Why Your CRM is an Integral Part of Your Digital Strategy

Did you know that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years? It’s at the heart of everything that marketers do. Every website interaction, purchase, survey, online engagement is captured and tracked to provide a tailored marketing experience. There is no one size fits all approach where digital marketing is concerned – if it isn’t bespoke, then it’s not going to work.

In a world where new technology and software solutions are launched every day, their longstanding counterparts are often long forgotten. A customer relationship management (CRM) system is not just something which manages sales leads or holds your database of contacts. When you allow your marketing department to delve into your CRM system and uncover it’s data, it can become an integral part of your overall marketing strategy.

Here’s why your CRM should be part of your digital marketing strategy:

1. Increases awareness

Your CRM allows you to track where your customers are at any part of their journey with you; from the first contact with you, to what they purchased and when – you’re able to view where they are at any given point in the sales funnel.

You’ll be able to view whether your customers have signed up for a webinar or event, enabling you to send them a personalised reminder to attend. If they did attend, you’ll again be able to view this in your CRM, and follow up to get their thoughts. Regardless of your strategy, a CRM helps to maintain digital contact with your customers.

2. Automated alerts

Marketing still requires an element of the personal touch, and automated alerts set up in your CRM system can help to remind you to make those human interactions. Whether you need a follow-up call to discuss how a client is finding a product or an alert to chase a lead; your CRM is able to automate these reminders.

Automation ensures that your CRM is full of actionable data. It’s not good sitting on data and not using it. Your CRM is a treasure trove of valuable insights, and it’s your role as a marketer to use its value to your advantage.

3. Adds consistency

The key to any successful marketing campaign is consistency – and your CRM system can ensure that the right messaging is carried out throughout your funnel and campaign. There’s nothing worse than contacting a customer who has already discussed X with your colleague; it makes you look foolish to the client and shows a lack of interaction in the office too.

Your CRM allows you to understand which type of message works for which client. For example, someone who regularly attends your webinars or engages with your newsletter probably doesn’t need reminding to do so. Targeted content adds more value and increases the likelihood that a lead will engage with you.

4. Better customer insights

Unlike other automated insight tools, a CRM still requires an element of human interaction to allow you to delve deeper into a customer’s psyche. You may be able to view set information about your customer, but it still requires you to get out there and talk to them to discover more.

Gaining a deeper understanding of your customer you are able to further tailor your messaging to them. You know they opened your email and attended your event – but what did they think of it? Without this knowledge, you could be blindly sending them messages which inevitably turns them off. You need context to back up your behavioural data.

5. Improves engagement

A well-maintained CRM will allow you to see increased engagement from your customers. Once you begin listening to them, understanding their needs and putting them into action, then you are using the data in your CRM to drive your marketing strategy forward.

Providing your audience with the content and messaging that they engage with the most, is likely to result in increased loyalty, interaction and spend with the business.

Finally, it’s important that you keep the data in your CRM clean. Dirty data will do little for your insights and results. So, follow these steps to ensure that you’re giving your CRM the right TLC.

1. Mandatory fields. Introducing mandatory fields can ensure users don’t miss filling out important data. It’ll ensure the next step can’t be reached until the data has been input.

2. These remove the need for manual data and help to reduce human mistakes. It can also improve segmenting and make data reports simpler.

3. Data cleansing. No matter how good your data entry is, it can degrade quickly over time. You’ll need to regularly review and cleanse data to ensure you aren’t hoarding information which isn’t useful or outdated.

4. Dedupe route. Duplicate records can greatly affect your customer experience and how accurate your reports and forecasts are. Implement preventative measures to avoid this. Many CRM’s can source duplicate data and alert you to this. It can also be helpful to carry out a dedupe exercise regularly in case any matches have been missed.