A CRM system without a Marketing Automation Platform is like currywurst without fries - good, but not perfect.

1. CRM & Marketing Automation: What is what?
2. Why do companies then still need a system for marketing automation?
3. What is the difference between CRM and Marketing Automation(-software)?
4. CRM and Marketing Automation - does your company need two separate systems?
5. NoCode Integration - iPaaS – Integration Platform as a Service - Advantages of an Integration of Marketing Automation & CRM
6. Conclusion

As symbiotic as currywurst and fries, so is the pairing of a CRM system and a Marketing Automation Platform (MAP). CRM systems have been in use since the 1980s. The Marketing Automation Platforms only saw the light of day a good 20 years later. But the combination of the two systems is not an idea from a snack bar, but a brilliant way to take into account the changes in sales reality and current technical possibilities in order to increase sales success.

CRM & Marketing Automation: What is what?

Definition of CRM System

The term CRM stands for "Customer Relationship Management. As the name suggests, a CRM system stores, manages and evaluates relationships with customers and prospects. The most important modules in a CRM system are:

• Leads / Prospects

• Account / Company

• Contact / Contact persons

• Opportunity / Sales opportunities

• History / What happened?

• Activities / What should happen in the future?

Some CRM systems offer additional modules for route planning, service, contracts, projects.

The use of CRM systems can be broadly divided into:

• Operational CRM: Support of operational sales (contact, qualification, offers, projects etc.) with a focus on individual or groups of prospects / customers or accounts.

• Strategic CRM: Support of sales management with a perspective on planning and sales control.

The CRM system is the data-technical basis for sales success. All data is collected here, allowing optimal support of prospects and customers. If the CRM system is used accordingly, all sales-relevant data is consistent and forms the basis for a target-oriented sales tactic in operational procedures. The consistent data provides detailed evaluations for management, supports the derivation of recommendations for action and provides a good basis for decision-making and planning. For the future, the consistent data is also the basis for the use of AI in marketing and sales.

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You can find out more about the advantages of a CRM system in the article "The 4 advantages of a CRM system" - a more extensive definition can be found in our Glossary entry on CRM.

Why do companies then still need a system for marketing automation?

In the CRM system, data from prospects and customers is stored to support sales management. In the modern purchasing process, many contacts are not yet ready or willing for a sales contact in the early stage of their Customer Journey.

This means that in the early phase of the Customer Journey we don't even have any data for the CRM system. Even with the first "Gated Content" (content only against entering an email address and granting opt-in) we still have too few data for the CRM system if we follow the progressive profiling approach to increase conversion. Following this approach, you only ask for a few data in the early phase of the development process (at least email and opt-in) and add to it step by step. But even if we had the data, it would often still be too early to hand these leads over to sales. Because most leads are not ready for a sales contact after generation. I also call this the "Green Banana Effect®". If you open a green banana and bite into it, most people won't like the banana. Is the banana broken? No, it's just not ripe yet. The same applies to leads. Only sales-ready leads should be handed over to sales. This optimizes efficiency, the probability of closing, and optimal collaboration between marketing and sales.

The automated processes that develop leads individually and automatically up to sales readiness and transfer to the sales and CRM systems are called Lead Nurturing processes. They are the heart of marketing automation. The basis for these processes is a detailed profiling of the buyer persona and a nurturing compliant analysis of the customer journey. Both enable functioning performance measures, the right approach, relevant content modules and the design of functioning nurturing processes.

Definition of Marketing Automation Platform (MAP)

The main focus of Marketing Automation Platforms are processes (nurturing processes) that develop prospects and customers in an automated but individual way until they are (again) ready for sales. In a MAP, however, other automated processes can also be stored:

• Invitation and follow-up of events

• Onboarding / Offboarding

• Preventing customer churn

• B- and C-customer service

• Individualized customer communication

• Etc.

The main functions of Marketing Automation Platforms:

• Depict nurturing processes

• Campaign design with campaign designer functions

• Build profiles / Progressive profiling

• Depict scoring models for the qualification of prospects and customers

• Routing of prospects and customers to the CRM system

Here you can read how to successfully implement Marketing Automation.

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What is the difference between CRM and Marketing Automation(-software)?

The difference between the two systems lies in the tasks and functions of the software systems.

Task and focus of Marketing Automation Platforms

The task of Marketing Automation Platforms is to develop prospects up to sales readiness and handover to sales. In customer base management, nurturing processes in the Marketing Automation Platforms reactivate existing customers and develop them until they are ready for sale again. The main task of Marketing Automation Platforms is primarily to support the PreSales phase.

Popular Marketing Automation Software

socialPALS

Optimizely Campaign

HubSpot Marketing Hub

Bloomreach

ELAINE

AIC Marketing Automation

Task and focus of CRM systems

The task of CRM is to support sales in operational sales support, lead management and customer base management. The management level benefits from the reporting and evaluation functions of a strategic CRM.

Since the touchpoints and technical possibilities to influence the behavior of prospects and customers have changed dramatically in recent years due to digitalization, we need to establish contact much earlier in the Customer Journey.

What has changed?

Customers...

• ...expect information at the touchpoints where they are moving.

• ...want to inform themselves in the "Self Service Mode" with relevant content before they seek a conversation or advice.

• ...want ungated content (content without entering an email and granting opt-in) in the early phase of their buying process. They usually want to remain anonymous at this stage.

• ...want to decide for themselves when they want to talk to sales.

Marketing Automation takes exactly these changes and expectations into account. It supports early contact initiation with relevant content and develops the leads automatically up to the MQL (Marketing qualified Lead) stage. Once this stage is reached, the lead is handed over to the CRM system and thus to sales for further qualification. Sales uses the CRM system to organize the support of sales-ready leads and existing customers.

Popular CRM systems

TecArt CRM

CentralStationCRM

SAP Sales Cloud

SugarCRM

BSI Customer Suite

Zoho CRM

Samdock

SuperOffice

monday CRM

ameax AkquiseManager CRM-Software

CRM and Marketing Automation - does your company need two separate systems?

The different tasks and functions of the two systems illustrated above make it clear why companies need both systems in order to win and support customers and to optimally use the possibilities of digitalization in marketing and sales.

Why should Marketing Automation and CRM systems be integrated and how do you realize this?

The two systems together represent the entire purchasing process of your prospects and customers. To optimally support sales success, this process must run without media breaks and delays. There are two approaches to combining marketing automation and CRM:

Suite

In the suite approach, you use the marketing automation and CRM system of one manufacturer. Ideally, the systems are already integrated. Only when you want to integrate further systems like performance platforms, webinar tools, ERP system or web shop, the question of integrating the systems arises again.

Best of breed

In this approach, you choose the best systems for the respective task and integrate them. If you choose a generic solution (iPaaS - Integration Platform as a Service) for this integration, you also integrate all other systems in your MarTech / SalesTech stack with this technology.

Here you can find Marketing Automation Tools and Softwares in Comparison and the best CRM softwares & tools in comparison.

NoCode Integration - iPaaS – Integration Platform as a Service - Advantages of an Integration of Marketing Automation & CRM

Classically, when connecting systems, one thinks of an individually programmed interface. The challenges with this approach are:

• The development is time-consuming.

• Individual interfaces are expensive.

• They are inflexible and any change costs time and money again.

In addition, companies today have an average of 200 systems/apps in marketing and sales. The MarTech Stack amounts to over 10,000 systems. Developing an individual connection for each system constellation is therefore not a sensible option. The solution to this challenge and the integration of Marketing Automation Platforms and CRM systems are iPaaS integration platforms.

These platforms come in different variations. For developers to develop API gateways. However, this solution variant includes dependence on IT/development. In the NoCoding approach, the integration of Marketing-Automation-Platforms and CRM systems can be realized quickly, easily and flexibly with user knowledge of data management.

Leads developed (MQL) from the Marketing Automation Platform are transferred to the CRM system via iPaaS integration platform. If changes are made to the data record by sales in direct contact, these flow back to the Marketing Automation Platform via the iPaaS connection. This way, new nurturing processes can be initiated again. If the Marketing Automation Platform and the CRM system are integrated, they optimally support lead management. This combination is not only great for lead management, it is also very effective for customer management. Areas of application here are:

• Repurchase / Repeat Selling

• Cross- and Up-Selling

• Account-based Marketing / Selling

• B- and C-customer service

• Preventing customer churn

For these sales scenarios, existing customers are marked in the CRM system to transfer them to the Marketing Automation Platform and start corresponding nurturing processes. Especially for customer management, it is important that iPaaS solutions can also easily and flexibly integrate further systems such as webinar platforms, web shops, ERP systems, PIM systems and other tools from the MarTech stack.

Conclusion

The Marketing Automation platform is the ideal pre-stage to personal sales contact for the PreSales phase. In CRM systems, all contacts and activities are stored and used for sales support.

The combination of Marketing Automation and a CRM system increases:

• the lead quality

• the efficiency in sales

• the probability of closure

• and the repurchase rate

What's better than a brilliant currywurst with fries? The brilliant combination of a Marketing Automation Platform and a CRM system. With this combination, all processes in modern marketing and sales can be represented and sales success can be increased.