Better Together: Combining Your CRM Software with Marketing Automation

Better Together: Combining Your CRM Software with Marketing Automation

Marketing software and CRM systems are complementary tools that only reach their full potential when paired together. Not only can these tools improve marketing and sales alignment, they can also provide greater insight into campaign performance, jumpstart lead generation efforts, and positively impact ROI. If you are thinking about integrating your existing CRM system with a marketing automation system, it is important that you understand the benefits this will provide and the steps that will be required for implementation. What is Marketing Automation The Idea: The marketing automation industry is growing at a rapid pace, and it is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Key Takeaways: When used effectively, marketing automation can help generate and qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles, and demonstrate marketing accountability. Marketing automation increases sales and maximizes efficiency for companies with complex sales cycles, allowing marketing and sales departments to manage all prospect interactions and create, deploy, and optimize online marketing campaigns- all from one central platform. When a marketing automation system is paired with a CRM system, data can be seamlessly passed between the two, allowing marketers to track and analyze all touch points with prospects from the moment of lead generation to the close of the sale. Marketing automation can also significantly improve efficiency by automating marketing and sales tasks that are traditionally performed manually. A marketing automation system typically offers: Automated lead nurturing emails sent to prospects based on predefined rules or time intervals Prospect scoring and grading to help prioritize sales reps time Micro-level analytics that track all touch points with a prospect- forms, page views, social interactions, emails, and more Automatic, real-time notifications for sales reps of online prospect activity Closed-loop reporting for easy calculation of cost per opportunity and marketing ROI Easy creation and editing of online marketing campaigns by non-technical users What is CRM The Idea: Meet marketing automation s perfect complement, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Key Takeaways: A CRM system is the sales counterpart to marketing automation, helping to track sales opportunities from prospect to customer while managing existing customer data. CRM systems are Customer Relationship Management tools- applications that help track sales activities from lead to opportunity to customer. CRM systems collect and store data about existing customers while managing new customers and sales opportunities, covering every touchpoint and every stage of the buyer lifecycle. Whether you re using a CRM for sales, marketing, or customer support, you are always focusing on the same thing: the customer. Using a CRM system, sales reps and marketers can: Track sales as they move through the pipeline Get an overview of in-progress deals Track individual sales performance Manage tasks and log calls Project revenue and show ROI of individual campaigns Track which campaigns generate the best leads and result in the most sales i

So, What s the Difference The Idea: Marketing automation and CRM systems are similar technology, but it is the differences between the two that make them so compatible. Key Takeaways: While a CRM system is primarily a sales tool, marketing automation is its marketing counterpart. Each system has separate business goals and unique key features. If a CRM system is primarily a sales tool, marketing automation is its marketing counterpart. Integrating the two systems allows you to sync information bi-directionally, meaning that an update to a record in your CRM system will automatically be made in your marketing automation system (and vice versa). Having this steady communication between the two platforms is what makes this connection so powerful, helping to always keep marketing and sales teams on the same page. It also helps to improve marketing accountability by giving both marketing and sales teams more insight into the impact of their marketing efforts. But this kind of added insight wouldn t be possible without the sales tracking abilities of a CRM, or without the reporting capabilities of a marketing automation platform- demonstrating that it s the differences between these two systems that make them such a force to be reckoned with. The following chart outlines some of the differences between marketing automation and CRM systems. Take a look to see how your marketing and sales teams might use each system to accomplish their respective goals, like increasing lead generation, tracking sales opportunities, automating marketing programs, measuring ROI, and more. Department Focus: Marketingoriented Marketing Automation Business Goal Manage and automate prospect interactions Measure marketing ROI Improve lead generation and report on campaign success Automate marketing programs and communications Primary Features Email Marketing Lead Nurturing ROI and Campaign Reporting Scoring and Grading Forms and Landing Pages Social Posting Department Focus: Sales- and Service-oriented CRM Business Goal Track sales opportunities as they move through the pipeline Manage new and existing customer relationships Provide fast and responsive support to existing customers Primary Features Opportunity Management Sales Forecasting Account Management Task Management Sales Reporting

The Benefits of Integration CRM systems and marketing automation are similar, complementary tools that only reach their full potential when paired together. Integrating marketing automation and your CRM creates a powerful tool capable of supporting marketing and sales initiatives, helping to ease tensions between the two teams. Pairing a marketing automation system with a CRM system creates a powerful, multi-purpose tool capable of supporting both marketing and sales initiatives. The connection between the two platforms can help remedy tensions that often exist between marketing and sales by improving lead quality, increasing the efficiency of the marketing-to-sales handoff, automating lead assignment, and more. Take a look at the following pages to see how pairing marketing automation and your CRM can impact your marketing and sales team, respectively. Benefits for Marketing Benefits for the marketing team extend far beyond easing tensions with sales. Integrating marketing automation with a CRM system also cuts down on manual lead qualification and assignment, helps marketers track their ROI, and makes it easier to target and segment marketing communications. Automate Lead Qualification and Lead Assignment A common problem between marketing and sales teams is poor lead quality. With the data gathered via a marketing automation system, marketers can score and grade leads so that only the most qualified get passed on to sales (note: a lead score measures interest in your product or service, while a lead grade reflects prospect fit). When leads reach a threshold score and grade, they can be assigned to a sales rep automatically, cutting down on manual processes and ensuring that lead assignment is fair, efficient, and effective. Tie Revenue to Campaigns IF you have a marketing automation system that is tied to a CRM system, campaign ROI reporting becomes that much easier. Bi-directional syncing ensures that campaigns created in your marketing automation tool map back to your CRM, making it possible to tie closed deals back to the campaigns that created them. This closed-loop reporting capability allows you to attribute revenue to campaigns, track marketing spend, accurately measure ROI, project revenue, and make data-driven marketing decisions. Send Targeted Messages According to Intellitek Systems 2013 Marketing Benchmark study, 77% of buyers want different, targeted content at each stage of their research. Using the behavioral information collected by your marketing automation tool, you can send targeted messages and drip emails that are personalized to your prospects interests and stage in the buying cycle. Creating one-to-one email communications or segmenting based on criteria like industry or product interest will add a degree of relevancy to your emails, helping to increase engagement levels. Benefits for Sales Improved tracking and activity alerts ensure that your sales team is always privy to the most relevant and actionable information. With marketing passing along only qualified leads, your sales reps can focus their time on what really matters- closing deals and bringing in new revenue. Behavioral Tracking Combine your CRM with marketing automation to go beyond basic demographic information and delve into detailed behavioral tracking, so that you can view which pages your prospects are visiting, what types of content they re interested in, and where they are in the buying cycle. And with prospect tracking and analytics, you can see a log of all touch points with your prospects, from files downloaded to email correspondences. This prospect activity history provides unparalleled insight into exactly what your leads are interested in, allowing your sales reps to tailor their phone calls accordingly.

Real-Time Activity Alerts With marketing automation, your sales reps will receive real-time alerts whenever a prospect is active on your site or when they take a specific action, like visiting the pricing page or downloading a white paper. By having this detailed information delivered in real-time via email, CRM or a desktop application, sales can stay up to date on their prospect s activities and interests, giving them the ability to strike while the iron is hot. Nurture Leads to Sales Readiness Recent research indicates that buyers are more than two-thirds of the way through their research process before they even reach out to sales. This growing trend has brought lead nurturing to the forefront of marketing and sales strategies because of the ability to ensure that buyers are getting the information they need, when they need it. Using lead nurturing, marketers can automatically drip valuable content to leads over time, nurturing them to a sales-ready state. This means that sales reps won t waste time pursuing leads who aren t ready to buy, and that marketers can increase the value of their database by preventing cold leads from slipping through the cracks. Lead nurturing also gives sales reps the ability to automate communications with prospects who are actively engaging in the buying process- by making it appear as though emails are personalized, one-to-one messages from a sales rep. This can reduce a lot of the heavy lifting for sales, especially when it comes to follow-ups. Get Lead Information in One Central Interface With lead and prospect information syncing bi-directionally between your CRM and marketing automation platforms, your sales reps can see everything they need to know without leaving their CRM. This includes all data collected through your marketing automation system, from social profile information to the emails your prospects have received, what they ve been clicking on, what they ve signed up for on your Website, and more. Sales reps can use this information to tailor their conversations to the needs of each individual prospect. Two Systems, One Tool The Idea: Make your CRM and marketing automation systems work together by following the steps outlined in this chapter. Key Takeaways: With some help from your marketing automation vendor, you can have your CRM and marketing automation systems integrated in no time. If you are thinking about integrating a marketing automation system with your existing CRM, then you are probably wondering what the implementation process might look like. Let s take a look at each stage of implementation, from preparation to implementation and beyond. Preparing to Integrate The preparation stage of integrating marketing automation with an existing CRM is broken into two styles: defining your goals for implementation and mapping out a plan for the actual integration. Checking these two items off your list depends heavily on your sales team and your marketing automation vendor. Let s take a look at each. Communicate with Your Sales Team Integrating your marketing automation system and your CRM is all about sales and marketing alignment, so your sales team should have input from the very start. Your sales reps may be very comfortable with your CRM and may not see a need to introduce a new system, so make sure they understand the benefits of marketing automation and the goals you hope to achieve by implementing it. It often helps to pull one sales rep in during the implementation process, thoroughly train them and allow them to see results, then let that sales rep sell the rest of the team on marketing automation. Your sales reps are the ones who are on the front lines when it comes to selling your product, so they should have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn t. Get their input on the following up front so that you can establish realistic goals and processes after implementation: What constitutes a qualified lead How often would sales reps like to get alerts of prospect activity? What would be their preferred method of delivery? What uses do they see for lead nurturing? How could lead nurturing supplement their current processes. What content and lead generation campaigns work? Which do not? How will follow up be handled? When a lead is assigned, will a task be created in the CRM?

Working through each of these questions will help ensure that your processes run as smoothly as possible. Communicate with your Automation Vendor Marketing automation vendors deal with implementations on a daily basis, and should be able to help you decide the best configuration to meet your needs. Talk to your vendor about your goals for the integration, and make sure you can answer the questions on the following checklist before you get started: What is the time frame for integration What am I responsible for during the integration? What is the vendor and/or implementation specialist responsible for? How does de-duplication work How does lead assignment and ownership work What fields and modules will be synced How do you configure or map the synching What happens during the initial sync How will the process work after the initial sync? How often will it sync? Will it be manual or automatic. Understanding the answers to each of these questions will give you a solid foundation as you move into the implementation phase. Implementation When it s time for implementation, your marketing automation vendor or implementation specialist will help guide you through the technical setup. This process will vary depending on your vendor, but before you know it, you ll be ready to start optimizing your new system. Post-Implementation Once you ve completed implementation, don t wait to start exploring the new features at your fingertips. Training your sales team, optimizing your new system, and evaluating your progress are all equally important steps when it comes to ensuring that you re getting the greatest return on your marketing investment. Train Your Sales Team In order for marketing automation and your CRM to reach their full potential, it is essential that your sales team knows and understands the systems capabilities and how they will benefit from using it. Spend some time teaching your sales reps how to use the system, and make sure they understand how their processes might change moving forward (note: you may need to revisit this step as you get more comfortable with your new system). Optimize Your System One of the most important steps after implementation is to secure buy-in from sales (even if they ve been involved from the beginning), so you ll need to be able to demonstrate value right off the bat. Start by using your marketing automation system to build simple lead nurturing programs, qualify leads using the default scoring and grading models, and automate lead assignment. Once your sales team starts to see the value, move on to a few of the following more advanced lead scoring, deeper segmentation, more targeted drip programs, and more granular ROI reporting. Combining a marketing automation system with a CRM is all about finding the processes that work best for you and your team, so don t be afraid to experiment until you start seeing results. Start Reporting Once you ve had your new system in place for a few months, start using the reporting features in your marketing automation system to see the impact on your ROI. Lifecycle reports can give you a glimpse into the health of your sales funnel, opportunities created, and the average amount of time that prospects spend in each stage, helping you gauge the efficiency of your marketing efforts while simultaneously pointing out areas that need improvement. Opportunity data in your CRM can be just as revealing. See how your campaigns are performing based on opportunities in the pipeline (and when they are expected to close), the value of each opportunity, and more. You can also take a look at your prospect profiles to see how prospects have been engaging with your campaigns. This can give you greater insight into your scoring system, the response ot the content you ve been creating, and campaign engagement.

Evaluation It is important to seek out feedback from marketing, sales, and management every three to six months to see how the integration is being received. Consider placing marketing and sales on a nurturing track to regularly poll them for feedback, and be sure to revisit the following areas on a regular basis: Has lead quality improved What deals are closing and why Which lead generation campaigns are performing the best? Why? What content are prospects looking at? Are there any gaps in content? How successful have the lead nurturing campaigns been? What features/content/campaigns are being used? Which are not being used? Why not? Soliciting feedback is one of the best ways to make sure that you are always getting the most out of your system. The only way to consistently improve your efforts is to constantly evaluate your past campaigns, adjust based on results, and move forward with an optimized strategy. Conclusion Businesses that have combined marketing automation with their CRM have seen proven results when it comes to ROI, sales performance, marketing, sales alignment, and more. That is why it is no surprise that the automation industry is growing (and is predicted to grow even more over the next few years). In fact, according to SiriusDecisions, adoption of marketing automation is expected to increase 50% by 2015. With that growth will come an even greater investment in marketing technologies, helping your marketing and sales teams close more deals, track their impact on ROI, and adjust their strategies based on past performance.

Intellitek Systems was started July 7, 2008 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company was founded on the premise of delivering the power of ERP software to small and midmarket companies by maximizing customizability to meet the unique needs of SMBs while keeping costs low. The initial development cycle lasted approximately 18 months before the Intellitek Systems flagship product OASIS entered beta testing. Nine companies throughout the Midwestern US and 1 in Australia were recruited as the initial beta users. After a successful beta program, all ten beta companies became paying customers in August of 2010. Since then, Intellitek Systems has ramped up its marketing efforts and on-boarded a number of additional satisfied customers. Intellitek Systems, Inc. 127 West Berry St. Suite 1112 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 1-866-314-7050 toll free www.intelliteksys.com