CRM marketing is a way of processing information about the customer base. You collect data, segment your audience and build a separate interaction scenario with the company for each segment.
Let's figure out why and for what business CRM marketing is worth attention, and how to apply it.
What is CRM marketing
Synonyms - “omnichannel marketing”, “eCRM”, “relationship marketing”, “1-2-1 marketing”, etc.
The basis of this strategy is unique knowledge about leads and current clients. You collect and process them in a CRM system, then manually segment and create personalized offers to tailor products to the explicit and implicit needs of a specific user.
Scenarios can be implemented manually (a manager who calls clients using a prepared script) or automatically. It will require additional software. The choice depends on which channels you interact with your audience through: email, SMS newsletters or social network messengers.
After synchronization with the CRM system, information from it enters these services, and mailings are carried out automatically. Your task is to set everything up correctly.
The ultimate goal is to motivate specific targeted actions: purchase, increase in order, etc. This role is played by a motivating mechanism - bonus tools in the form of discounts, coupons, bonus points. As an option, you can offer bonuses and discounts through a savings system.
This approach to lead generation and nurturing improves lead quality and increases the client's sales and/or LTV.
Types of CRM Marketing
There are 2 main types - activation and informational CRM activities.
Activation ones are material incentives to perform a target action. For example, discounts and bonuses. They are used in response to new requests from leads to convert them to customer status.
All this involves costs. However, you provide different value than your competitors and thus avoid price competition.
Informational includes upselling and repeat sales (for example, extension of the tariff validity period) to ready customers. To do this you:
- Disseminate information about new products;
- You receive feedback and close customer objections. This is a chance to improve your attitude towards the product and the company, as well as increase emotional loyalty;
- Tell us how to use the product. This is generally useful if you have a SaaS service. Reason: often clients simply do not have time to master the program or all its capabilities and refuse to renew their subscription.
The main auxiliary tools are email and SMS mailings, push notifications, as well as communities on social networks as an additional channel of communication with the audience.
How CRM Marketing Works
CRM marketing is focused on different marketing goals: engagement, sales, information. Which one depends on the behavioral characteristics of a particular client and his value to the company.
Here are the steps to achieve them:
1) Collection of data about users from incoming calls or completed application forms on the website. You need to synchronize them with the CRM system so that all customer data immediately goes there.
2) Segmentation according to specified parameters (data that you collected at the first stage). For example, type of business or client.
At YAGLA we use the following classification of target audience: entrepreneurs, freelancers, full-time marketers.
3) Development of scenarios for segments and different types of actions. Here you manually define the number and content of messages for each segment.
4) Running scripts. To do this, you need synchronization with third-party software - platforms for email, SMS mailings, notifications through social network messengers. There are also special services that allow you to send messages through several channels at once. For example, CarrotQuest.
Examples of communications
#1: How to connect with a client at a time when he is most in the mood for it
The amoCRM service has a store of integrations from partners that expand the functionality of the CRM system. Among them is B2B Family.
B2B Family works like this: the manager receives a notification the moment the client opens a presentation in the mail. This is when it is best to call this client and talk with him about the letter.
No. 2: how to prevent the client from ignoring the request
In the same case, we set up automatic sending of SMS messages with the text:
“Good afternoon, (NAME)! A presentation of the LensVens franchise has been sent to your email (E-MAIL). From the presentation you will learn how to achieve an income of 150,000 rubles/month in just a month.”
This way we managed to avoid low open rates of emails.
No. 3: how to process applications from quiz landing pages
The visitor is asked to answer 5 questions about choosing a kitchen:
When he sends an application with answers, he receives in return 4 suitable offers from manufacturers, compares them by price and conditions and chooses the best.
For you, this automates the processing of applications, and for the user it makes interaction with the site as convenient as possible. After each submission of the form, responses are sent by email in the following form:
This is what a new request entry in the CRM system looks like:
An important advantage of the approach: when a manager calls a client, he does not need to ask a second time for information that the client has already left during previous contacts with the company. She is all in front of his eyes in the system. Therefore, you can go straight to the sales proposal.
Conditions and limitations of CRM marketing
CRM marketing is right for you if:
- The number of clients excludes personal interaction with managers. As a rule, this happens in B2C business;
- The customer's value (the amount of purchases over a certain period) justifies the costs of communication. This is usually true for expensive products (for example, cars) or with a high share of monthly expenses (FMCG products);
- It is possible to collect information. Even if there is no direct contact with customers, you can attract an audience to the social network community. This is especially effective for a young, socially active audience.
Limitations of CRM marketing:
- The need to update the customer database;
- Costs of maintaining a technical platform, communication and motivation. However, the high price of a lead is justified by its quality;
- Difficulty in accurately assessing the effect of communications;
- Delayed return. Don’t expect your profits to jump several times in just a week. For correct conclusions whether it worked or not, it takes at least six months. That is, at the very beginning you invest in CRM marketing, but do not receive a guarantee that it will be effective. In this case, a lot depends on how correctly the scripts are created and configured.
Here is a list of industries for which CRM marketing is a win-win option:
- FMCG: many consumers, high share of wallet, high communication activity of brands with several points of contact with the target audience, a fairly involved audience;
- Automakers: high purchase cost, high involvement in the selection and ownership process, customers share information quite easily;
- Retail: there is a unique amount of valuable information - purchase history, high audience involvement and good response to motivational events;
- E-commerce: everything is the same, only in a ready-made electronic format + additional data collection capabilities;
- Finance, insurance: large audience and data on consumption patterns, allowing for forecasting;
- Telecom: the same thing, only the data update rate is much higher, which provides endless possibilities for analytics.
How to Use CRM Marketing for Forecasting
The marketing group "Completo" created a predictive model. This is a calculator that calculates the financial return on marketing investments and helps you decide what is best to invest in, taking into account the specifics of your business. The output is marketing indicators, revenue and the effectiveness of each promotion tool.
All data for this is taken from the CRM system. Using them, experts created a sales funnel with the following stages of interaction:
- Incoming requests (leads without division into online and offline);
- Contacts (all potential buyers);
- Contacts with target interest;
- Projects;
- Contracts.
Sales funnel according to data from CRM:
It helps to identify bottlenecks through which you can grow.
For example, low conversion into contracts (no more than 15%). We found out that some data was collected incorrectly. Next, we found statistics on hits from search engines by site and keywords. Due to incorrect settings, information was not transmitted to CRM for all keywords.
Instead of a conclusion
So, why do you need CRM marketing? Perhaps Suresh Vittal, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research explains it best:
“Sales people can no longer act simply as hunters; they must become fishermen. They must study where their best "prey" lives; discover which bait attracts her best; and determine what tactics are best to use to hook her.”
Over the past few years, the market has become saturated with various CRM marketing products and solutions to automate marketing efforts. In an attempt to optimize the process of interaction with customers, many brands rushed to join the new trend and use a newfangled tool, often without thinking about the feasibility of its implementation in terms of cost-effectiveness.
Overall, there is no point in denying the benefits of marketing automation.- Already 78% of professionals have confirmed that the implementation of CRM has led to an increase in the profitability of their company. However, is marketing automation universal and seamless across all industries? Maybe you don’t need CRM marketing at all?What is CRM?
CRM-marketing, or simply CRM ( customer relationship management) literally translates as a customer relationship management system. In general, it helps to organize, track and evaluate marketing activities in particular and commercial activities in general, accumulating all available data about potential clients and customers. This is a very general definition and often developers of automated solutions put their own vision into CRM and independently determine the importance of certain of its characteristics. At the same time, most systems have a fairly wide functionality that can be customized to one degree or another.What benefits does CRM provide for a marketer?
There are many tasks that a CRM system can help solve.- Recording data from potential clients. Companies spend incredible amounts of money to attract new customers, so it is very important that every request or incoming call is taken into account. Automation helps to record the flow of clients and structure information about them in the database so that the money and effort spent are not wasted.
- Work control. Setting up the integration of a CRM system with other marketing services allows each employee to easily track their progress, identify problems in achieving business goals at an early stage and set priorities.
- Job analysis. With CRM marketing products, you will have access to a complete database in a standardized form, so you can analyze your performance, predict and plan further actions more consciously. Tracking and analytics tools allow you to bridge the gap between completed marketing activities and new leads, customers and revenue generated.
What are the types and products of CRM marketing?
The great variety of CRM systems available on the market can be divided into two main categories: SaaS (cloud) and Stand-alone (boxed). In the first option, the service and data are stored in the “cloud” on the service provider’s side, and in the second, on your server. In both cases, CRM-
it is essentially a platform that integrates with existing communication tools and automates the collection and processing of consumer data. The web interface in SaaS solutions is standardized, that is, you do not have the opportunity to interfere with the program code, since the access provided by the developer is limited in one way or another. With a “boxed” solution, the functionality is customized to suit your needs and even for individual, very specific types of projects: from tracking activity in social media and sending emails or SMS messages to awarding bonus points and distributing prizes.
A special case, a separate “branch” of CRM is real-time marketing, or real-time marketing, if translated literally. Its main purpose is to instantly determine the right approach to the right customer at the right time. RTM is based on competent predictive analysis, when, based on the experience of consumer behavior and consumption patterns, development vectors are determined and response tools are developed. One of the first adherents of this technology in Russia was MTS. In 2011, the company, using the RTM system, began to offer call center employees solutions and services that are relevant to the subscriber based on an analysis of call directions, reasons for calling, and services used by the client.“So, for example, if a subscriber calls to inquire about connecting to roaming, and the system sees that he is an active Internet user on a mobile phone, the operator will offer the client to optimize his roaming costs and connect to an Internet traffic package,” -
explains MTS Russia Deputy Director for Subscriber Services Arvydas Alutis. What does this give? At a minimum, improving the quality of services provided, and at a maximum creating consumer loyalty to the company.
What are the typical marketing activities related to CRM?
Conventionally, CRM activities are divided into two types depending on the marketing goal: activation and information. Activation activities affect the rational component of loyalty and influence customers through bonuses and special offers. These include short-term and long-term promotional activities and various cumulative (discount and bonus) loyalty programs. Informational ones, in turn, affect to a greater extent the emotional component of loyalty, creating knowledge and improving relationships with the brand. These include content marketing (both on branded and non-branded platforms), SMM (working with social media channels) and events in the areas of information CRM and direct mail.
Which business sectors benefit from implementing CRM marketing?
The implementation of CRM requires considerable investment, which involves not only a one-time payment or subscription fee for the service itself, but also integration with other marketing technologies, staff training and much more. Before jumping on the automation bandwagon, think carefully about whether your investment will pay off in the long run. To make it easier to understand, let’s look at the specifics of the industries where CRM is used.
Auto business
Among other industries, the automotive industry-
one of the most dynamically developing. In order to survive the competition, especially in times of declining demand for cars, car dealers have to work hard to demonstrate first-class service and a high level of competence. In this case, the costs of CRM quickly pay for themselves, since the average level of consumption in the auto business is quite high.
Marketing automation helps dealers achieve increased sales force efficiency and customer satisfaction by tracking and analyzing the customer funnel. Managers get quick access to a dossier database for each buyer, which allows them to make more informed decisions and plan subsequent actions. For example, using data, you can identify calls by ID, send reminders to customers about events, such as maintenance appointments, and invite potential customers for a test drive. The PRM system helps to cope especially well with the latter task ( prospect relationship management), which usually complements the CRM functionality. It provides search and recruitment of potential dealer clients to lead to a deal. FMCG The need to use marketing automation in the field of consumer goods is due to the large number of buyers, contacts with whom are often impossible to record manually. However, there are many pitfalls that make this industry the most labor-intensive for CRM implementation: a gigantic database volume, often a low LCV or individual customer value, and the difficulty of confirming that a purchase has been made. The main goals of automation in FMCG, as a rule, are directly related to the goals of the loyalty program: tracking customer data, customizing promotional campaigns to build long-term connections with customers, increase the average check and consumption level. In different FMCG sectors this can be done most or least successfully. For example, high efficiency of CRM marketing is observed in the areas of trade in alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, children's products and food for animals. In these cases, quantity is transformed into quality, and changing the behavior of even a small percentage of consumers has a beneficial effect on sales. Retail Retail is the most promising industry for marketing automation. CRM marketing, coupled with a loyalty program, provides retail brands with enormous targeting opportunities after identifying customer audiences and accumulating a database of purchases made. In retail, it is possible to reliably assess customer habits based on the nature of their purchasing behavior and consumer basket. With the analytical tools that CRM provides and a team of professionals, you can get as close as possible to understanding consumer preferences and ultimately create a unique and relevant offer for virtually each of them. The most successful cases in retail for implementing CRM marketing within a competent loyalty program can be found among giants of the level TESCO, Walmart or Sainsbury's. They have sufficient technical capacity, labor resources and capital to deploy a complex mechanism for segmenting consumers into thousands of different types. For example, the analyst team at Sainsbury's consists of more than 40 people. They try to make the most of Nectar's detailed database, which aggregates information from members' loyalty cards, and provides recommendations on the strategy and implementation of targeted promotional campaigns. By offering coupons and other bonuses that are maximally tailored to the needs of a specific buyer, they significantly reduce unprofitable activities and maximize ROI (return on investment).
Services with real-time transactions
This term can be used to combine all areas that constantly record and monitor all client transactions. These include, for example, financial and insurance institutions, and telecommunications companies that keep constant records of communications and actions of their millions of customers. In these industries, the implementation of CRM tools is an urgent need, since without automation it is impossible to process this huge amount of data. They have sufficient technical capacity and access to reliable information about the expenses, income and consumption levels of a huge part of the population to make the most personalized offers. However, their communications with the end consumer rarely go beyond standardized SMS mailings “Dear Mr. X” and reminders about the expiration of the insurance period. However, with increasing competition in, for example, the banking sector, technological advantages will play a significant role, which will only stimulate the further development of CRM marketing.
In general, all these industries are united by the presence of a large flow of leads and tens of thousands of “converted” buyers, whose activity must be tracked. If the information flow is small and the growth of the customer base is not so aggressive, due to the fact that contracts with new clients are concluded at personal meetings, then investing in CRM will not justify itself. Of course, the database in Excel does not look so fashionable, but at this stage it is the best solution.
What are the main disadvantages of CRM marketing?
Despite the extensive range of advantages noted by many companies that have implemented CRM, this tool is not without its drawbacks. Let's list the main ones.
- The effect is visible 1-2 years after implementation. CRM marketing is not a tool whose impact will immediately affect sales growth. Moreover, it is often difficult to see a direct correlation between the implementation of an automated customer relationship management system and an increase in company profits; it is difficult to measure ROI. CRM typically impacts profitability indirectly by reducing customer churn, creating emotional engagement and brand trust through personalized offers.
- Difficulty adapting to the platform. 42% of marketers say this is one of the main obstacles to successful CRM marketing. In theory, automation should make it easier for company employees to record and process customer data, but if they choose the wrong CRM solution or lack proper training, marketers will spend a lot of time and effort trying to understand the technology. For the same reason, its functionality may not be fully used.
- Expensive. Spending on CRM marketing does not end with the purchase and implementation of new technology. The company will need separate budget lines for staff training, and possibly staff expansion, systematic platform support, communications and a bonus fund. Thus, you will have to pay more for high quality contact.
What is CRM marketing (key questions)
As part of our special project, we together with a CRM agency INBRIEF We have developed a large reference section consisting of almost 30 of the most important and topical issues related to CRM marketing: from the definition of the term and basic tasks to the functional features of the CRM platform.
1. What is CRM marketing?
CRM marketing is a stable expression that refers to marketing communications based on the use of unique knowledge about existing and potential consumers. Given the poor development of terms, there are many synonyms that essentially mean the same thing: for example, “omnichannel marketing”, “eCRM”, “relationship marketing”, “1-2-1 marketing” and others.
2. What are the goals and objectives of CRM marketing?
The key goal of CRM marketing today is to track and change consumer behavior in the desired direction. The only correct direction of such a vector is the fulfillment of specific marketing and business goals. Moreover, ideally, goals should be tailored depending on the segments, their potential and value. Modern technologies allow you to endlessly increase the number of segments, increasing relevance and cost-effectiveness, and making communications closer to truly personal. Thus, we are gradually moving away from the classical concept of segmentation and starting to operate with the personal profile of the consumer. Collection and use of unique knowledge about each specific consumer is the basis of modern CRM marketing. This becomes possible at the intersection of expert analysis, software data processing and automated two-way communications. One-on-one interaction means not only personalized messages, but also tailoring products to the specific (including unspoken) needs of the client.
The end product of CRM marketing is a highly personalized message based on knowledge of previous purchases, preferences or activity. Such a message promotes certain actions: purchasing a certain product, increasing the volume of purchases, increasing knowledge about a new product. The message may contain a motivating mechanism in the form of bonus tools: discounts, coupons, bonus points. Bonus instruments can be more systematic in nature, turning into a cumulative bonus or discount program. This extreme personalization of the approach allows you to get the required response from the target audience with maximum efficiency.
Accordingly, the key tasks of CRM marketing are:
- collection of high-quality data from various sources, helping to create the most detailed portrait of the consumer for subsequent analysis
- creation of an analytical tool that can automatically determine what message needs to be conveyed to this consumer and what method of motivation to use
- delivering the message in the most convenient way using available channels (remember “omnichannel marketing”?)
- monitoring reactions and adjusting the program.
This is a very general approach and can undergo significant changes in different contexts, using different approaches or tools.
3. We already have a “CRM” in which our sales managers keep records of their clients and transactions. Isn't this the same thing?
This is one of the common misconceptions and it is caused by the lack of established terminology. For a long time, this acronym has been applied to the methodology of working with clients in an organization and application software for sales management, cold contact accounting, to automate the work of sales managers with your clients. Most often, this approach is used in B2B, where there is a sales manager. This entire methodology is used to expand its (sales) capabilities. Help you record something, remind you somewhere, make an automatic mailing somewhere, or help with analyzing the database and sales funnel.
And CRM marketing is no longer just software and methodology, it is a full-fledged communication strategy and tools that imply direct communication with end users known to us without the direct participation of a sales manager. This is why CRM marketing is more often in demand in B2C, where the volume of consumers is too large to maintain relationships with them through salespeople, but at the same time you want all requests to be as personal as possible.
4. What does a typical CRM marketing business process look like?
A typical CRM marketing project usually consists of several blocks of work:
- creating a CRM strategy (defining a general approach to segmentation, communication and motivation) and CRM policies (a tactical document describing in detail the data set, business rules, triggers, motivation program, etc.)
- collection and processing of consumer data
- automatic analysis of user profiles and application of business logic (segmentation, determination of the most relevant products or methods of motivation)
- creating and sending a message that fulfills specific business goals (engagement, sales, information) using general or personalized tools
- tracking the effect and adjusting based on feedback
5. What typical activities can be classified as CRM marketing?
6. Why is it better to launch promotions with a CRM agency?
Classic promotions that we encounter every day (such as “buy this, get that”) are an example of short-term motivation, for which we need to go through all the same stages of the business process - register a participant, receive confirmation of the purchase from him, influence it to increase activity with messages or bonuses (prizes). All this can be easily and inexpensively deployed on the functionality of a full-fledged CRM platform. You will also receive additional benefits such as online reporting and real-time performance analytics. Setting up a platform can cost much less than programming such functionality from scratch in a digital agency, and you can use these settings next time. At the same time, you will accumulate a single base of active consumers, available for end-to-end analytics and promotion of the following activities and products. And regular promotional activities are actually already one of the forms of a long-term loyalty program with a wave distribution of bonuses. Many opportunities open up and it is unlikely that they will be available to you with a BTL agency.
7. Is it possible to influence loyalty using CRM marketing?
Oddly enough, despite the fact that “increasing loyalty” is the champion among the goals in CRM briefs, loyalty is too complex and an ephemeral phenomenon, depending on a huge number of factors and, first of all, directly related to the quality of the product or service. Loyalty is changing, there is multiloyalty or a purely rational situational choice based on information search and the use of other people's loyalty (reviews of other consumers). We can help maintain it by creating added value to products or services, using bonus tools (loyalty programs) or stimulating emotional involvement (the notorious brand engagement). But this is not the main value of CRM marketing for sales. Today it makes sense to talk about more general behavior management. It's important to show up at the right time with the right offer and push the consumer to take an action using the tools and message that are most relevant at that moment. The total effect of such targeted activities may be greater than total bonusing in the hope that this bonus will retain your consumer.
8. Do I need CRM marketing?
9. For which business sectors is CRM marketing applicable?
Taking into account the conditions that we discussed in the answer to the previous question, CRM marketing performs best in the following industries:
- FMCG (many consumers, often high share of wallet, high communication activity of brands with several points of contact with the target audience, a fairly involved audience)
- automakers (high purchase cost, high involvement in the selection and ownership process, customers share information quite easily)
- retail (there is a unique amount of valuable information - purchase history, high audience involvement and good response to motivational events)
- e-commerce (everything is the same, only in a ready-made electronic format + additional data collection capabilities)
- tobacco and alcohol (the only available channel of communication with consumers and often high share of wallet)
- finance, insurance (large audience and data on consumption patterns that make it possible to forecast)
- telecom (the same thing, only the data update frequency is much higher, which provides endless possibilities for analytics)
- tourism (the products themselves allow you to make CRM communications beautiful and attractive)
- horeca (generally similar to retail and e-commerce)
And if we didn’t mention someone on this list, then most likely we simply forgot to do so. :)
10. In what cases is CRM marketing most effective?
To summarize everything that has been said so far:
- you have a lot of data to analyze,
- you have an engaged audience that easily responds to marketing activities
- you have a budget opportunity to work with motivational mechanics, for example, introducing a cumulative bonus loyalty program.
11. What are the main factors limiting the use of CRM marketing in a company?
Unfortunately, CRM marketing is far from an ideal tool and has its limitations that prevent its widespread use:
- Availability of a consumer database and the need to update it
- technical platform capable of carrying out CRM activities
- a fairly high budget for maintaining the platform, personal communications and bonuses. Yes, the cost of a contact in CRM marketing is high, but this contact is of high quality.
- delayed effect on business and the inability in most cases to accurately assess the contribution of the effect of CRM marketing communications to sales. CRM generally does not align well with short-term business goals and does not pay for itself quickly. The greatest financial benefits come from those CRM projects that retain customers and encourage them to expand their cooperation with the company. These benefits usually don't begin to appear until a year or two later. For those companies that do not see long-term benefits in CRM, it is better to abandon the project altogether rather than try to get a quick return from it
12. How much can we spend on personal communications?
We will not try to calculate the share of CRM marketing activities in the budget of customer companies. Only they themselves can determine this. But there is a fairly simple exercise that makes it possible to at least imagine the acceptable costs of personalized communications. To do this, you need to model the value of your average client/consumer over a period of time, for example, a year. How much per year does this average customer buy your products? Now try to calculate and apply the average margin of your business to this figure. How much profit will you make from this average customer? Now, within the framework of this profit, cut off some piece that you are willing to spend or even return to this consumer (in the case of motivational programs). You will have a personal budget for CRM communications. You can multiply it by the potential volume of the base and get the budget for the annual project. And try to divide it into fixed (independent of the volume of the base) and variable expenses.
Moreover, you can average customers by segments based on their consumer activity or loyalty, and get different numbers.
This is a very rough model and it does not take into account the main thing - how exactly we will change the consumer behavior and purchasing activity of clients over this year, how much more they will start buying as a result of applying our measures (which is the real return on CRM investments). But this simple exercise will allow you to create a CRM budget, at least as a first approximation, and not go beyond the bounds of common sense.
14. Why do we need CRM marketing agencies? Why can’t our digital or BTL agency perform these functions?
15. What makes a real CRM agency different?
16. What are the typical services of a CRM agency?
In one or another combination it is:
- CRM strategies and consulting
- CRM project management
- Collection and primary processing of data
- Data management (validation, updating, deduplication)
- Analytics/segmentation/online reports
- Call center
- Social CRM
- Email Marketing
- SMS marketing
- DM (direct mail)
- Remarketing Campaigns
- Development, processing and support of loyalty programs
- Automation of promotional activities
- Development of websites for promotions and digital-BTL
- Hosting and database support
- Development and implementation of custom CRM marketing software
17. Why are there few CRM agencies?
18. How to choose the right CRM agency?
19. Is there any specialization for CRM agencies?
Of course, sometimes it is so narrow that the general term “CRM agency” becomes of little use. For example, agencies involved in direct mailing (direct mail). In this area, a rather simplified approach, specific tools and equipment are used. In addition, agencies involved in email/SMS marketing, retargeting, and lead generation are usually set up as a separate business with their own tools. Such agencies will cope well with tactical tasks, but are unlikely to take on the role of strategic consultants. For these reasons, highly specialized agencies are practically not represented in our study.
20. How does work with a CRM agency work on a standard project?
In full accordance with a typical business process, several stages can be distinguished:
- Agency briefing on a specialized CRM brief template with detailed decomposition and construction of a tree of goals
- Strategic documentation stage (CRM strategy, communication (email) strategy)
- Stage of design and technical documentation (CRM policies, terms of reference for finalizing the platform, communication plan)
- Programming, modification, platform configuration
- Development of creative materials (if necessary)
- Project implementation stage
- Stage of analysis and adjustment of the project
And of course, depending on the type of project, there may be significant deviations in this scheme.
21. What is a marketing CRM platform and why is it needed?
This is a special software product that a CRM agency uses. Such a platform automates the implementation of a CRM strategy, namely collecting consumer data, analyzing their behavior and personal profiles, tracking actions and triggers, identifying segments, motivating and communicating with consumers. The marketing CRM platform has developed interfaces for integration with the main communication tools and channels (websites, mobile applications, SMS or email channels, call center) or the customer’s existing corporate CRM or ERP solutions.
To interact with the platform, a web interface is used to configure project parameters or access statistics and analytical reports. Not all customers have the desire or opportunity to tinker with the settings; in this case, this is done by the agency itself based on briefs.
Agencies use both their own developments and ready-made solutions. As a rule, in-house developments better respond to market needs, are more flexible and cheaper.
We tried to take into account all these features in our research and you have the opportunity to find out which platform the agency operates on and clarify your choice using data on the capabilities of the platform used.
22. What functions can a CRM platform perform?
Please note that individual platforms can be “tailored” for different types of projects, including quite specific ones:
- Promotional campaigns
- Accumulative bonus programs
- Discount programs, incl. cumulative
- Branded online communities
- Content digital platforms with content personalization
- Accordingly, the functionality of the platform may include different options. When choosing an agency, be sure to check whether the function you need is implemented on the platform. Possible ones include:
- Earning bonus points for purchases
- Earning bonus points for activity on the website/app/social networks
- Sending SMS messages
- Sending email messages
- Custom triggers
- Ability to send trigger messages
- Customizable promotional mechanics
- Prize catalog and prize distribution
- Connection to payment systems
- User Configuration of Segment Parameters
- Setting up promotional campaign parameters by the user
- Interface for receiving data from external sources (website, application, call center, SMS)
- Social media activity tracking
- Built-in contact data validation mechanisms
- User interface for reports and analytics
- Ability to generate custom reports
- Client's card
23. What is the value of automating personal communications?
In fact, this is a replacement for a real sales manager in businesses with a large number of clients.
The volume of consumers is too large to maintain relationships with them through salespeople, but at the same time you want all communications to be as personal as possible. This means that the required tools must emulate the human approach. It is the system that takes on the function of monitoring the client’s mood or attitude, thinks about what else can be offered to him, how to motivate him, and communicates with him. Naturally, we are not talking about artificial intelligence, but only about a set of pre-established rules, numerical indicators and triggers, based on which the system makes a decision based on an algorithm.
24. What is real time marketing and personal promotional offers?
25. How is the use of CRM platforms paid?
There are three typical business models with which agencies monetize platform development:
- Using a ready-made cloud service with payment based on the number of connections or the volume of records in the database. The user is limited by the available functionality, modifications can be expensive.
- Payment for customizing the existing platform for the customer’s tasks and business processes with a minimum fee for technical support. Customization may take longer than the customer expects.
- Development of a custom platform with full transfer of the code and rights to it to the customer. Despite the apparent attractiveness of this method, it is necessary to take into account a large number of issues that the customer will have to resolve when he receives this product (paid modifications, licenses, hosting, etc.)
A few words about our partners and sponsors
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the CRM agency INBRIEF, our partner in this special project, without whose expertise nothing would have happened.
NetSuite allows you to attract more clients
Currently, many companies are implementing specialized systems for managing interactions with their customers in order to carry out marketing management. These systems are called “CRM”. This abbreviation stands for Customer Relationship Management System. The CRM marketing management information system allows you to create a single repository of information throughout the company. This opportunity allows, thanks to the prompt receipt of up-to-date information, to make the most rational decisions in the process of interaction with clients. In addition, by storing information about previous business contacts with clients, the system allows you to create in advance the most favorable conditions for cooperation for a given client, which greatly facilitates marketing management.
Modern CRM systems imply the use of all available channels of interaction with business partners. The organization of marketing at the enterprise of the first model was based only on personal meetings, telephone conversations and e-mail. Currently, interactive web technologies are being increasingly introduced into marketing management: corporate web chats, conferences, registration forms on websites.
In general, CRM systems are a specific model for each commercial company for interaction with suppliers, customers, as well as the distribution of functional responsibilities between company employees. CRM marketing management in an enterprise is a tool that allows you to effectively implement the company’s customer-oriented strategy.
Marketing management through the use of CRM systems
Effective marketing management in an enterprise allows you to obtain more accurate analysis results and carry out careful planning of business processes. Also one of the functions is to establish cost-effective contacts with target customers, maintain and strengthen them. Ultimately, competent organization of marketing at an enterprise allows a commercial organization to achieve its goals in the field of making a profit, increasing sales volumes, and expanding its market share of similar goods and services.
The tasks pursued by the marketing management process are not only measures to find a sufficient number of buyers capable of purchasing the entire available volume of products produced by the company. The tasks should also include research into the current demand in the market. In some cases, the CRM system makes management decisions aimed not at expanding demand and creating new markets, but at reducing production if this will allow the company to achieve the best results in its global tasks. Thus, marketing management is a demand management tool.
NetSuite CRM marketing management system
CRM solutions from the commercial company NetSuite imply that the amount of available information about each of the counterparties is of great importance. Thanks to the use of CRM systems, the process of collecting such information can be significantly simplified and accelerated. Ultimately, this simplifies the search for new markets and consolidation of positions in existing ones. Improving the effectiveness of interaction with potential and existing customers, competing enterprises and business partners using CRM systems also helps to create a positive company image and identify previously untapped sales opportunities.
in this sales sector implies the preliminary collection of the greatest amount of information about a potential client at the stage of preparation for negotiations. CRM systems are much more often implemented in the retail trade of expensive goods: cars, household appliances and electronics, jewelry, etc. In the process of selling such a product, there is quite close communication between the representative of the trading organization and the buyer. This organization of marketing at an enterprise allows the seller to unobtrusively ask the buyer to fill out a developed questionnaire, which is a very informative source of information for the CRM management system about the company’s existing and potential clients.
NetSuite offers to facilitate the implementation of a marketing management strategy with the help of CRM systems, since it is possible to organize management in an enterprise in the mass trade of everyday goods. , for example, can be done using ubiquitous plastic Customer cards in large supermarkets. The introduction of such cards not only stimulates the buyer to make purchases at this particular outlet, but also creates the opportunity to obtain reliable and timely information for CRM management systems. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to analyze the current market situation in real time, promptly influence existing demand and assess the prospects for the development of this market. Organizing marketing at an enterprise to obtain information about the solvency of customers based on an analysis of the purchases they make allows for a timely reorientation of the company's outlets. Namely, to focus on increasing the total volume of products sold in that group of consumer goods that is most accessible to the bulk of potential and existing buyers as part of the marketing strategy.
NetSuite's CRM marketing management system makes it easy to solve a number of problems for any enterprise. It allows you to use existing ones and develop potential opportunities to expand your presence in the market with the greatest efficiency. Due to this, the company becomes the most customer-oriented, which allows us to count on his attention to this company and guarantees stability of sales and the possibility of further increasing sales volumes.
Why do you still need a CRM product?
In order to answer the question: what role does CRM play?
marketing management system of NetSuite, we can list several well-known facts:
1. To attract a new client, you need to spend five times more money than to retain an existing partner.
2. Most Fortune 500 companies lose 50% of their customers every five years.
3. If the client is satisfied, he is able to attract about 5 of his friends. If he’s not happy, he’ll tell you about his dissatisfaction, at least 10. What is completely unacceptable when using SKY
4. Full payback for most customers if done correctly
Organization of marketing at the enterprise occurs throughout the year. In case of earlier “departure” of the client, it is considered unprofitable.
5. Competent marketing management allows a 5% increase in customer retention to increase the company’s income by 50-100%
6. Due to ineffective cooperation with the company, about half of the clients are unprofitable.
7. It is assumed that the company contacts an existing client about four times a year, and about 6 times a year with a potential client.
8. Increasing the profitability of an enterprise by tens of percent and project profitability in the range of 200-800 percent within 2-3 years - these are the promises of suppliers of CRM-class products.
The feasibility of using CRM is also determined by a number of reasons.
The second equally important question in this topic under study is: what is the client’s benefit from the implementation of CRM products by the supplier company?
The subjective benefit lies in the fact that every person, on a subconscious level, is pleased to realize that he is remembered.
Marketing management in an enterprise when using a CRM program works in such a way that the client has the opportunity to receive additional benefits, for example, in the form of discounts or any bonuses. This is despite the fact that previously the client did not have such advantages.
A competent organization of marketing at an enterprise is designed in such a way that clients have at their disposal an effective tool for customizing products specifically to their needs, and the presence of support from the company gives even more confidence in the prospects for further cooperation.
Where can I use this program?
CRM - a marketing management system affects almost all aspects of cooperation between the client and the company. This includes both sales and service, including:
1. Analysis of the product (its sales) is carried out on the basis of marketing databases, which are strictly aimed at a specific area of activity and are little susceptible to external information factors.
2. Systems for timely notification of customers - so-called push systems.
3. Automation of the activities of sales representatives (SFA - Sales Force Automation), which collects and processes information about clients.
4. Analytical tools that allow you to analyze the buyer’s behavior during a continuum purchase, without taking into account his lifestyle.
Based on all of the above aspects, any CRM product must have the appropriate modules. I would still like to note that today the universal
the control system does not yet exist. Certain products of this type have not only their “pros”, but also “cons”. That is why, a company that wants to implement CRM products in its activities should determine the exact direction of its business, over time complementing the marketing management process or changing the focus of the CRM product
To start working with CRM systems, you need to have information about the client and, of course, about the company itself.
The end result of a CRM solution is the sum of the detailed ratios, as well as the knowledge and insights that the system can use.
1. Marketing management requires the CRM program to work with databases in such a way that the information remains fresh and relevant at all times (updated regularly).
2. The implemented CRM system in an enterprise requires the mandatory availability of data processing tools.
3. A competent organization of marketing at an enterprise assumes that any division of the company must have access to all information.
And in this regard, the NetSuite CRM system has a huge advantage over others.
CRM levels
CRM marketing management system can be divided into three types (analytical, operational and collaborative).
1. Operational. This class of systems is characterized by providing prompt access to information during interaction with the client during service operations. This includes: sales and service. In general, the order of operations that is provided for attracting a client, namely the transaction process and the subsequent provision of maintenance services, including all sorts of nuances and aspects of cooperation between the client and the company.
2.Analytical. This class is that the system moves to working with large Databases. Information about the client and the company is analyzed. And based on these data, he draws certain conclusions and gives the necessary recommendations.
To maximize results, CRM NetSuite uses a wide range of methods for mathematical analysis of information, which, in turn, makes the program more convenient and easy to use.
3.Collaborative. This class of systems allows the client to personally participate in the functioning of the company and have a direct influence on the possibility of developing the product itself, its consumption and, in the future, service.
Determination of cost
Currently, many people are concerned about the cost of installing a CRM program. This includes the actual price of the software itself, as well as its service, technical support, etc. We can only give approximate prices, because they largely depend on the requirements of customer companies. Firstly, all costs can be divided into three parts: software, hardware and service (technical support, implementation). The simplest method for calculating the cost of implementing a CRM program looks like this: to begin with, marketing management consists of determining the total number of jobs, of course, based on the size of the enterprise itself.
Implementation of CRM systems program. Questions arise: can you handle it yourself?
I would especially like to point out that a CRM system is not a tool for patching holes in marketing. In order to ensure the profitable functioning of CRM, it is necessary to be aware of this at all levels of the company.
You will have to forget about the result if there is not clear and well-established management, which is the efficiency of sharing data, and most importantly, its analysis. Information accumulates like a snowball, which then no one rake. At the moment, there is a cost for storing all data maintained by the information system. And as a result of this, it can be noted that any operation has a specific, unique transaction value. In order to work without losses, you should calculate it in advance and as specifically as possible.
Everything in order, let’s calculate the available funds. When implementing a CRM program, you should follow the following steps:
1. Determination of the goals and objectives of the installation of this product, linking them with the marketing goals of the organization.
2.Development of a plan for the implementation of key modules and blocks of CRM systems.
3.Creating a communications system that will help ensure the operation of all departments in the CRM program, as well as try to organize access to common databases through the World Wide Web - Internet.
4. Detailed study of the marketing research cycle.
5.Combining information about current and future consumers into a common database, excluding moments of repetition of information.
