The Use Of CRM In Marketing Automation

20.10.2023 05:52 PM - By Karan Sharma

Transform your marketing strategy: Discover the hidden possibilities with CRM in marketing automation! Learn how you can strengthen your customer relationships, boost engagement, and accelerate the growth of your business? Get ready for a journey that will empower you to connect with your customers and become more self-reliant in achieving better results!

CRM in Marketing Automation

​Introduction

Businesses are working hard to find better ways to get their job done efficiently. One approach that has become quite popular recently is called "CRM," which stands for "Customer Relationship Management." In this article, we'll dive into how CRM works and how it helps businesses connect with their customers, particularly in the retail and marketing realms. So, let's explore how CRM is a vital and game-changing solution for businesses.


CRM assists us in gathering and managing customer data, enabling us to grasp their preferences and needs. With this knowledge, we customise our marketing strategies for individual customers, making our messages more relevant.


On the other hand, marketing automation simplifies tasks like sending emails and tracking interactions, freeing up time to create engaging content. Together, CRM and marketing automation help us deliver the right message to the right people at the right time, nurturing enduring customer relationships and promoting business growth in the digital space. You can also use other products from the same CRM vendor. For example, you can use Zoho Sign with Zoho CRM for efficiency and productivity in sending and signing documents.


​​​Understanding CRM and Marketing Automation

What is a CRM?

CRM, which stands for Customer Relationship Management, is a strategy and technology used in businesses to manage and analyse conversations and interactions with customers. In CRM systems, important customer data is stored, such as contact information, purchase history and preferences.


What ​​is ​CRM in Marketing Automation?

Marketing automation involves the use of software platforms to simplify and automate marketing tasks, such as email marketing, social media posting and lead nurturing. With the help of these tools, businesses can connect with their audience at the right time with the right message.


​​The ​​​Symbiotic ​​​Relationship

When CRM and marketing automation work together, it's like two friends helping each other out. CRM provides us with data and insights from conversations and interactions with customers, such as their contact information, purchase history and preferences. This allows us to personalise our marketing automation campaigns.


Conversely, marketing automation tools enable businesses to take quick actions based on CRM data. Through this, we can connect with our audience at the right time with the right message, strengthening our relationships with customers and boosting success in the digital world. 


​​​​Benefits of Combining CRM with Marketing Automation

Enhanced Customer ​Insights

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) keeps all customer data in one place, offering a complete perspective on each customer. This information helps businesses tailor their marketing strategies based on individual preferences and behaviours.


​​Personalised Marketing ​Campaigns

Marketing automation tools use CRM data to send personalised messages, leading to improved customer engagement and conversion rates. That’s the most important part of CRM in marketing automation.


​​Improved Lead ​Management

CRM aids in lead scoring and tracking, allowing businesses to identify and effectively nurture high-potential leads.


Effective Customer ​Communication

Automated workflows ensure timely and relevant communication with customers, enhancing the overall customer experience.


CRM For Your Startup


Click here to learn how your start-up can benefit from selecting the right CRM?


​​​​​Selecting the Right CRM for Marketing Automation

  • Business Needs and GoalsIdentify your key goals-whether it's sales automation, customer service, or marketing. Knowing your pain points will definitely help in picking up a CRM that fits into your strategy.
  • Budget: The cost of a CRM varies from free to high-end; understand how much you can afford to spend and identify your must-have features for a plan that would fit your needs without over-investing in it.
  • Team Skills: Couple the CRM with your team's strong points. If they are more sales-oriented, then the CRM too must have strong sales tools. If they are into marketing, then marketing automation must be the priority. Also, make sure the CRM is easy to use, and the support must be good.
  • Data ManagementConsider what you want to do with your data. To do heavy-duty analysis or segmentation, choose a CRM with rock-solid data management and reporting functions.
  • Integration: Ensure that it easily integrates with your existing tools, whether for email marketing or accounting software, for better integration of data flow and efficiency.

Key features you should seek include:

  • Lead Management: For better tracking and managing leads.
  • Sales Pipeline: You are able to track opportunities along with revenue forecast.
  • Marketing Automation: You automate your marketing.
  • Customer Support: You give access to interaction history for better support.
  • Analytics: Allow insight into behaviors and performance.
  • Scalability: Choose a CRM that will grow with your business and make it easy for you to add either features or users as needed.


​​​​​​​​​​​Case Study: How 888 Group Improved Real Estate business with CRM?

Client:

888 Group is a real estate company based in Australia. They have houses and buildings for people to buy or rent. They needed help to organise their customers and sell more.


Problem:

888 Group had problems with:


  • Leads: They didn't know where their customers came from or how to keep track of them.
  • Reports: They couldn't see how well they were doing in sales and marketing.
  • Money: They couldn't see how much money was coming in and going out.


Solutions by IT Solutions Solved (ITSS):

ITSS made a special CRM system for 888 Group.  


Our team did help with the following:

  • Capturing Leads:It helped 888 Group catch leads from their website and other places. They could see who wanted to buy.
  • Reports: They got fancy reports to see how well they were doing. It helped them make better choices.
  • Sales Help: The CRM freed up time for salespeople. This made things faster and better.


Results: With the new CRM


  • Leads were organised: They knew where customers came from and what stage they were at.
  • Reports were clear: They could see how they were doing and made smarter decisions.
  • Sales were faster: Salespeople had more time to talk to customers, and deals closed quicker.
  • Smart Choices: They used data to make better choices and improved the overall decision making.


By using IT Solutions Solved's CRM implementation services, 888 Group became better at selling properties, making more money and keeping customers happy.

​​​​​​​​Challenges and How to Overcome Them?

  • Data Consistency and Quality: CRM and marketing automation require consistent data quality. In the occurrence of any mismatch in data, the marketing campaigns go wrong and so does the communication with the customer. Solution: Have a practice of auditing and cleaning your data regularly to maintain consistency and integrity, at least on a quarterly basis. Moreover, ensure proper practices are present for data integration, so that data between systems aligns and presents one version of truth for customer data.
  • Integration Complexity: This integration of CRM and marketing automation systems can be pretty complex in cases where different data structures or APIs are used. This may be very time-consuming for custom integrations. Solution: Invest in good IT resources or third-party integration tools to facilitate easier integrations. There should be clear documentation and proper planning for the management of such a complication easily .
  • User Adoption: People resist adopting new technology, especially when they have grown used to old ones. Lack of user adoption can undermine the effectiveness of CRM and marketing automation tools. Solution: Provide broad training and ongoing support to ease the transition. Engage staff early in the process, listen to their concerns, and highlight the benefits to foster a positive attitude towards the new systems.
  • Cost Implications: These will include licensing fees, training costs, and custom integrations, which also tend to be very high. Solution: This investment calls for conducting proper cost-benefit analysis, which ensures that the projected return on investment will cover it. Plan for ongoing maintenance and support to manage the cost.
  • Process Alignment: Since CRM and marketing automation systems serve different workflows and purposes, misalignments of processes are bound to occur. Solution: Map customer journeys and align processes across teams. This alignment would ensure that both systems work in harmony and amplify the customer experience.
  • Security and Compliance: When it comes to handling sensitive data about customers, security measures are needed that block data breaches and ensure compliance with prevailing legislation such as GDPR and CCPA. Solution: Embed security in your integration strategy with added protocols and checks that can meet stringent compliance requirements, ensuring the complete safety of customer information.


​​​​​​​​​Measuring Success with CRM and Marketing Automation Integration

Measuring the success of the integration between CRM and marketing automation effectively, based on key indicators, such as:

  • Data Capture Efficiency: Look at how fast, correctly data gets captured into the CRM system and how that information is then updated within the system. This would include speed of capture, accuracy of capture, and ability to handle updates/changes within the system.
  • User Acceptance and Satisfaction: Conduct user surveys and collect feedback to understand users' experiences with the CRM system. It will show how well the system meets their requirements, how easily they can work with it, and what kind of difficulties they face. This understanding of user satisfaction may further help in identifying areas for improvement within the system to make sure it supports the user requirements effectively.
  • Improvements in Productivity: Track the shift in team productivity once CRM and marketing automation tools are integrated. Consider how these tools will impact the sales cycle, streamlining of the workforce, and other efficiency-boosting aspects. Actually observe quantifiable improvements in time to complete tasks and overall efficiency of efforts by both the sales and marketing teams.
  • Customer Engagement Metrics: Analyze customer interaction with marketing campaigns, which the CRM system facilitates. Metrics to track can include open rates, click-through rates, and response times to understand the effectiveness of campaigns. This will make for more effective campaign refinement and improved overall customer engagement.


These metrics will give full insight into how well the CRM and marketing automation systems are working for them and help them reach organisational goals.

​​The ​​​​​​Future of CRM and Marketing Automation

  1. AI-driven hyper-personalisation: AI will arm CRM systems with predictive analytics so companies can anticipate customer requirements and deliver very targeted interactions that improve overall customer experiences.
  2. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): Unified CDPs will bring together data from all sources, delivering a more complete 360-degree view of the customer. As a result, today's marketers are able to adopt more integrated targeting and effectiveness in their marketing campaigns than before.
  3. Conversational Marketing and CRM Integration: It will be integrated with CRM systems to foster better communication, lead nurturing, and real-time insight into customer interactions.
  4. Human-Centric Automation: Automation with a human touch to the communication for authenticity and the building of trust. It improves customer relationships without sacrificing efficiency.
  5. Social CRMs: Social CRMs will be indispensable in helping conversations across social media platforms, thus increasing engagement and yielding better analytics.
  6. Voice Technology and AI Assistants: Voice search and AI-powered voice assistants will bring a radical change to CRM interfaces-for example, data entry will become easier and more accessible thanks to voice-to-text functionality.
  7. Data Privacy and Compliance: With the increasing awareness of data privacy, companies will seriously focus on GDPR-like regulatory compliances. Ethical usage of data with due transparency would be crucial for winning customer trust and retaining it.

​​​​​​​​Conclusion

Incorporating CRM into your marketing automation strategy is not just an option in today's competitive business landscape; it's a necessity. The synergy between CRM and marketing automation empowers businesses to build deep relationships with customers, increase revenue and stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital world.


Do you already have a CRM system? How effective is it? You can quickly assess its performance by clicking here.


If you want a well implemented CRM for your growing business, it's time to move forward. Schedule a free 45-minute CRM consultation with us today, and you'll witness the transformation firsthand!

Karan Sharma

Karan Sharma

Social Media Expert IT Solutions Solved
https://www.itsolutionssolved.com.au/

Karan Sharma is a skilled content writer, SEO strategist and social media manager. He crafts compelling narratives, optimises content for search engines and designs engaging social media campaigns.