Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing Automation Software may seem like similar products, but they are different.

While they are both business tools which help companies reach customers and build relationships with them, they function uniquely addressing different customer needs throughout the various stages of the consumer journey.  

Let’s compare and then delve into which will meet your business needs more effectively or if a combination of the two is best. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A customer relationship management system helps your company perform important, yet mundane tasks in sales and marketing, so you and your employees can focus on areas of business growth. By entering customer data, sending emails, scheduling appointments, creating invoices, recording sales, and documenting interactions with customers, your business meets its goals of attracting prospects, converting them to customers, and developing long-lasting relationships with them.

CRM can help with sales force automation and management of your contacts, pipeline, and opportunities. Doing that builds and enhances relationships with potential and current customers by delivering analytics about customer interactions. A CRM system can be used simultaneously by a variety of departments in your organization and offers these benefits:

• —Optimize business and customer interactions to enhance sales and customer satisfaction.

• —Allow sales professionals to determine a customer’s position in the sales process and finalize the sale.

• —Deliver targeted material to customers to garner sales and build trust.

• —Permits sales professionals and other members of the team to know customers including purchases and past interactions so they can more effectively communicate with customers and build relationships. 

• —Leverage social media to identify what customers are saying about the brand and which channels are driving traffic most effectively. 

• —Notify sales professionals to reach out to customers when calls are schedules or accounts are set to renew, as well as on birthdays and other special events.

CRM systems uses sales, marketing, customer service, and digital commerce strategies to deliver a personal experience for each customer. This is done to secure sales, optimize revenue, deliver customer satisfaction, and enhance customer loyalty. CRM systems help brands build and manage customer relationships over the course of the customer lifecycle. 

What is a CRM System in Marketing and Sales?

Marketing Automation Software, as the name implies, is designed to automate marketing activities, manage digital campaigns, track activity, communication, and more.

Marketing Automation Software functions to generate potential customers from ongoing marketing campaigns and return the analytics to improve marketing initiatives in the future. Your marketing department can use Marketing Automation Software in a variety of marketing functions. Marketing Automation Software offers businesses a number of benefits including:

• —Easily and effectively segmenting prospects according to interest, preferences, and interactions for future, more successful, targeted marketing efforts. 

• —Nurturing lead capabilities so companies can deliver emails as soon as a prospect shows interest in a product/service, keeping brand awareness high.

• —Providing analytics following each marketing campaign to show areas of success and opportunities for improvement.

Marketing Automation Software helps businesses generate leads and prepare them for sales team interactions. In companies that use both CRM systems and Marketing Automation Software, once a lead has become a qualified sales lead or a customer, he or she is then transitioned to the business’s CRM system for future interactions. 

Difference between a CRM System and Marketing Automation

A CRM system may be the best fit for your business if you have an abundance of customer data and leads coming in and overwhelming your staff. CRM software can also help when you are losing customer due to a lack of engagement.

If you find your employees are having difficulty following your customers’ journeys or your customers are complaining about your company’s lack of customer service, a CRM system may be just what you need. A CRM system can optimize the customer journey never losing sight of them as well as reach out to dissatisfied customers and deliver satisfactory resolutions. 

Marketing Automation Software is a good option when customer inquiries are coming in faster than responses are going out. This software can help you contact the leads in a timely manner and nurtures the relationship to the handoff to your sales team.

It can also help if your business’s marketing campaigns are falling short of providing the leads necessary to keep your sales team productive. Marketing Automation Software can also help your company target your customers and prospects with the desired content. In fact, marketing campaign management and execution is the foundation of Marketing Automation Software. 

Depending on your business, you may need both. Most marketing automation software allows your team to sync data with your CRM system for greater effectiveness and productivity. 

Need Help with Making Your Decision? 

Perxi can help with CRM systems designed to help you keep your customers engaged. Call today and discover all the benefits of a CRM system for your business!