. The announcement doesn't say which. Our full analysis.
What the pattern means for planning
- The runway is roughly 1 to 2.5 years from announcement to forced decision — comfortable if you start at the announcement, brutal if you start at the renewal.
- The replacement is always a bigger platform commitment than the thing retired: Krux → CDP, Ad Studio → Data Cloud. Budget accordingly, or decline the escalation.
- The announcement is not the deadline. In every case, the workable move was to keep operations running independently of the retiring product and decide on the replacement with full information — not on the vendor's calendar.
- Collect commitments in writing. Roadmap positions stated at renewal are the only ones that count.
Frequently asked questions
Is Marketing Cloud Engagement being retired?
No such announcement exists. The Braze acquisition raises the question of long-term rationalization, but as of today Salesforce positions Braze as complementary. Treat confident predictions in either direction as speculation — and ask for written roadmap commitments at renewal.
What happens to my Advertising Studio audiences?
They run until your renewal. Moving them to Cezium Ads re-attaches your existing destination audience IDs, so lookalikes and campaign learning survive. The Migration Kit maps the move.
Why does Salesforce retire marketing products?
Portfolio strategy: acquired products age, platform priorities shift (today: Data Cloud and Agentforce), and retirement moves customers onto the current strategic stack. It's rational for Salesforce. The planning burden lands on you — which is why this page exists.
Related: Salesforce Is Buying Braze: What It Means for Marketing Cloud Customers · There's No Point Migrating to Data Cloud Ad Audiences Right Now · The Ad Studio run-off, explained
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