Why Marketers Need a Multichannel CRM to Stay Relevant

Modern marketing has become something of a catch-me-if-you-can game. The mobile age has jettisoned us past the days of plain old “digital” marketing and email-and-website marketing strategies. Mobile customers are now moving between multiple channels, devices, and micro-moments that marketers have to navigate. In our multichannel world, knowing when, where, and how to reach customers is nearly impossible without a central place to manage complex customer relationships. Enter CRM.

The birth of CRM in the pre-mobile days allowed marketers to finally manage customer interactions with their company and compile rich, actionable data to drive sales growth and retention. This was perfect for a desktop world, but as consumer behavior evolved and mobile adoption increased, CRM went missing. As Appboy CEO, Mark Ghermezian, said in 2012, “We believe that CRM is a whole category that’s missing within mobile apps.”

Now that consumers are interacting with and transacting on multiple devices, in multiple channels daily, it’s increasingly important for companies to have a multichannel-ready CRM. Here’s why your marketing strategy falls short if you don’t have one.

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Multichannel strategies require user profiles

With comprehensive user profiles, you get a single view of your customer. According to Experian, 89% of brands have difficulties creating a single customer view. But why does this even matter, and what does a multichannel CRM do with user profiles?

The single customer view you get from a user profile allows you to create a consistent customer experience based on aggregated, actionable customer data. Think about it: how do you keep up with a person who does research on their smartphone, adds items to their shopping cart on their tablet, and completes a transaction on their desktop, all while demanding a seamless, personalized experience?

With a CRM platform that provides multichannel customer data in the form of profiles, it’s easy for you to engage with customers in ways that you know will be beneficial to them. You know what they like, what channels they engage with the most, what city they live in, how old they are, how much money they’ve spent with your brand, and so much more.

Let’s say you’re an ecommerce company with a website and app, and Jordan Poel, our example in the image below, is one of your customers. With information gathered from multiple systems, you get to learn more about Jordan and send relevant, engaging messages to build an authentic relationship with her. For example, based on her Facebook likes, you know that she likes the Seattle Seagulls (okay, we made that team up). You also know that she’s fairly fond of your app and your News Feed content. Using this information, you can preload her News Feed with deals on Seattle Seagulls apparel. This a great way to personalize Jordan’s experience with your app and increase the likelihood of a conversion.

Multichannel customer behaviors can’t be completely understood without a multichannel CRM that provides a single view of your customers. With this type of insight into your customers’ behaviors, you get to tailor your marketing to their interests and needs, which in turn helps to build meaningful long-term relationships. When your brand continually delivers tailored experiences, your customers’ trust and loyalty in your brand will grow.

You can’t act on what you don’t know

Some wise, anonymous soul once said, “If it’s not in the CRM, it didn’t happen.” So let’s say your CRM lacks a multichannel view of customers. Does that mean customers aren’t using multiple channels and devices? That’s obviously not true, but your CRM is telling you otherwise, keeping you in the dark.

Put simply, you can’t act on what you don’t know. If your customers’ multichannel behaviors aren’t included in your CRM in an easily understood way, it’s difficult to create an effective multichannel marketing strategy. Not only does your CRM have to take into account desktop and email behaviors, it has to highlight mobile behaviors and engagement with multiple channels on mobile and desktop (mobile and web push, email, and in-app and in-browser messages).

What happens when this data is available (in one place) and marketers leverage it for their multichannel marketing campaigns? They see a 130% increase in customer retention.

So what’s next?

When you’re ready to shop for the CRM that best fits your needs, it’s important to get the right information from potential CRM vendors to make the best decision. If you need help crafting an RFP, we’ve got you covered.