A Complete Guide To CRM For Marketing

When data for potential and existing customers is collected and stored in a CRM system, tracking information across every touchpoint in a customer’s journey (details shared through forms, engagement with marketing campaigns, interactions with customer support, buying patterns) can help you cater to their needs, build better relationships, and market smarter.

What Is A CRM System?

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system helps manage customer data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media and facilitates team communication. Cloud-based CRM systems offer complete mobility and access to an ecosystem of bespoke apps.

Why Do You Need A CRM For Marketing?

A CRM is essential to a good marketing strategy. Your CRM can help you identify:

• Who your target audience is,
• How you can get in touch with these prospects,
• What you can say to them and what information you should be getting from them,
• How to align your marketing campaigns with their buying patterns, and
• What you can do to market best to them.

According to Gartner, CRM licenses revenue was $20.8 billion in 2013. The numbers are only expected to grow for 2015 to 2018 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2%, making it the second-largest software category behind office software.

The Benefits To Using A CRM For Marketing Are:

Keeps everyone in the loop. When your marketing team is up to speed with the rest of your company, you can make better decisions. You won’t have to wonder why ads are showing up in a certain way, or why certain customers aren’t getting marketing materials in a timely manner.

When your marketing team is up to speed with the rest of your company, you can make better decisions. You won’t have to wonder why ads are showing up in a certain way, or why certain customers aren’t getting marketing materials in a timely manner. Helps you become more efficient. A good CRM can help you cut down on the spreadsheets that you’d otherwise have to use. Instead, you can have all your customer data stored in one spot. A good CRM can also automate routine tasks, allowing your marketing team to focus on more important aspects.

A good CRM can help you cut down on the spreadsheets that you’d otherwise have to use. Instead, you can have all your customer data stored in one spot. A good CRM can also automate routine tasks, allowing your marketing team to focus on more important aspects. Provides better reports. With a CRM, you can generate reports faster and easier. You can also easily customize reports, depending on your audience.

How Can You Create A CRM For Marketing?

Define Your Goals

Knowing why you’re using a CRM makes it easier to implement one. Let’s say your company’s goal is to get 10,000 clients. How can you get there? To make sure your goals and your marketing strategy are in sync, you have to ask questions like:

• Does this goal reflect our vision as a company?
• How is that goal going to be achieved?
• What strategies are going to be deployed?

Creating a CRM system for marketing can be time-consuming, and there are numerous factors that can impact how long the process takes. How big is your company? How many people will be using the system?

Think About Your Sales Cycle

Once you’ve defined your goals, think about the duration of your sales cycle. According to Forrester, the average sales cycle lasts from six to 10 months. This means you’ll have to consistently stay in touch with your prospects for a period of time.

Imaan Sumaira of CustomerThink advises, “You will need a clear strategy for how you will engage with customers from their initial point of contact. Not all channels and tactics are created equal; each customer segment you are targeting will need a unique strategy that supports their needs and builds a relationship that drives engagement and sales.”

What Are Your Existing Tools And Methods?

Assess the tools you are currently using and assess if it’s a good fit for your marketing strategy. Do you have a CRM system in place? If so, is it well-organized? Are you using it to its full potential?

Start Using A CRM Tool

There are many CRM solutions available, so it’s important to choose a system that works for your company’s needs. Take into account:

The size of your company. A small company will have a different needs compared to a larger company. A large company might want to delegate CRM tasks to multiple employees. A smaller company might decide it’s easier to use a single CRM system.

A small company will have a different needs compared to a larger company. A large company might want to delegate CRM tasks to multiple employees. A smaller company might decide it’s easier to use a single CRM system. The right system. What CRM product is most suitable for your company? Do you have a lot of different departments that will need CRM access?

What CRM product is most suitable for your company? Do you have a lot of different departments that will need CRM access? What features are necessary? Don’t pay for additional features you don’t need. Likewise, customize additional features to your unique circumstances.

Identify Your Data Sources

A very basic form of CRM system is usually based around your customer database. It can include data sources such as:

• Data from your website, including sign-ups, linked accounts, newsletter subscriptions, and when someone cancels service
• Data from email marketing, including automated emails, emails with customer tags and triggered events
• Data from social media, including customer comments and purchases that connect with social media accounts
• Data from monitoring customer support channels using forums, chat, email, and contact forms
• Data from marketing campaigns, such as from social media ads, webinars or eLearning

Your CRM system can be customized to include more than just customer data. You can add data sources from partners and other companies you work with. The key to a successful CRM is to use the data strategically.

Examples Of Strategies For Using Data Include:

• Using automated emails and triggered events to send out surveys or polls.
• Routing customer data to other departments.
• Monitoring the past decisions and behavior of each client to suggest similar products or services.
• Using customer support data to determine how customers are using your service.

When you start using a CRM for marketing, consider what data you’d like to start with. The more information, the better.

Create A Marketing CRM Strategy

A marketing CRM is different than your customer database, so take this into consideration as you develop your strategies for your CRM. Here are some you can start with:

Manage customer list. One of the first things your CRM should do if manage your customer list. Your CRM database comprises prospects and customers. It doesn’t distinguish between prospective and current customers, which means you can’t effectively market to each group as a customer progresses.

One of the first things your CRM should do if manage your customer list. Your CRM database comprises prospects and customers. It doesn’t distinguish between prospective and current customers, which means you can’t effectively market to each group as a customer progresses. Manage customer/prospect contact. How do you keep track of your customer or prospect interactions? Whether they contact you on the phone, email or through social media, it should all be tracked in one place. By putting all your customer interactions into one database, you can easily run reports and deliver better service.

How do you keep track of your customer or prospect interactions? Whether they contact you on the phone, email or through social media, it should all be tracked in one place. By putting all your customer interactions into one database, you can easily run reports and deliver better service. Know your customer. What’s the next step for each of your customers? By using reports, you can figure out who needs additional attention, tutorials, a sales call or a renewal. Look at your customer’s journey from beginning to end. See if there any gaps in your customer communication or missing notifications.

What’s the next step for each of your customers? By using reports, you can figure out who needs additional attention, tutorials, a sales call or a renewal. Look at your customer’s journey from beginning to end. See if there any gaps in your customer communication or missing notifications. Embed marketing into CRM. How can you better manage your leads generation? How can your sales department better use your CRM? Who is responsible for updating the data? How can you ensure quality from the CRM to the customer? What are some early warning signs that could help give you a better return on investment (ROI)?

How can you better manage your leads generation? How can your sales department better use your CRM? Who is responsible for updating the data? How can you ensure quality from the CRM to the customer? What are some early warning signs that could help give you a better return on investment (ROI)? Overlay and analyze data. What connections can you make between your CRM and your internal data, and how can you use that data to better manage and grow your business? What are some strategies that can help you better market to each customer and prospect?

What connections can you make between your CRM and your internal data, and how can you use that data to better manage and grow your business? What are some strategies that can help you better market to each customer and prospect? Monitor and manage marketing campaigns. At its core, CRM is a database, and you can use it to track and change how you do email marketing campaigns. Your CRM should know about each customer and prospect and track what types of marketing they responded to. Your CRM can then send targeted emails.

Begin Using Your CRM

Using a CRM for marketing isn’t about writing out a couple of reports. It’s about using the tools in your CRM to get the information you need and using it to grow your business. With a plan to monitor your customer interactions and data, you can better optimize your marketing strategies.