Did you know that your CRM can benefit from the integration of marketing automation software? It’s true, which is why platforms like HubSpot include both CRM and marketing automation capabilities all within one software. But what does this mean for you?

Well, first it’s important to understand the main difference between a CRM and marketing automation software. So, let’s start there, shall we?

What is a CRM?

A CRM, also known as customer relationship management, is a type of software that allows businesses to manage their lead qualification data. Sales and service teams may use a CRM in order to store contact information, track customer data, record past purchases, monitor email exchanges, and more. Essentially, the CRM is mainly used for sales purposes. On the other hand, marketing automation tools are mostly utilized for marketing efforts. 

Integrating Marketing Automation with Your CRM

One of the biggest ways to incorporate marketing automation with your CRM is through inbound marketing campaigns. Say you have a landing page with a form that people can enter their information into in order to receive a lead generator (such as an e-book or infographic) through email. When a lead enters their email address into the form and agrees to being added to your email list by clicking the submit button, a workflow can be created that will add their contact information to your CRM. This can easily be done with HubSpot’s marketing hub and CRM. Then, these leads will be nurtured through an email drip sequence that’s designed to help drive them down the sales funnel and ultimately to a conversion such as a sale. 

This is just one example of connecting your CRM and marketing automation efforts, but it strongly exemplifies that combining the two can help marketing and sales teams do the following:

Build Relationships with Leads

Connecting your CRM and marketing automation together helps you build your relationships with leads. That’s because, with the CRM, you can track things such as email opens as well as unengaged contacts, and, in turn, you can remove unsubscribed contacts from your email send list and focus on switching things up to increase email open rates.

Provide Consistent Messaging with Marketing & Sales

We’ve all heard the phrase before - consistency is key. That’s why it’s important to have consistent messaging throughout your marketing and sales efforts. If your marketing people are pitching different stories to your leads than your sales people are, things will get confusing for customers. Consistent messaging helps alleviate any confusion and helps guide leads down the sales funnel.

Manage Data in a Centralized Place

Nothing’s worse than when your sales team and marketing team have information all over the place. Who does that actually really help? No one! Unorganized information can cause businesses to lose leads due to poor communication. However, when you have a CRM that’s integrated with your marketing automation, you’re able to keep all of your valuable contact information in one spot. 

Need help with your marketing efforts? Our inbound marketing team can help you connect your marketing automation to your CRM! Contact us here to learn more.

Also, be sure to download our FREE Marketing Automation 101 guide here!