About 90% of the world’s data today has been created in the last two years. This is because data lies at the heart of everything marketers do – every website interaction, purchase, survey, and online engagement. There isn’t a one size fits all approach for digital marketing. This is why new technology and software solutions are launched daily, leaving behind their longstanding counterparts. As this happens, a customer relationship management (CRM) system becomes much more important for doing things besides managing your sales leads and hosting your database full of contacts. It’s time to let your marketing department delve into it and uncover data that will play an integral role in your overall marketing strategy. There are several reasons why it’s important to do this today.
CRM Helps you Tailor Your Strategy
Hacker Noon says you need to be able to expose different customers to different types of marketing. This is because each customer is more likely to encounter marketing content in different places like on social media, by subscribing to your email list, or by performing related online searches. With the G Suite CRM at your disposal you’ll be able to understand how each of your customers encounters your marketing campaign so you can target each of them with the right type of marketing content – one that’s designed to reach them. Doing so, lets you personalize a marketing strategy, which typically results in more sales and increased brand loyalty.
Increases Awareness
With a CRM you’ll be able to track where your customers are at any part of their journey with you. Starting with the first time they make contact with you, it’s possible to see what they purchased and when they did so. You can also see where each of your customers is at in your sales funnel. For instance, if you know whether they’ve signed up for a webinar or event, you can send them a personalized reminder to attend the event. Once you see that they did attend, you can then view them in your CRM and follow up to get their thoughts. Regardless of your strategy, with a CRM you can always be in digital contact with your customers.
Automated Alerts
Of course, you can’t overlook the fact that marketing still requires an element of the personal touch. Nevertheless, Digital Marketing Magazine says this is also something that setting up a CRM can help you with. It can remind you to make those human interactions like following up by phone to discuss how a client likes a product they’ve bought or reminding you to chase a lead. Your CRM can automate these reminders for you. This actionable data also provides you with lots of valuable insights that you can use to your advantage in your role as a marketer.
Adds Consistency
The key to any successful marketing campaign is consistency. Your CRM system can make sure that you always carry out the right messaging regardless of where your leads are located in your funnel or throughout your campaign. This will ensure that you don’t contact a customer who’s already discussed something with your colleague. It also helps to make sure that you don’t look foolish in front of your clients. Instead, your whole office appears to be “on the same page.” Everyone can understand what type of message works for which client too. For instance, clients who regularly attend your webinars or engage with your newsletter probably don’t need to be reminded to do so. By targeting your content in this way, you’ll add more value to your brand and you’ll also increase the likelihood that your leads will engage with you.
Better Customer Insights
Unlike other automated insight tools, your CRM still requires some human interaction if you want to delve deeper into your customer’s psyche. While it’ll give you information about your customers, it still needs you to get out there and talk to them to learn even more about them. Once you have this deeper understanding of your customer you’ll be able to further tailor your messaging to them. For instance, if you know that they’ve opened your email and attended your event, you’ll want to find out what they thought of these things. This knowledge prevents you from blindly sending them messages that inevitably turn them off.
Improves Engagement
By taking good care of your CRM you’ll be able to see increased engagement from your customers. This is because when you start listening to them, understanding their needs and acting on them, your customers will pay attention. These are all things that your CRM’s data can do with you to help drive your marketing strategy forward.
Drives Purchases
Digital marketing campaigns are meant to boost your company’s ecommerce sales. According to most statistics many Americans routinely buy items online today but before they do so they also conduct research, compare prices, and take other similar actions. So, even if a customer expresses interest in one of your products, they probably won’t buy it immediately. Your CRM will help you identify when a customer researched one of your products, so you can place targeted ads on social media and other platforms to maintain their interest. By taking this step you’ll find it easier to sell this product to your customer soon.
Reduces Costs
When you have an effective marketing campaign you’ll get a strong return on your investment – whether this means achieving a certain goal like boosting your sales or increasing people’s awareness of your brand. However, it’s also important for the revenue your campaign yields to exceed its cost. This is much easier with a CRM since it will offload much of your employees’ work and you’ll still have your customers’ data managed and analyzed for you. Since your employees can focus on other tasks as this is happening, their time is used more efficiently, and you can even put off hiring more employees, hence saving even more money. Most importantly, though, your CRM tools will give you a deeper understanding of your customers – something it’s difficult to assign a monetary value to.
