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3 minute read
So, we can agree it sounds like a brilliant idea. But how can you merge the two to get the best possible results?
First, let’s look at some of the benefits of this beautiful partnership:
1. You Can Personalise Your Emails
Think about how much more likely you are to engage with an email personalised to you rather than a generic ‘this same email has gone out to our entire address book’ type email.
Exactly. And your customers will feel the same.
Research has shown that even something as simple as addressing someone by name at the beginning of an email makes a massive difference in whether a recipient reads it or chucks it in the virtual bin.
Personalised emails will statistically give you a 6x higher transaction rate, so if you’re not already doing that, why not? The financial services industry already has a reputation for being a bit ‘cold’ or ‘standoffish’, so it’s time to buck that trend and start getting personal with your email marketing.
2. It Will Improve Lead Nurturing
If you want to get, your customers moving down that sales funnel from their starting point of finding you to purchasing or using your financial product or service, you must nurture those leads.
Good CRM means you have the information you need to tailor your marketing. You don’t want to send emails and ads to customers who can’t relate to them. Lead generation is cited as one of the most significant issues marketers face in all sectors - including financial services - so lead nurturing is essential.
3. You Can Integrate With Social Media
If your CRM has given you information about your customer’s social media habits, you’re laughing marketing-wise. One significant advantage is that you can customise things like email marketing even more by making it interactive on social media.
You don’t need us to tell you that social media and social media marketing are huge, and they’re not just for the sexy industries—the financial services sector can benefit, too—and plenty do! People can’t get enough of pinning posts and sharing content via their chosen platform, so it’s an integration you don’t want your business missing out on.
Ok, so the benefits of combining CRM with marketing are clear. But how is it done?
Ways To Combine CRM With Marketing
1. Start at the beginning and nurture your contacts
Flowbird can point you toward the right CRM system to help you find nurturing opportunities. Perhaps you already have loads of information on customers or clients but haven’t yet put effort into enticing them with your marketing.
Marketing via a sequence of emails is a great way to take advantage of the information your chosen CRM system has given you. These emails aim to give your customers a gentle push in the right direction toward purchasing or using one of the financial services you provide.
A top tip: think of QR codes when setting up an email marketing campaign. Adding these can be a really good way of increasing brand loyalty and giving conversions a big boost.
2. Save hours and money by reusing your campaigns
No one says putting together a marketing campaign is quick and easy, but if you implement CRM, you can see which of your past campaigns was successful.
Why start from scratch if you already have a winning formula ‘in the bank’? Your business can use that template to save time and money and create a campaign that you already know will work, saving you time and marketing costs.
3. Personalise your advertising and newsletters
Your CRM software has the power to let you know what your customers are interested in, allowing you to tweak your ads and newsletters to make them relatable to the individual and their needs.
If they’ve just moved home, perhaps it’s worth sending information on home improvement loans. They’ve just had a child? It's time to see if they’re interested in buying Life Insurance or Income Protection. If they’ve already purchased one of your financial products or utilised your services, you could send them suggestions of similar products and services that could also benefit them.
4. Streamline your contact data
Data is powerful with a capital P, and combining your CRM and marketing will allow you to streamline that data across all business areas.
We’re not just talking about promoting your services (although that’s part of it, of course!); your sales team can use CRM to learn more about customer experience with your business and ways to upsell or cross-sell your products. The information you gather on CRM can be downloaded from platforms such as LinkedIn, which allows your company to expand its reach—never a bad thing!
5. Make automation more effective
Not only will automation save you time, but it’s also a good way of ensuring you’re targeting your customers when they’re most likely to check their emails and engage with them.
CRM has the tools needed to ensure your company sends emails and other marketing strategies when they’ll have the most impact and, therefore, be most useful to you.
If we take email marketing alone for a second, knowing when a customer is most likely to check them is pretty much a guessing game - but if you add CRM in there, with its understanding of what your customers want and expect from you, and its knowledge of your customer's behaviour, it’s a game you’re much more likely to win.
At Flowbird, we know that CRM combined with marketing is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to retaining customers, making sales, building brand loyalty and boosting profits. If your financial services company isn’t already doing this, you’re getting left behind. Give Flowbird a call and let us help you catch up.
