Customer relationship management systems (CRMs) can be used by businesses for a variety of purposes. For instance, they can be a useful tool to improve interactions with customers and build long-term relationships. This can ensure a higher lead generation rate and help nurture existing relationships in a B2B and a B2C model. CRMs can also be used as part of a more comprehensive email marketing strategy, improving communications between clients or customers.
What are CRMs for email marketing?
CRMs that are suitable for email marketing utilize the best CRM tools to create emails that are personalized and suitable for direct marketing towards businesses or clients. Business owners can use CRMs to establish more robust email marketing strategies, and ensure higher levels of engagement.
This is different from marketing automation. While marketing automation can help businesses nurture relationships by simplifying tasks that are marketed-focused, a CRM can contain all data relating to interactions with customers as well as current prospects. This allows businesses to extend levels of correspondence in a way that is both quick and effective. CRMs for email marketing are particularly useful for closed deals or where there are sale-accepted leads.
What are the benefits of using a CRM with email marketing?
There are numerous advantages to using a CRM as part of your email marketing strategy. First, it will provide a central point for all your audience data. This can then be accessed by anyone in your sales or marketing team. Information that can be stored included:
- Phone calls
- Sale activity
- Customer notes
- User behaviour
A CRM will also ensure that all your marketing channels can work in conjunction with each other and allows you to easily transform insights into actionable tasks.
At the same time, it helps to provide a clear picture of the audience in question. This ensures that you can create a targeted campaign strategy based on previous interactions and details on what consumers want from your business. This in turn means that it is easy to create highly appealing emails that will deliver larger overall response rates. These emails can be designed to be accessible and responsive across any device that a consumer might be using.
What CRM services are available for email marketing
Various CRM services provide email marketing solutions. Here are some of the most popular choices.
Zoho
Zoho CRM is suited for mid-sized companies. It is ideal for lead management and marketing automation. Using Zoho, it is possible to capture and score leads before setting up lead-nurturing emails. The service is available with a free plan and then prices start at £14 per month for 100 emails per user.
WordPress
WordPress does not have an integrated tool for email marketing campaigns. However, there is a range of plugins that can be used to send emails directly to your subscribers. Examples include WP Mail SMTP, HubSpot, MailChimp and SendinBlue.
RedPoint
Email marketing is available through the RedPoint customer engagement hub. The hub provides organizations with the option of exploring all customer data and then determining the next best step. The service is designed for small local businesses who are eager to build their email list and build automated follow-up campaigns.
Microsoft Dynamics
Through Microsoft dynamics, it is possible to create and design a marketing email message in a matter of minutes. You can choose from a list of existing marketing emails that are available for companies to use. Dynamics provides a wide range of tools so that you can customize your emails to match your brand identity.
FullContact
FullContact is focused on providing data and intelligence to clients that will allow them to correctly identify groups of people and provide them with the best possible experiences. Using the service, it is possible to create meaningful email marketing campaigns with more than just first-party data.
Salesforce
SalesForce provides email marketing through Email Studio. This allows businesses to create everything from basic marketing strategies to more personalized 1-to-1 messages. Segments can be created based on profile data that is available through the service using simple drag-and-drop tools. Some tools include a customer journey builder, an audience data centre, and AI powered personalization.
Highrise
Highrise is a CRM solution that is designed to support small businesses. The software can be used to track communications with all clients. Contacts can be imported from a range of sources including Outlook, Gmail as well as Excel. Using the software, it is possible to create email blasts and plan full email campaigns.
Apteco FastStats
Apteco FastStats provides you with the opportunity to explore the data on millions of customers in a matter of seconds to gain actionable insights. The tools provide you with the opportunity to immediately establish common traits and create advanced segments that are designed to improve engagement through email campaigns. The service also offers access to a range of useful tools including Email Response Gatherer.
SugarCRM
The SugarCRM campaigns module can be used to create email-based campaigns. These can be sent out to contacts, leads, targets, and users. The results of these campaigns can easily be tracked through the same software. SugarCRM provides two creation options including Wizard and Classic. Wizard guides users through each step while Classic allows users to plan their campaign.
Setting up a CRM for email marketing
To use a CRM for email marketing, you first need to make sure that you are gathering the right customer data. This could include data relating to past purchases, previous interactions and engagement with your brand, or specific notes about customers. You can then use all of this data to create segments for your email lists. By dividing your email list into different segments, you can ensure that your clients, customers, or users, receive emails that are targeted and have the highest chance of responses. You can then use your CRM to track further interactions and adjust segments or email marketing lists where necessary.
What Features do CRMs have for email marketing?
There are several key features that you may want to explore when selecting a CRM for email marketing. For instance, you need options for analytics and testing. This will allow you to test various campaigns and change an approach when required.
Lead nurturing is another important feature as it will allow you to grow and develop relationships with your audience at every stage of the buying journey. This can be automated with many modern CRM platforms.
It’s also worth exploring a CRM that provides integration options with other software or services. This will allow you to develop a more comprehensive and robust marketing strategy. Of course, this will also be easier if your CRM provides options for automating repetitive tasks instead of completing them manually. This could include lead scoring, task alerts and drip campaigns.
Best practices for using CRMs in email marketing
To gain the greatest benefits from your email marketing CRM solution, you need to use the right practices.
Personalisation
It is important to ensure that any emails that you send are fully personalized. A lack of personalisation with your email designs will lead to lower open rates and click-through rates. CRMs make it easier to personalise emails as you have all the information and data you need in one source.
Optimisation and testing
You also need to explore optimisation and testing. The right level of testing will lead to stronger ROIs and more positive results. One of the most popular strategies for testing your email marketing campaign is through A-B testing. This is available through CRMs such as Microsoft Dynamic.
Keeping data current
Finally, you need to make sure that you are keeping your data current. It is important to constantly develop your data sources and ensure that they are still relevant to your target audience and email list. Your emails will be effective if your data remains valid.
Case studies
Various businesses have found success using a CRM for their email marketing strategy. For instance, Adidas used email marketing to appeal to new subscribers. The company sends subscribed emails when they have unlocked enough points for different product opportunities such as the option of customizing their shows. Adidas also sends emails based on specific preferences that are specific to local stores.
Argos utilizes an email strategy with a CRM to retarget customers who have abandoned their shopping carts online. These are based on six alternative products customers could be interested in as well as highly specific demographic information.
Birchbox uses an email CRM solution to send emails to customers when they claim they have misplaced a discount code that leads them to Rent the Runway. This is an online dress rental company which fits the online profile of the business.
All of these campaigns were possible or made easier with the use of the right CRM.
CRM for email marketing campaigns
Leveraging a CRM as part of an email marketing campaign can lead to more significant results overall. There is a wide range of different CRMs that provide tools for email marketing. It’s important to select the right option for your size of business and the goals of your brand. In doing so, you can expand your reach, grow your company and ensure that you do achieve a higher level of engagement.