Sales and marketing are two of the most important departments in commercial companies. While they have different roles in the organization, both are at their most effective when aligned on the same page. If email is your primary method of communication, a good customer relationship management tool is arguably the best way to drive that critical alignment. In fact, integrating these two components offers some rather unique advantages to your email marketing efforts.
Integrated Efficiency
In an ideal scenario, a business is not using email marketing and CRM software individually — it’s using them as a connected, fully integrated one-two punch. So instead of waiting for customer and sales data to be exported manually, the marketing team can access it directly via the database that connects both systems. This level of integration keeps list data up-to-the-minute fresh, while enabling the company to save precious time, increase productivity, and improve overall efficiency.
Better Visibility, Segmentation and Targeting
Email marketers are always looking for new criteria to create new audience segments. The added visibility CRM software brings the process can be useful for that very purpose. Examples of new segments created from this data could be as simple as leads and paying customers, or as detailed as disgruntled customers or customers who purchased product “X”. This information, combined with opens, click-through activity, and unsubscribes can help the marketing team create the right segments, to target with the right messages.
Higher Conversion Rates
One of the greatest strengths of a CRM tool is its ability to track the customer throughout the entire sales cycle. From lead acquisition and sales to customer service and beyond, it helps you nurture those leads and guide them through what is often a lengthy process. While it is up to sales and marketing personnel to carve the experiences that close deals, a CRM system puts your business in position to enjoy conversion rates that are significantly higher than email alone.
More Profits
Earlier, we mentioned how CRM software keeps track of information such as past purchases. This data can be a potential goldmine when it comes to executing cross-selling and up-selling strategies. For instance, if you know that a customer purchased a bottle of your best selling shampoo in the past, you can offer it a discounted rate to convince them to buy two or three next time around. Likewise, you can pitch an offer on a complementary conditioner product, encouraging them to make a bigger purchase for more money.
Pairing Up Your Systems
A good CRM tool can give your email marketing strategy a powerful boost and vice versa. Having said that, it pays to know not all programs are created equal. When it comes to integrating CRM and email, there are some key ingredients that must be added to the mix.
Seamless connection. Your email marketing software and CRM program must integrate smoothly. There is no point in doing this if you’re constantly logging in and out, and manually transporting data from one system to the other. In an ideal scenario, you can seamlessly share data across systems so workers have access to the most recent and valuable data.
Squeaky clean list data. Even the list you build organically can pick up filth along the way. It could be a case of outdated emails, inactive subscribers, or a combination of both. Whatever the case, it can clog up your CRM system with bad data, so make sure your mailing lists are as accurate as possible before and after integration.
Vendor credibility. Customer relationship management aims to meet a defined set of goals, so you may find that many solutions offer a very similar feature set. Where these solutions start to look different are areas specific to the service provider. The software has a lot of cool features, but how reliable is it? How’s the support? What happens if it’s not available and you need help? A vendor that can help pull off this integration is an ingredient that is essentially irreplaceable.
Conclusion
In order to keep up with the times and stay a step ahead of the competition, companies of all sizes must think outside of the box with their business strategies. Instead of relying on an email marketing solution or CRM application, it’s combining them together for dual benefits. Rather than simply using them individually, it’s connecting them at the core to align the objectives of both on the same page. Integrated tools of this nature are highly effective and to no surprise, in high demand.
Author Bio:
Aidan Hijleh is a freelance copywriter and serves as the Non-Profit Partnership Liaison for Benchmark Email. Aidan advocates free email marketing services to assist with the flourishing of grassroots organizations.
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