CRM is more than just resolving customer issues. It can be a great tool to use during the pre-sale stage if one has the right perspective and an effective strategy. Modern marketers use CRM as a chance to understand how to connect client personality features and behavioral patterns with brand positioning.

If one uses CRM for marketing automation in a data-driven way and focuses on enhancing the customer experience, they can get the best outcomes. But how do you go about doing it? Here are some of the best, most tested ways that marketers can use to make the most of Salesforce CRM. It is gathered into a single source of information, which is the main advantage of using a CRM system.

This implies that you may quickly identify and analyze a wide range of behavioral patterns, connect them to causes, channels, or even agents, and develop the optimal solution. It would be a shame to limit yourself to simple reports and statistics when there are so many options available. Additionally, CRM software has a focus on adaptive marketing automation, and there are many things it can do for you before you begin selling. This even teaches you how to contact various target groups and how to assess the expectations of potential customers.

Even better, reputable CRM software supports a variety of KPIs that are used to gauge how well customers are engaged. Email click-through rates, the amount of missed opportunities, average response rates, and many other KPIs are examples of what you might be overlooking.

Matching landing pages or websites to CRM data.

The performance metrics for landing pages and how users react to them might serve as inspiration for automating or incorporating new procedures into CRM. For instance, a fast email can be sent to a consumer who has expressed intense interest in several landing pages or websites so that he can learn more. 

Marketers can take advantage of these benefits of CRM functions to enhance marketing results by sending frequent, timely, and automated communications and emails.

Understanding the gaps and closing them can be aided by the performance data for web pages, such as bounce rates, click through rates, views per session, etc. This data examination also suggests the potential for expanding the number of sales possibilities.

Use CRM conversational data to discover unique marketing strategies.

Conversations can be recorded and sometimes documented using CRM. The results of the conversation might be used to identify what impressed the customers or where the company utterly failed to provide value. The dialogue can help gather user perspective instead of providing a planned introduction and explanations, which is no less than a goldmine for a marketer. From product planning through customer delivery, this information may benefit firms at every stage.

The tools available to marketers may include AI, predictive modeling, etc. Still, the process of planning for expansion and growth is completed by CRM, which makes use of all of these and provides the essential information. In order to achieve the best marketing results, it is crucial to make use of the CRM platform’s functionalities.

Consider automating different workflows.

CRM is a potential solution that can assist in automating numerous repetitive and mundane tasks. To remind the sales staff to follow up, the marketers can either build up an automated procedure or schedule an email sending system for the specified time and date. The goal is to be present when it is predicted that the customer’s interest will be at its peak.

The automation of service messaging not only keeps marketing communications automated, but it also gives customer support representatives who perform recurrent tasks more and better-quality work. Therefore, when workflows are automated with CRM applications, it becomes possible to apply the human touch to more sales-oriented causes.

Enhance your advertising and onboarding process.

Developers of CRM software are now better equipped with a wide range of options that may help both marketers and customers. While the CRM team finds it simple to walk clients through the onboarding process and provide a fast guide, users can begin utilizing the product or application with the utmost ease. The speed of the onboarding process is an important consideration because it will assist organizations in quickly acquainting users with the applications. A few marketing strategies can be modified by experts and added to the onboarding procedure.

Some of the marketing strategies that can be incorporated into the onboarding process include image association, the introduction of an urgency factor, discount offers, and loyalty rewards. All of these adjustments may encourage customers to develop closer ties with the company.

Create drip marketing.

The capability of measuring client response across all touchpoints is a feature of CRM. Targeting potential clients who even remotely expressed interest in the company’s offerings, goods, or services is what a drip campaign entails. Therefore, a drip campaign targets clients in the middle or bottom of the funnel. To create this campaign, marketers can use information from CRM functionalities. For instance, they may create a mailing list based on how customers feel about the emails. 

These IDs can be changed with the email IDs of other customers who have visited the site in the past, clicked an ad at some point, had an item in their cart, etc., if the emails go unclicked or receive no reaction from the clients.

Build and keep profitable client portfolios.

You can simply travel through your whole conversation in a certain case and anticipate what customers would want in any scenario when all of your customer data is consolidated under one roof.

You receive a historical and cross-channel perspective of how you’ve handled a particular customer or issue. This is how CRM software maintains consistency in your service and transforms quality relationships into a recognizable norm.

You can develop playbooks based on previous contacts and pull out service standards to assist agents in dealing with particular interactions. Returning consumers are more satisfied with your service since they already know what to expect; therefore, it is a win-win strategy. You can utilize your CRM to identify and rank your most profitable clients rather than speculating about who they could be.

Use tagging to personalize your marketing technique.

Having data is one thing, but having data that results in sales is quite another. Marketers can use data management solutions with tagging techniques to categorize a large number of customers according to demographic characteristics. Age, the device being used, the frequency of website visits, the last item purchased, income level, problems encountered, etc. can all be utilized to tag approaches in order to develop more personalized campaigns.

The CRM and marketing teams can integrate and share data to produce messages, emails, and other customer-targeted communications that are received by the appropriate audience and understood as such. Customization is a relatively new and one of the most promising strategies that contemporary organizations must use to tip the scales in their favor.

This strategy is the result of extensive research, tools that support predictive analysis, and a focus on the needs of the consumer. More customized efforts that aim to get the best possible outcomes are implementing the information.

Connect your CRM to other effective tools.

The basic parallels between tools for marketing, sales, and customer service are obvious, but there are some intriguing linkages you might not have considered. All enterprise systems used to handle your sales can be supported by the account data acquired in your CRM. An enterprise resource planning system is never adequate, as is common knowledge.

Connecting the CRM to your ERP program and adding a single, completely automated inquiry management process for all clients are two ideas. In order to avoid having to enter data twice, the CRM application should also integrate with your calendar and email services. Moreover, you need to link your social media accounts to your CRM.

The reason for this is social listening: you should constantly be aware of how conversations on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn affect the image of your company.

Final Thoughts

There is always room for advancement when creating a successful CRM strategy. Along with following our advice on how to make the most of your CRM tool, you should consider your service from the viewpoint of your customers and look for additional CRM opportunities that we haven’t covered. It’s also important to start with a reliable CRM application, if possible.

Remember, the most crucial CRM tip is that you should occasionally play it by ear. The needs of your customers are constantly changing, so you must stand firm to meet them.

Martin Gessner

Martin Gessner is the Founder of Focus on Force.

He has spent over 10 years working in various Salesforce roles including business analyst, project manager, consultant and solutions architect. Along the way he has earned twelve certifications, published "The Salesforce Career Playbook", and helps Salesforce professionals learn more about Salesforce, develop their career and prepare for certifications.