Optimize Your CRM Integration into Marketing Plans

Having a solid CRM is critical for any marketing team. And to use it appropriately, teams need to integrate their system into everything that affects marketing plans. Only through this integration, organizations can easily and accurately identify trends, behavior, and preferences.

Integrating a customer relationship management platform into your marketing plans entails several benefits but the process requires careful implementation of several steps and strategies. Having a deep knowledge about this is key to making a prudent decision as far as selecting the right system is concerned. Let us dive deep into the specific benefits of this integration and the main components that it includes.

Benefits of CRM Integration for Marketing Teams

CRM integration is essential to knowing who your customers are and how to deal with them. It is said that businesses that integrate their CRMs into marketing platforms are 86% more likely to exceed their sales goals than those that don’t.

The process involves using different resources to share the data in your CRM with the various marketing platforms that you use. This, in turn, allows teams to see in nearly real-time what customer preferences and sales histories are, and what their likely future behavior will be.

There are numerous benefits that marketers can gain from integrating their CRMs with other platforms. These advantages mainly involve:

Greater ability to segment groups of customers and target them accurately. This is significant in the generation of email campaigns and other advertisements that directly target these segments. Ads such as ROI ads can be extremely beneficial for marketers, as you can see at ROIADS.
Greater customer satisfaction rates. When customers receive personalized experiences, they are much more likely to continue giving business to a company. Integration with CRM systems allows companies to address customers specifically and in a preferable manner.
Time and money saved. When processes are sped up and made more efficient, it frees marketers’ time to work on larger, more significant projects. Not only is their work more accurate, but many repetitive, monotonous tasks are eliminated altogether.
When CRM is integrated with your marketing plans, you naturally increase your ability to use the data well. Essentially, it improves analytical capability which ultimately leads to better plans. Aside from day-to-day advantages, integration allows marketing teams to see the larger picture. When analyses are both more detailed and more accurate, it allows companies to strategize for the long-term and ultimately grow their revenue more.

Also Read: Ultimate Guide to CRM For Marketing and Advertising Agencies

The Process of Integration

To break down the process of integration, there are several steps involved:

Data mapping: To achieve accurate integration, individual data fields should be mapped so that they can be synthesized with those on marketing platforms so that when data is entered, it automatically gets shared in the right places.
Synchronization: When data is shared between common fields, marketers need to check it to ensure that it is correct and updated.
Automation: When the entire process gets implemented into action, there must be a right mechanism in place that makes sure that fields are automatically filled whenever new data emerges. Marketers use this feature to update customer preferences and make sure that they are still segmented accurately for particular campaigns.
Analytics: One of the most useful components of integrating CRM is the capability of analytics. Marketers use analytics to determine trends and patterns in customer behavior, and the results help them shape plans for future campaigns.

What to Look for in a CRM

If you don’t yet have a CRM - or if you are looking to upgrade from the one you currently use - there are several features that you should look for. Make sure that your final choice takes several factors into consideration:

The resources of the company are extremely significant.CRMs vary widely from very basic to extremely sophisticated. Some leverage Artificial Intelligence for top-level analytics, which is becoming increasingly relevant for enterprise-level applications. Before you proceed ahead, it is imperative to explore all the options and find the best one that aligns with your budget and requirements. If you are starting out modestly, it is possible that you can upgrade in the future, or possibly even scale up an existing program.
Features That You Need: Again, there are a host of CRM features you can integrate, but it is essential to evaluate precise company requirements when selecting a CRM tool. Among the broad range of characteristics, it is vital to pay close attention to the following features:

Contact management: You want your contacts to be easily accessible across platforms, but not to run the risk of accidental data exposure. Finding a program that gives you the right balance is key.
Lead management: When you get a lead, there are different ways that it can be handled. You want to be sure that the CRM you choose allows you to treat leads in appropriate ways based on their specifics.
Sales forecasting: The right CRM can help you make accurate sales forecasts based on customer data and analytics. The degree of sophistication that you require depends on your company's specifics and goals.
Automation ability: Some programs allow for more automated components than others. If yours is a small company, you might have greater room for movement in this area.

Thorough research will reveal the best results

As mentioned above, there are as many CRM variations available as there are company types. To make the best decision for your organization, conduct thorough research about various options available in the market. Make an in-depth assessment of available CRM options and choose the one that easily fits into your particular budget and requirements and the one that can integrate with your diverse marketing platforms. There will always be room to move in the future.

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