Data – or rather structured data – is essential for the success of a company. An important step in the right direction is therefore to eliminate data silos and to share information from the crucial systems. This is the only way to combine the advantages and take marketing to a whole new level. A classic example where the merging of two relevant systems has enormous potential is CRM and email marketing.
On closer inspection, the target groups in your CRM system often overlap with those in your email marketing system. Then why not bring this information together to create value for both parties? Customer data is often perfectly organized in CRM. However, if an e-mail campaign is pending, all addresses must be imported manually and the results can only be traced back with difficulty. With an efficient interface, things are completely different. Not only nerves but also time are saved and customer information is not lost through an automated process. If you take a closer look, there are other advantages that will help you both in your CRM and in e-mail marketing:
• You benefit from up-to-date and high-quality master data in both systems.
• The knowledge about the customers is enriched in both systems and efficiently shared with each other.
• Your sales team has access to the reactions to the email campaigns and can respond to them individually.
• The sales know-how is transferred to the content of the newsletter, which increases the relevance enormously.
• Triggers in the CRM can trigger automated processes in the e-mail marketing system.
• You can determine the ROI (return on investment) across the platforms – from the first contact to the final sale.
Application example: Supplementing customer data through click behavior
In order to be able to continuously improve the relevance of your mailings, it is important to know the interests of your subscribers and customers and to get to know them better. One possibility is segmentation based on their click behavior. By analyzing the reactions of your campaigns, your subscribers can be classified. If you then transfer these results to your CRM, the sales department also benefits from this knowledge and can respond individually to the interests of the contact persons. This exchange of information also works quite well in the opposite direction: established preferences are entered by sales in the CRM and automatically taken into account when segmenting your newsletter subscribers.
Application example: Sales support through automated workflows
There are many ways in which you can actively support your sales through the combination of CRM and e-mail marketing. We have picked out two of them for you:
• Do you offer workshops, webinars, etc. for your customers or prospects? If a customer participates, simply enter this information in your CRM. An interface to your e-mail marketing system creates an efficient opportunity for cross-selling campaigns – marketing automation makes it possible. Filter which workshops have already been attended by your customers and regularly send you invitations tailored to this information.
• The download of an e-book on your website is processed via a form in your e-mail marketing system? Download information and other campaign responses are linked to your CRM through the interface. You enrich data and your sales department can access them individually. This increases your success rates enormously.
Application example: Support through the customer lifecycle
From a lead to a new customer and straight on to a loyal existing customer – this path is not always easy and can be efficiently supported by e-mail marketing. The categorization is carried out, for example, by sales in the CRM system – the current status of the customer is thus documented and can be used for further measures. Depending on the classification, the subscribers are provided with relevant information. In addition to separate e-mails, these can also be individual sections as part of your regular newsletter. In this way, you can increase the relevance and thus the performance of your campaigns with little effort.
Application example: reminder emails and personalization
In addition to the many application examples that are supported by automated workflows, one should not forget the simpler or less complex, but still effective options. The link between CRM and e-mail marketing can be used to trigger simple reminder mailings for a joint appointment or workshop. You can also supplement your subscriber data with the CRM master data and thus strive for a higher degree of personalization of your e-mails.
