Are you having trouble selling the benefits of a Marketing Automation system to your management team, because you are already using a CRM system? A recently-released white paper from Marketo addresses some common problems that CRMs can’t solve on their own, and describes the benefits of combining CRM and Marketing Automation systems.

CRMs do a great job of handling leads and contacts, for both sales and marketing. There are many benefits, such as having leads/contacts in one central location, easy updating of lead/contact data, effective scheduling tools, opportunity and pipeline tracking tools, and possibilities for closed-loop reporting. However, there are some areas in which CRMs can use some help, primarily in the processes for managing leads and their behaviors. That’s where a Marketing Automation system comes in.

Marketing Automation systems make life easier for sales and marketing, by allowing for faster, automated campaigns, shorter response times from marketing, better reporting metrics, more qualified leads passed to sales, and better information about those leads. CRMs just do not have the functionality to track behavior (such as web visits, email opens/clicks, resource downloads, etc.) or make decisions on what actions to take when leads perform new activities. Using a Marketing Automation system, leads can be assigned a score based on their behavior, and sales people can use that score to determine which leads to call first, and how best to approach them.

The Marketo white paper highlights some of the solutions provided by combining a CRM with a Marketing Automation system, such as:

• Marketing Automation systems deliver more qualified leads to the CRM by automagically scoring leads based on their activities, and then prioritizing the leads in the CRM.
• Sales people have access to far more information about their leads than before (digital body language), which makes that first call easier and more targeted.
• Marketing Automation systems automate and accelerate campaigns, which save time and money for both marketing and sales.
• Automated lead nurturing allows marketing to develop and stay in touch with leads that are not yet ready to talk with sales.
• Data cleansing and consolidation in the CRM is more effective when using the de-duplication and data append tools available in Marketing Automation systems.
• Showing – with actual data – how sales and marketing have influenced a sale is far simpler when combining a CRM with a Marketing Automation system, making it easier to prove ROI on your efforts.

If you need help with selecting a Marketing Automation system or get more out of your current system, our team at Definitive Results can help. We live and breathe this stuff. You can download our Marketing Automation Vendor Comparison Guide, or speak with one of our Marketing Automation experts to help find a match for your organization. Simply get in touch to start a conversation!