I Don’t Need Marketing Automation, I Have a CRM

Because marketing automation is a relatively new technology, our team often encounters people who are prime candidates to benefit from this type of tool, but don’t fully understand what it is. Often people mistakenly believe that they if they already use a CRM, such as salesforce.com, then there is nothing they need in a marketing automation system. In reality, marketing automation is designed to aggregate data and enhance, not replace, other sales tools, like a CRM or a paid search platform.

How is marketing automation different from a CRM?

Marketing automation is a database of your prospects, much like a CRM. However, it also offers an entire suite of marketing tools to help manage these prospects. While some CRM systems offer similar tools, most of them don’t do so with the ease and sophistication of a marketing automation system. Examples of these features include the following: large-scale email management, drip nurturing programs, lead scoring and grading, micro-level activity tracking of both anonymous and identified visitors, ROI reporting, database deduplication, file hosting and simple form and landing page builders.

Through bi-directional syncing, the systems work together to keep all data up-to-date, and even provide a single sign-on to make the collaboration a breeze for sales users. Using the systems together allows the strong points of each one to shine, making the marketer’s life easier.

So, wait, do I need a CRM to use marketing automation?

No, a marketing automation system is a stand-alone tool. While it nicely compliments a CRM system for higher-volume users, it can also be used independently to manage a prospect database.