Marketers, are you leveraging CRM for precision targeting?

Successful marketing is all about reaching the right people at the right time with the right offer; it is about being relevant and timely. Alongside shaping a compelling offer and crafting engaging copy and creative, you need to clearly define and identify who you want to target. And that can be the most challenging part! When you look at your database or contact list, how do you know which prospect or customer will be most open to a certain offer? And how do you know the ideal time to approach them with it? How do you segment your target audience?

For many organisations, the answers will be as basic as starting at A and working through it; for others it will mean spraying generic messages at all of their contacts, hoping some of it will stick and trying not to think about the reputation damage done in the minds of the rest; for others, it will be driven by demographic information such as industry sector or job title, which is one step forward… And for others, it will be far more granular and fine-tuned, based on previous purchase history, recent activities/engagement etc. And those who are able to reach that level of granularity and precision are likely to be using a CRM platform. A CRM system gives you one place where you can view all of your contacts in one place, build a picture of them with information such as job role, industry, size, and interests, and also track all interactions with them. CRM truly helps you manage and segment your data efficiently and effectively, for maximum impact.

Broadly speaking, CRM presents several opportunities. It allows you to build a profile of your ideal customer and target similar people. It allows you to target customers based on previous purchase history and known preferences, helps you identify where a prospect is on their discovery journey and target them appropriately. It also gives you insight into the performance of certain marketing activities within segments of your database, informing future marketing decisions.

 Telemarketing, email, events and website visitors  

To give just one example, you could segment the data you give to your telemarketing teams, giving them more focused lists of leads to work through, and messaging that is tailored to that particular segment of your database. Once into the campaign you can then very easily track its performance and amend it as necessary. It’s a world away from working from A to Z.

The same is true of your email campaigns. Segment data based on demographic and behavioural information and deliver personalised communications to the right prospects with information that is relevant to them at their particular stage in the buying cycle. If you have integrated your CRM with marketing automation you can do this at the click of a button.

With your events, you can use the mapping/geolocation capabilities in your CRM to only invite contacts who are within, say, a 50-mile radius of the venue. Immediately you avoid the reputation damage caused when a prospect in Glasgow looks at an invitation from you to an event in Southampton. Then, beyond that, you can track registrations and attendance, and tailor your communication accordingly, perhaps thanking delegates for attending or sending them a follow-up survey.

Finally, you can integrate your CRM with a website analytics programme to track and record what people are doing on your website. Perhaps you use this information to prioritise the leads you pass to telemarketing, or to email a particularly relevant offer, or to invite them to an event on the topic they were researching on your site. Again, this allows you to tailor your approach based on actions or preferences recorded against the prospect or customer you want to engage with… All in a timely and efficient manner.

Driving sales   

However you use the information, it offers you the chance to have a more relevant, timely approach than would otherwise be the case. And that is going to make it far more likely that your carefully honed message, creative and copy will hit the mark and drive sales – both to new and existing customers. You’ll see greater responses, build more pipeline, drive greater conversion and ultimately more sales.