3 BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CRM AND MARKETING AUTOMATION SOFTWARE

“They eat chili in Chile only in the winter when they’re chilly”; it is very difficult for most of us to understand the difference between certain terminologies, homonyms and ideas like in this very same sentence. Likewise, it will be very surprising for most of you when I say, CRM and Marketing Automation software are not same and the line is actually not thin.

It is to be noted that at times, Marketing Automation Software may be synced with CRM in order to smoothen a business process. Organizations may also prefer to give equal permission to both its sales and marketing departments to access the CRM as well a Marketing Automation Software; although decision may vary from organization to organization. CRM and Marketing Automation are thus related and as well as complementary. This blog is a genuine effort to bring a clear demarcation between the two confusing software kinds. Read on…………….

# Variation 1

‘Purpose and Audience’

CRM software and Marketing Automation Software is typically used by two different set of audience:

• Marketing Automation Software is beneficial for marketing team of an organization basically used for demand generation and lead generation activities. It is a technology platform that helps marketers to streamline, automate, and measure marketing tasks and workflows as well as gain insights on customer’s online behavior.
• Whereas CRM has a wider audience in terms of usage. It provides 360 degree view of the customers with information regarding leads, accounts, contacts, sales pipelines etc. So it is generally used by sales teams, lead account management, support team and the customer success team of the organization. CRM helps sales people organize, automate and synchronize business processes.

# Variation 2

‘Lead Stage Categorization or Usage in Sales Funnel”

CRM and Marketing Automation Software are meant to use in two different stages of the sales and marketing funnel.

                                             The Lead Stage Categorization

• A Marketing Automation Software is a typical weapon of the marketers for demand and lead generation activities. Even before a prospective customer have any interactions with a company, a Marketing Automation software helps marketers to; initiate and maintain communication and collect the valuable information about them through website form fills and online analytics. A Marketing Automation Software helps the business in achieving top-of-funnel activities such as; schedule and track marketing campaigns, lead scoring, list management, measuring the success of the campaign, implementing drip nurturing programs etc.
• A CRM software comes into play after a prospect is converted into a lead. It helps the business to manage all the details of the lead including personal information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns. A CRM software helps in the bottom-of-funnel activities such as categorizing and storing details of marketing qualified leads, sales accepted leads, quotations, interaction details of the sales team, revenue pipeline etc.

# Variation 3

‘Kind of Information’

A CRM Gives Static Information – A 360-Degree View Of Your Prospects/Customers’ Information

Marketing Automation Software in Addition Provides Real Time Information Including Lead Activity And Interactions.

• A CRM is majorly used for individual communication; between sales representatives/marketers and buyers. While Marketing Automation software is majorly used to communicate to groups and segments. Example: Newsletter campaign vs. one to one mailers sent by the sales team.
• Usually, information flows from the Marketing Automation Software to the CRM. i.e., a prospect gets converted to a marketing qualified lead and then is imported to the CRM. Later on it is assigned to a sales person for further activities.

Few of the Major CRM and Marketing Automation Software are;

CRM: Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, ZOHO CRM, ProsperWorks CRM,  Pipedrive and Teamgate

Marketing Automation Software: Eloquoa, Acto-on, Infusionsoft, Leadsquared and Unica

There are companies that use only CRM to manage their marketing initiatives. But they have no idea that they are limiting themselves; they face email volume limits, automation, email sender limits, no end-to-end activity tracking, landing pages and forms etc., Also, the decision to have a Marketing Automation Software also depends on; nature of business, kind of buyers, campaign and type of marketing exposure, lead generation volume and website complexity.