Apparently they are three different ideas – marketing automation, data management, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – and yet they unite in one aspect – providing better customer satisfaction. But one needs to know how to merge them as a unified solution. So, let us take a dive into the process of bringing them together and making the customer’s experience a better one.

It all starts with data management, because without efficient data management the rest will fall apart. Data is the soul of this journey. They need to be up-to-date and relevant to the customers involved. If your information is not relevant to their needs and to the current times, then that will be a disaster. Therefore, you need to know what is important for your customers. A survey is a good idea to know that, but again the questions you decide to ask should be targeted enough to get the facts about the specific wants of your clients.

It is on the basis of the data you get from your survey and other methods that you can rightly gauge customer needs. At the same time, that information will be central in helping you decide the best possible CRM method. In order to make data gathering more efficient and the information more useful for the customers, the marketing managers should get involved as they have the marketing automation tools in their disposal. Leveraging those may help you get not only the contact information of the customers but also their behavioral pattern and purchase history.

In fact, past customer-care calls, feedback records, earlier buying history, and purchase requests will help you to create a detailed database of information that will give you all the relevant facts and figures about your consumers. But it is also important that you create a format that would organize the data in a way that is standard and makes information look-up easier. A standardized database makes the marketing automation process a cakewalk. In order to achieve that, the IT department too has to pitch in and join hands with the marketing guys. Such standardization also makes sure that the data are accurate and have the information that are required.

Integration of CRM and marketing automation tool too is dependent on this streamlined information library. Because, the better and to-the-point the information, the more chances your company and you have got to get closer to the right customers, meaning the people you do want to be your buyer.

This is exactly how you mix data information, marketing automation, and CRM to make sure that your customers have a great journey. You start by gathering data on your consumers with the help of marketing automation tools, and then build an enriched database that serves as the stepping stone to your CRM.

It is a long and meticulous process, but at the end of the day every bit of the effort and time you put into this is worth it as your customers will be leave happier.