Why CRM is important for Marketing – Contrary to what many might think, marketing is not just sales, but also attention to customers, both potential and existing ones.
It is a constant activity that involves various aspects of a company’s work and which proves to be indispensable within any strategy.
To deal with this aspect of marketing we speak of CRM ( Customer Relationship Management ), i.e. the management of customer relations.
It is important to talk about them and to know their types, advantages and software to rely on, because thanks to a virtuous Customer Relationship Management activity, one has the possibility not only of acquiring new customers, but also of maintaining existing ones, retaining them and increasing their value.
Table of Contents
Why CRM is important for Marketing
What does CRM mean?
Customer relationship management is a reality that is part of, or should we say should be part of the business strategy of each company.
In fact, there are those who decide to neglect it or not to invest in it, with all the consequences of the case in terms of productivity, image and increase in income.
The term CRM means the tool on which all strategies are based to acquire new customers and keep them satisfied over time. If properly compiled, the CRM database represents an indispensable resource for profiling and managing prospects, customers, partners and collaborators of any business.
We could, greatly simplifying and trivializing it, think that managing customer relationships only means taking care of them, pleasing them with a discount or a promotion from time to time.
However, the reality is very different, especially in a highly competitive world such as the digital one, where there is no shortage of competitors ready to offer more and better, not only in terms of cost.
In fact, it is often not only the best price that influences a person’s purchasing process, but also a set of dynamics which, knowingly or not, lead the user to prefer that reality over the others.
Thanks to the CRM it is possible to make decisions based on real data, which lead to the implementation of high-performance conversion and loyalty strategies, avoiding “wasting” resources on prospects who turn out to be non-targets.
Information on purchasing preferences, the repetitiveness of orders or the type of products purchased are all useful information to allow us to get to know him and understand what to offer him and when and how to do it.
4 Types of CRM
When it comes to CRM in the marketing field, it is necessary to distinguish between 4 different types :
- Collaborative
- Analytical
- Strategic
- operational
In the first case ( collaborative ) the CRM is the one that deals with improving and perfecting the sharing of information within the various sections of the company, and with improving the management of contacts with customers through the various communication channels.
Analytical CRM , on the other hand, is linked to the continuous acquisition, processing, analysis and archiving of data relating to customers (both real and potential), in order to enrich the company database from which to draw at any time for various activities.
Strategic CRM is the one that involves every department of the company, establishing a culture of customer profiling with the aim of improving interactions and making them increasingly conversion-oriented.
Finally, operational CRM is the one linked to the set of tools, technologies and procedures with which to apply the communication strategy and better organize each stage of the sales process.
When is CRM needed?
The decision to deal with CRM is deeply linked to the awareness that without this tool, every marketing activity is sterile.
In fact, customer relations do not merely concern after-sales and assistance service, but represent one of the pillars on which the entire corporate ecosystem is based.
Without clients there would be no income, but neither would there be any interest and recipients to whom to direct one’s work and for whom to identify, with a view to growth, ever more effective and performing solutions.
If well conducted, Customer Relationship Management allows you to :
- Increase customer satisfaction (customer experience);
- Increase sales;
- Reduce costs;
- Know the target audience;
- Refine business processes;
- Increase productivity;
- Maximize your ROI (return on investment).
Furthermore, it allows all the operators who work in the company to have real, reliable and concrete data and information with which to develop increasingly suitable products and services, and communication capable of reaching those directly concerned.
How to choose a good CRM software
To develop and monitor the Customer Relationship Management of your company it is essential to choose the most suitable software for your needs.
Not a simple database to be filled in and consulted, but a dynamic reality capable of collecting information, acquiring customer contacts, constantly updating all data and returning an overview as detailed as possible, also making it possible to develop forecasts on sales and other processes corporate.
Keeping track of all the information that brands exchange daily with customers and prospects is really very complex; the risk is that of losing decisive information in order to transform a negotiation into a sale.
Good CRM software must first of all integrate with the company website, in which a prospecting strategy has been studied and structured in advance, capable of aligning itself with the company’s business objectives.
It will also have to integrate with the various tools used: from data analysis to forecasting, up to email marketing and messaging apps, with the aim of making the profiling of prospects and customers ever more detailed and offering all the information necessary to the Sales and Marketing department.
At the same time, it must be able to personalize the user’s browsing experience by promoting specific and targeted actions based on the type of activity the customer is carrying out.
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Among the other functions present in the CRM software we find :
- The automation of operations;
- The activation of interactions (such as messaging apps and chatbots) to accompany the customer at every stage and promptly respond to any possible need.
Without forgetting the importance of obtaining updated data to effectively profile and segment your customers.
Among the best CRM software we find Active Campaign, one of the most complete and effective for enhancing the experience of its customers thanks to the use of marketing automation tools, email marketing, instant messaging activities and much more, with specific solutions for e-commerce and B2B and B2C realities.
Implementing a CRM from scratch may seem like a mammoth operation, so much so that many companies prefer to temporarily give up, directing their attention and resources towards other activities.
However, a good, carefully managed CRM can really add value to your customers.
You can count on our help to put all this complicated set of strategies, data and integrations into practice.
We will help you support the growth of your company and improve every phase of your work in order to grow and consolidate your business.