The short answer is if you haven’t already integrated your CRM and Marketing Automation systems, then now is the time to do it.
The long answer is that it depends on what level of integration you want.
How does Collier Pickard do it?
At Collier Pickard, we have linked our Marketing Automation system to our CRM using Zapier, it’s a bit more limited than creating a dedicated API, but it does everything that we need it to.
We will only pass leads to our CRM when they have reached a certain lead score, meaning that our sales team aren’t being fed cold leads that aren’t ready to contact. It also helps us educate our prospects in CRM and Collier Pickard before our sales team reaches out to them. But that is how we use it and the way we do business won’t necessarily match up with how you do business.
Why would you integrate your CRM and Marketing Automation system?
So, before you integrate your two systems, ask yourself what you will gain from this:
- Will it save you time?
- Will it help you sell more?
- Do the benefits outweigh the cost?
There are plenty of articles out there talking about the benefits of CRM and Marketing Automation, we’ve got a few ourselves, so I won’t repeat what’s already been said. All you need to know for this article is that you can integrate your two systems (either by a direct API or using a tool like Zapier).
Why would you keep your CRM and Marketing Automation system separate?
You don’t *have* to have both your systems integrated to get the benefits from them, in some cases, this might be your only option, some legacy systems might not support the integration, so connecting them could be a challenge. However, that approach limits you in certain ways and may mean your customer profiles and insight will be incomplete and not provide a full 360-degree view of the customer.
What happens if you don’t integrate your CRM and Marketing Automation systems?
If you don’t integrate your systems, you are making the jobs of your sales team and marketing team that much harder. They will have to spend time checking both systems, comparing notes and either updating the data in one system manually or just constantly checking both systems whenever they want to know about the prospect or customer.
By integrating both of your systems, you can sync the data from the sales and marketing teams allowing for a more comprehensive picture of who customers are, what they are interested in and how best to approach them.
You also run the risk of sending disjointed messaging to your prospects. The prospect could be receiving emails about one product while the sales team are talking to them about another. Your sales efforts will be much more effective if you are approaching the prospect with the same marketing and sales messaging.
Integrating the two systems also means relationships that are established via marketing tools can be more easily transferred to sales via the CRM. Your sales team can see that the prospect has already been sent emails about product A and has already read content regarding it.
If you want your sales and marketing teams to be as effective as possible, they need to have access to the same data.
How should they work together?
360-Degree View of the Customer
Marketing Automation is your first step to building a relationship with your prospects. Being able to see every touchpoint that has been made with a prospect helps your sales team see the full picture of a prospect’s history.
Understanding what works and what doesn’t
In the same way that marketing can inform sales, information from the sales team can also help improve your marketing efforts. The insights provided by the sales team can help the marketing team figure out which content is converting prospects to sales, and which isn’t.
Increased Efficiency
This is one of the more obvious benefits, by linking the two data silos you are enabling your staff to enter data more effectively, while also avoiding issues like duplication. This can help improve outreach and follow-up communications and allow for better insights and analytics.
The most important thing when going through a process like integrating your systems is to have a solid plan in place. Ask yourself – why, how and is it worth it? Once you have all the answers to this you are ready to go.
If you have any questions about integrating your Marketing Automation system with your CRM, feel free to get in touch with us and we’ll help you in any way that we can.
