Table of contents:
- The difference between CRM software and marketing automation software
- Why do businesses need to use them together?
- Benefits of CRMs with ready-for-use marketing automation features like Pipedrive
- 7 Tips on best Pipedrive use for sales and marketing efficiency
- Automaly as your go-to expert for all automated processes in Pipedrive
If your organization uses Pipedrive or is considering it for CRM functions, you will be happy to know the platform can also transform your marketing and sales automation for the better. Â
Pipedrive is a deal-driven customer relationship management CRM solution popular with small to midsize businesses (SMBs). The platform is also an excellent account-management tool for marketing and the entire sales process.
As a business leader, knowing how to leverage Pipedrive to improve marketing and sales teams’ productivity is necessary. This comprehensive guide covers the most problematic areas in combining marketing automation and CRM tools and how to interlink with sales automation.
The difference between CRM software and marketing automation software
While CRM and marketing automation software may seem similar, there are several differences between them. Customer relationship management (CRM) software is used primarily in optimising sales processes, while marketing automation is concerned with marketing activities. As a result, the two serve entirely different purposes.
What is CRM software?
CRM software like Pipedrive is instrumental in contact and sales management. It allows you to monitor and carry out meaningful interactions with customers throughout the sales funnel. In addition, CRM tools provide advanced functionality and task automation. For example, it helps manage email campaigns with qualified leads and customer and deal data.
CRM tools can be used for the following:
- Tracking existing and potential customers’ activity across your customer journey touchpoints, e.g., your social media accounts, email, or website
- Gathering consumer insights
- Nurturing a relationship with each contact, e.g., assigning a salesperson to a lead that requests a consultation.
What is marketing automation software?
Marketing automation software helps streamline workflows, speed up processes, and eliminate time-wasting tasks. In addition, the software automates key marketing activities like tracking and optimising customer engagement to improve efficiency.Â
Marketing automation tools can be used for:
- Lead segmentation
- Lead generation
- Nurturing leads with targeted content
- Customer retention and account-based marketing.
Why do businesses need to use them together?
There is much benefit to leveraging both this software for your business. This approach mainly improves your capabilities in managing customer experience and driving growth.Â
CRM and marketing automation combined gives you insight into current and potential customers, which you can leverage to build stronger relationships and understand customers’ needs better.Â
Sales and marketing teams perform better when they can easily trade information to ensure a seamless experience for would-be customers. When a business uses both CRM and marketing tools, both teams are well informed of their leads’ expectations. As a result, they will be able to offer a personalised experience to every prospect.Â
Imagine how annoying it would be for a promising lead to be left unattended after showing interest in a highly marketed product. The person would lose interest. Although incidents like this are not intentional, they could often occur to the point where it taints your brand’s reputation for poor response rates. It is situations like this that combining CRM and marketing automation helps you avoid.
Interconnection between CRM software, marketing automation, and sales automation
As previously discussed, CRM automation is mainly concerned with the sales workflow. Hence CRM marketing automation brings together CRM, marketing, and sales automation under one roof. This setup simplifies many processes for marketers and salespeople as the flow of information between them is streamlined.
A combination of CRM and marketing automation platforms enables you to:
- Establish a strong relationship with leads before connecting them to a sales representative
- Keep track of the customer journey from lead generation to sale to gain insight into what needs changing and optimising
- Conduct accurate lead scoring
- Create a smooth customer journey for leads turned customers
- Gain a 360-degree view of the lead journey, including KPIs
- Establish a consistent communication strategy for lead nurturing and customer support.
Automating CRM, marketing, and sales processes improves the business’s outcomes. In addition, feedback and insights from sales and CRM will help optimise marketing efforts. And this, in turn, will help create the ideal environment for more lead conversions and return customers.
Benefits of CRMs with ready-for-use marketing automation features like Pipedrive
Fortunately, some vendors like Pipedrive have taken it upon themselves to provide an all-in-one solution with CRM marketing automation capabilities. It is why Pipedrive is a top pick for SMBs.
What are Pipedrive’s main CRM features?
Automated sales workflow
Pipedrive provides sales process automation for time-consuming, repetitive tasks. Things like sending sales emails, doing follow-ups, and updating client information will take up much of your time without boosting productivity. Pipedrive can help you create a seamless sales process through scalable automation.Â
Customised workflows
Every business will have its unique way of doing things. So rather than changing what works for you to suit your software, Pipedrive allows you to create a CRM workflow that meets your needs. This ensures the right people on your team have access to everything they need without workarounds.
Advanced reporting and analytics
Pipedrive allows you to track KPIs and generate custom sales reports on what matters to your team. Businesses can leverage this feature to measure performance against goals, forecast revenue, and identify opportunities to optimise the workflow.
Lead management
You can leverage the platform’s CRM capabilities to make the most out of interactions with leads. This applies to lead generation, qualification, scoring, and prioritisation.
Easy integration
Pipedrive is compatible with thousands of your favourite applications for emailing, video calls, business texting, customer support, etc. You can find the best tools to sync with your CRM solution in the Pipedrive Marketplace.
What marketing automation functionality does Pipedrive have?
Email integration
Pipedrive marketing automation improves email marketing functions. Marketers benefit from the in-built email automation, auto-reply functions, template creation, storage, etc. The best part is automation does not mean sacrificing personalisation. Your marketing email will be sent only to leads who will find it relevant according to the information provided by the CRM lead database.
Deal labels
Keeping track of every lead in your marketing funnel is more straightforward, with labels indicating where they are in your workflow. In addition, labels and automatic notifications ensure no deal stays stagnant for too long, reminding you to send follow-up messages to encourage qualified leads to move up the funnel.
Lead interactions tracking
Pipedrive provides marketers with tools to determine the lead source, actively monitor where leads are in the funnel, and pursue actions to convert the prospect. In addition, you can track each interaction, from initial contact to the final decision. The workflow design also makes it easy to share information with the sales team.Â
Task automation
Pipedrive marketing automation eliminates manual processes for repetitive tasks like contact management, lead scoring, and generating a deal for every new contact added. It automatically initiates appropriate actions when a lead completes one stage of the marketing cycle, e.g., moving the lead’s profile along the pipeline to the next stage. This helps you avoid overlooking leads needing attention and clogging the workflow.