Do you need help connecting with customers via email marketing? Understanding what types of messages resonate best with consumers can be challenging.
Email marketing and CRM technology are two tools that build consumer relationships quickly!
Hi! I’m AJ. While growing my business, I realized how much of an impact email campaigns and CRM have on customer loyalty and sales.
After selling that business, I started Small Business Bonfire to help small business owners find success!
How do you get started with email marketing? Keep reading! I’ll reveal all my secrets throughout this article!
Key Takeaways
- CRM email marketing combines the power and efficiency of an email advertising strategy with CRM software.
- Email marketing campaigns help businesses segment customers based on which discounts they prefer and the marketing strategy that proves most effective.
- Marketing automation features save time and effort, ensuring your team can focus on the creative aspects of their job.
Related Reading: Best CRM for Small Businesses
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What is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management)?
What is a CRM? Customer relationship management (CRM) software helps companies manage their interactions and relationships with potential and existing customers.
How does the technology strengthen customer bonds?
CRM systems collect and organize customer data, offering insights into details like customer segments, buying patterns, interests, etc.
As a result, sales and marketing teams can easily create more personalized strategies that encourage more sales and loyal customers.
However, there are other things CRMs are useful for that optimize and improve relationships! On top of that, the programs can streamline sales and marketing processes.
Therefore, marketing and sales reps work efficiently and with higher productivity levels because CRMs create streamlined, repetitive processes that are intuitive.
Some marketing-specific processes CRM tools can perform include the following functions:
- Contact management
- Reporting and analytics
- Bulk email sending
- Social media scheduling
- Campaign management
Put simply, a CRM tool finds and stores key customer data in a centralized location. That way, any employee can access the information they need.
Customer relationships improve, revenue increases and employee productivity skyrockets when companies implement CRM features correctly!
There are many CRM marketing benefits. Now let’s look at CRM email marketing, a subset of CRM marketing.
What is CRM Email Marketing?
CRM email marketing is an email marketing/advertising strategy that utilizes CRM software.
As a result, email marketing campaigns are more personalized and effective because they make direct contact with prospective clients.
The primary goal of using CRM with email marketing is to stay in front of customers’ minds. You want customers to think of your products or services first because your marketing techniques are so effective!
In the past, email marketing focused on larger customer segments or more generalized messages.
However, CRM today allows companies to offer an individualized approach to their marketing strategy.
How Does CRM Email Marketing Work?
CRM with email marketing works by utilizing CRM system information.
Remember, CRMs collect valuable customer information such as the following:
- Demographics
- Shopping patterns
- Interests
- Effective marketing campaigns
- Social media interactions
- Buying history
Email marketing campaigns use this information to create targeted, aesthetic advertisements encouraging potential customers to buy your products or services.
For example, say your CRM tool indicates a specific customer segment typically purchases products when there is a buy one get one half-off sale.
In that case, you can create an email marketing campaign with that kind of sale and send it to that customer segment.
Customers are likelier to purchase products or services when they see targeted campaigns because (most) consumers prefer a personalized shopping experience.
What is Email Automation?
Email automation is a feature that allows businesses to automate their email marketing campaigns.
By doing so, you can save time and money while still delivering effective messages to customers with an email marketing tool.
For instance, if your company offers seasonal discounts or special deals at certain times of the year, you can set up automated emails each season that offer these savings.
Additionally, businesses can automate email marketing campaigns to set up messages that send customers content specific to their interests.
For example, if a customer has indicated an interest in a particular product or topic, you can automatically message the consumer.
That way, they know your company offers products and services that align with what they like.
These messages can range from informative articles about the topic to deals for the upcoming season.
Why is CRM Email Marketing Important for SMBs?
CRM with email marketing is essential for small businesses because it impacts numerous departments within the company.
A common misconception is that email marketing tools only affect marketing teams.
However, the information email marketing software collects is incredibly valuable.
Let’s observe three ways an email marketing/CRM combination impacts small businesses!
Email Marketing for Sales
Many business owners don’t realize email campaigns and the technology’s information can improve sales.
I’ll admit I initially implemented an email marketing tool for my marketing reps, not realizing the impact it would have on my sales team.
Email campaigns can seamlessly integrate messages encouraging or reminding customers to purchase your products or services.
For instance, some popular email marketing automation messages your business can send to improve sales include the following:
- Reminders about an abandoned cart
- Notifications about limited edition products
- Messages about a seasonal deal or discount
- Exclusive content such as videos or blog posts
After sending these messages, store customer data regarding which customers clicked on the emails or used the discounts.
That way, you can continually send similar automated email campaigns to these groups.
Another way email marketing services impact sales is that the technology can automate part of your sales process.
For example, some email marketing/CRM tools enable users to send messages that sales teams automatically want to follow up with to potential customers.
Additionally, you can automate drip campaigns. Email marketing automation helps your team members save time.
Email Marketing for Customer Service
CRM with email marketing can also improve and streamline customer service tasks.
Communication with your customer base is critical. You build strong relationships by maintaining consistent, genuine connections with potential and current customers.
And strong relationships lead to repeat customers and more sales opportunities!
Email marketing is an easy way to send regular messages to your customers. Consumers appreciate a good email (ensure you don’t overdo it).
Additionally, sending regular messages helps your customers feel they can reach out and talk with your team whenever they need.
Another way email marketing improves customer service is by collecting data.
Remember, CRM software collects and organizes valuable customer data.
Using this information, your customer service reps have up-to-date profiles of every customer, ensuring they understand each person’s needs and buying history.
Therefore, when customers contact customer service agents with questions, they’re less likely to get frustrated because an agent can’t find their purchase history, address, etc.
Email Marketing for Better Marketing ROI
Finally, CRM with email marketing helps small businesses track the success of their marketing campaigns.
Many email marketing tools come with comprehensive analytics capabilities that help you measure your return on investment (ROI).
For example, you can keep track of open rates, click-throughs, conversions, and other metrics such as customer segmentation.
These analytics are essential for any small business. Understanding your ROI gives you the information to reassess and improve your campaigns.
For example, if one of your email campaigns receives a higher open rate than expected, you can adjust future emails accordingly.
This process helps you create better campaigns that resonate with customers because you understand what works and doesn’t.
What are the Benefits of CRM Email Marketing?
Effective email marketing campaigns include several benefits your small business must utilize.
Email marketing capabilities are incredibly useful, from creating a central location for customer insights to easily creating personalized emails.
Let’s look at the seven benefits of an email marketing service!
Multiple Email Marketing Campaigns
Running several email marketing campaigns is a significant benefit of CRM software.
Running several marketing strategies allows your team to observe the techniques that result in more customers and sales.
Additionally, it ensures you only run effective campaigns.
Operating multiple marketing techniques simultaneously also leads to a higher chance of success and faster success rates.
Running one campaign at a time is inefficient, especially if the strategy isn’t working.
Several personalized email campaigns allow your team to adjust and alter strategies quicker.
Central Place for Audience Data
Using a CRM platform with email marketing ensures your customer data stays in a centralized location.
Additionally, this technology allows everyone in your company to access the same information, from sales reps to customer service agents.
A centralized location prevents data silos, which are pieces of data unavailable to specific people or departments.
Some pieces of information a CRM can store about your customers include the following:
- Contact information
- Phone call notes
- Sales activity
- General customer notes
- User behavior
You and your team can easily identify patterns and key metrics about your customer base and productivity using this information.
Easy Connection to Other Marketing Channels
Another advantage of email marketing and CRM is that it simplifies connecting other marketing channels.
Therefore, your company can convert customer insights into actionable tasks that lead to more sales and revenue.
When businesses store customer data separately from their marketing channels, it’s hard to see a clear picture of each consumer.
Additionally, personalized communication and segmentation are also tricky.
However, CRM with email marketing integrations ensures each marketing function works together, allowing your team to build customer relationships and effective marketing techniques.
Marketing services provide valuable information and an easy way to connect with your customers; taking advantage of the data is essential for success.
Clear Picture of Your Email Audience
Because an email marketing platform stores and organizes data in a centralized location, businesses get a clearer picture of their target audience.
When various pieces of customer information live in different software, you miss key details that make customers who they are.
Therefore, storing your customer information in one place is essential!
Doing this makes it easier to see precisely who your consumers are and what marketing services, products, services, and communication styles they want from you.
Tracking this information lets you see what marketing strategies work and are most effective, allowing your team to grow!
It’s okay if your initial marketing campaign doesn’t work (trust me, I’ve run several marketing strategies that didn’t work at first).
Learning from these mistakes and tweaking your campaign until it leads to more sales is important!
Targeted Personalized Campaigns
Targeted email campaigns are the most effective email campaigns.
Targeted campaigns are tailored to your customer’s individual preferences and interests. As a result, they feel seen and understood.
And when a customer feels like a business understands what they need, they are likelier to purchase the company’s products or services.
A CRM platform creates personalized campaigns by automatically collecting, organizing, and storing key customer data.
Effective email marketing tools utilize CRM information to create personalized messages that resonate with the company’s audience, leading to more sales and loyal customers.
Easy Email Creation
Email marketing platforms make creating and sending emails easier.
Many platforms offer built-in templates and drag-and-drop editors that simplify building a beautiful and effective email.
These platforms also allow businesses to send coupons, surveys, sign-up forms, etc., making email creation simple!
CRM with email marketing makes this process even easier because your team can access a customer’s history and build emails tailored to the individual’s needs.
Easy email creation saves your employees time, allowing them to focus on critical aspects of their job rather than finding an email template and creating content for your customers.
Better Customer Data
CRM with email marketing provides a better understanding of customer data, allowing your team to identify trends and patterns.
This information helps you create personalized campaigns that increase sales and ROI.
Additionally, this technology allows you to segment your customers based on their interests, leading to more targeted campaigns that resonate with a specific audience.
The ability to track analytics is essential for successful marketing campaigns.
CRM with email marketing lets you see how many customers open your emails, which links they click on, and other critical metrics.
As a result, this information helps you understand what’s working with your campaigns and where you need improvement.
It’s nearly impossible to improve email marketing tools if you don’t have accurate, in-depth data and analytics.
Features You Should Look for in an Email CRM
Email marketing with CRM technology includes several benefits.
But what features help companies take advantage of these benefits? You must look for numerous features when investing in CRM and email marketing.
Below are the top features you must check for when investigating CRM and email marketing providers.
Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing is when your company develops and builds customer relationships at every stage of the sales funnel.
CRM with email marketing can automate parts of customer journeys, saving your team time and money.
Effective lead nurturing converts more leads into paying customers, and CRM software makes this somewhat challenging operation easier.
DRIP Campaigns
A drip campaign is a series of automated messages a company sends to people who take a particular action on their website (reading an article, buying products, etc.).
The company chooses how many additional emails to send and when for each action.
Drip campaigns save companies significant time because the email marketing tool is mapped out beforehand.
Automation
Many companies find themselves overwhelmed by all the marketing tasks they must complete.
CRM with email marketing automates many of these processes, saving employees time and energy.
Automation also helps companies target customers better since it streamlines segmentation processes.
Although it may not seem like automatically sending messages and generating reports saves that much time, these seemingly small tasks add up in the long run.
Marketing automation is a feature you must have because it utilizes the advanced CRM capabilities at your fingertips.
Analytics
Companies must adjust and tweak even the best email marketing service.
Customer information and preferences continually change, and your strategies must change with them!
CRM features allow you to use analytics to see how to change strategies.
Some details analytics tell your business about include the following:
- How many people clicked on a certain email
- How successful specific campaigns were
- Which discount codes customers use
Email A/B Testing
Conducting A/B tests for email templates and campaigns helps your business see what resonates with your audience best.
For instance, if option A results in 100 clicks but option B results in 250, you know the second email campaign was more effective.
Some elements you can test for while setting up A/B emails include the following:
- Subject lines
- Images
- CTAs
The best variation of an email campaign provides the highest engagement and conversion rates.
Bulk Email
Bulk email is when businesses send an email to several people simultaneously.
CRM with email marketing allows your team to send bulk emails and personalize each message for customer segments.
These messages feel targeted to the reader, making them more likely to engage in products or services.
Overall, CRM with email marketing allows companies to create personalized messages for customers that build relationships and lead to more sales.
Automated Email Responses
Many customers expect businesses to respond quickly to inquiries or comments. And when businesses respond faster, it leads to higher satisfaction rates.
CRM software with email marketing allows companies to set up automated responses that go out when customers contact the business.
These emails can include helpful information, links to relevant pages on the website, and more.
Automated messages show customers that you care about their needs and are willing to help.
CRM with email marketing isn’t just about sending emails; it’s about creating relationships and deepening customer engagement.
By leveraging the advanced features of these tools, you can increase sales, generate more leads, and build relationships with customers.
CRM Vs. Email Marketing: What's the Difference?
Many people need clarification on CRM technology with email marketing. Although these tools are effective marketing technologies, it’s essential to understand their differences.
CRM software is designed to help businesses to manage and improve customer relationships.
With CRM technology, businesses can do the following things:
- Launch marketing campaigns
- Save and organize contact information
- Identify weak points in the sales process
- Find potential customers
- Analyze sales opportunities
CRM features focus on creating long-lasting consumer relationships.
In comparison, email marketing features are designed to build an email list and launch campaigns.
The motive behind email marketing is driving sales.
So, what differentiates CRM and email marketing features?
CRM helps you manage potential and current customer relationships. Email marketing helps you reach customers most cost-effectively.
CRM Email Marketing Examples
You don’t have to guess about CRM and email marketing. Businesses everywhere use these features to increase sales and build customer relationships.
Here are a few real-world examples of businesses leveraging the power of CRM and email marketing:
- A retail store tracks customer information, such as purchase history, preferences, and contact details. The company uses the data to create targeted campaigns that offer personalized discounts to customers on specific products.
- A food delivery business uses automated emails sent through CRM software to remind customers of upcoming orders, a copy of their receipts, and order status.
- A travel company sends automated emails with discount codes when customers book flights or hotels in specific locations.
These examples demonstrate how CRM and email marketing help companies increase sales by providing customers with valuable information that helps them make decisions.
Best CRM For Email Marketing
If you’re new to email marketing and need companies to research, I’ve got you covered!
Before you integrate email marketing, it’s critical to research different companies and compare pricing, features, and ease of use.
Below are three of the best email marketing companies you can consider before purchasing software!
HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot has a CRM plan for businesses of all sizes.
For instance, the provider’s free plan is $0 forever and includes email marketing tools, contact management features, and landing pages.
The remaining plans cost the following monthly rates:
- Starter: $45
- Professional: $800
- Enterprise: $3,600
HubSpot’s Marketing Hub is known for being easy to use, making it an excellent choice for beginners and growing businesses.
Also, this software organizes and centralizes marketing data, preventing data silos and making it easy for different departments to communicate and access complete customer profiles.
Read more in our full HubSpot Marketing Hub Review!
EnageBay Marketing Bay
EngageBay offers an all-in-one marketing automation tool with several email marketing features!
For example, some features EnagageBay offers with its marketing automation plan include the following:
- Forms
- Landing pages
- Email sequences
- Marketing automation
- Email templates
EngageBay allows you and your team to create and send engaging emails faster.
Additionally, the software allows you to track critical data and performance metrics, ensuring your email marketing strategies are effective.
Another reason EngageBay is so popular among small businesses is that there are numerous integration partners.
Third-party integrations ensure your business can take advantage of EnaggeBay’s tools alongside industry-specific functions a third-party integration offers.
Are you interested in learning more about EngageBay? Read our full EngageBay Marketing Bay Review!
Freshmarketer
Freshmarketer allows companies to create personalized multichannel customer journeys at the desired scales.
One of the best things about Freshmarketer is that the provider offers free trials and demos.
That way, you can see if the software works effectively with your business needs rather than investing in expensive technology prematurely.
Freshmarketer designs CRM software for e-commerce businesses, allowing teams to create clear customer messages and convert leads faster.
Some techniques Freshmarketer uses to create personalized multichannel engagement include the following strategies:
- SMS
- Live chat
- Social media
Freshmarketer’s email marketing tools and analytics are advanced yet simple to understand. And the 21-day free trial allows you to try the service with commitments!
If you want to learn more about Freshmarketer, read our full Freshmarketer Review!
Final Thoughts on CRM Email Marketing
CRM and email marketing are essential tools businesses use to create customer relationships, drive sales, and provide a better customer experience.
Email marketing features like automation, segmentation, and A/B testing allow you and your team to gather information and create targeted campaigns that resonate with consumers.
What email marketing features are your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below!
And good luck finding the best email marketing technology for your company!