4 Reasons Why Companies are Choosing CRM Over Traditional Marketing tools CRM offers the perfect tools for accurately collecting, managing and analysing consumer behaviour data to help in creating impactful marketing strategies

Marketing has been an essential part of business growth and, for decades, businesses have thrived on the age old traditional marketing strategies, executed through sales managers and executives.

With the advent of the digital era, businesses are now equipped with a strong digital infrastructure and insights that is now transforming business processes. CRM or Customer Relationship Management, initially considered as a customer service process, has been gaining popularity as a versatile business development tool, assisting in creation of intelligent marketing strategies that drive sales, business growth and customer loyalty.

Laced with features like smart data, predictive analysis and real time response, the CRM has, over the past few years, transformed into one of the single most reliable and accurate system to drive growth. This has given rise to the term "Relationship Marketing' – a concept that seeks to increase sales by building trust and engaging customers. Relationship marketing focuses on driving consistent business through repeat customers by building a long-term relationship through consistently excellent customer service, understanding the consumer profile and preferences, anticipating their future needs, and offering discounts and special perks through loyalty programs.

CRM offers the perfect tools for accurately collecting, managing and analysing this consumer behaviour data so as to help in creating impactful marketing strategies, Public Relations and Advertising campaigns for engagement not only with existing customers, but also to reach to potential customers, possibly belonging to similar demographic/ geography or similar economic class.

Some key CRM features that are vital for a successful relationship marketing strategy, include:

1. Integrated Solutions:

With versatile applications and features that can be adapted to the latest technology evolutions, CRM is now a part of an integrated process for modern businesses today. With a rise in modern marketing and customer outreach platforms spread across mobile, social media, real time chat support, email, telephonic and face to face, the modern, global customer is almost omnipresent. CRM, with its agile applications and tailor made solutions, facilitates marketing and sales staff to log accurate and real time data across these platforms. This data can then be readily accessed to draw valuable data insights which can be usable while drawing up impactful marketing strategies.

2. Intuitive Data Analysis

Through integrated data collection, CRM has become a goldmine of intelligent consumer behaviour and brand sentiment insights. This information can further be segregated basis demographics, geographical location, purchase patterns and disposable income etc. to draw out campaigns that are more effective and economically viable. Further, through predictive analysis, the results of a particular outreach campaign can be accurately gauged, making the overall marketing strategy simpler, faster and targeted.

3. Automated Operations

With the rise in omnipresent consumer connect platforms, there is a vast amount of data that is logged into the CRM system, through multiple channels, often simultaneously. Further a cloud based operational infrastructure enables this data to be accessed in real time. With an intelligent data process, the information logged is accurately segregated and updated in the system, across all relevant platforms, through an automated process. This helps negate duplication of information and efforts while ensures a holistic record of information is maintained at all times.

4. Measurable

Unlike traditional marketing tools and campaigns which often fail to provide adequate results, CRM supported Relationship Marketing offers measurable success rates and outcomes that can be accurately supported with data like percentage rise in sales through repeat customers, consumer feedback to a new product or service, overall brand sentiment, the enquires logged after a test run for a new innovation etc. Further, CRM can also be of immense help in times of crisis, with accurate, data-backed analysis for reasons of error/ negligence.

Cessation:

With the digital era already being heralded as the 4th Industrial revolution, business processes are becoming extremely automated, integrated and data cantered. While traditional marketing tools continue to play a key role in building brand visibility offline, the digital world occupies almost an equal weight of consumer touch point and engagement. CRM, with its versatile and intelligent applications, is rightly becoming the preferred tool for modern brands to make the right impact and tap its growth potential.