How to use your MS Dynamics CRM for marketing

MS Dynamics is an established and powerful CRM that helps businesses manage customer data. Dynamics was designed to be the backbone of your data-gathering efforts and a means for you to understand the level of engagement accurately.

By integrating with other systems and applications, replaces data silos with a complete 360-degree view of your customer data.

Dynamics 365 can give you one source of truth for each customer record, seeing every interaction you’ve had with them since their initial enquiry or response to your outreach.

Aside from making it easier to understand your client or prospect’s requirements, it eliminates confusion and duplication of work.

Importantly it makes it relatively easy for anyone to pick up a client account should the need arise. With every quote, order, email, phone call and record in one place.

But effective and accurate data collection isn’t the end of the journey with MS Dynamics, it’s the beginning.

MS Dynamics 365 has powerful marketing functionality in the form of Customer Insights Journeys (formerly Dynamics 365 Marketing).

Customer Insights Journeys takes the wealth of customer data you’ve collected and puts it to work delivering a personalised experience for your customers.

The more personalised you can make the experience, the more likely your customers are to transition from repeat customer to loyal customers. And from there become an advocate.

The effectiveness of your marketing with MS Dynamics comes down to how well you manage your data and how well you can leverage that data in Customer Insights Journeys.

Data Ingestion and Segmentation

Data is the fuel for most modern businesses and, as with any engine, the better the fuel the smoother the engine. Your ability to gather, cleanse and ingest data into your Dynamics 365 CRM will have a direct impact on its performance.

The old adage of garbage in, garbage has never been truer.

Dynamics 365 integrates with a wide range of platforms allowing a free flow of data into your CRM without any manual intervention. This is powerful from both a labour perspective but also from an efficiency standpoint. Having the data ready to use allows your business to go much faster. And respond to potential issues as well.

Equally, the more data sources and touchpoints you can link your MS Dynamics to, the more insightful and valuable that customer data becomes.

It’s the difference between knowing a customer buys women’s skirts and tops and knowing what colours, sizes, styles and brands they choose.

The first instance is useful, but the second instance is powerful. That level of granularity gives you enough data to engage with that customer in a personalised, meaningful way.

Integrating Multiple Data Sources

One of the most powerful features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is its capability to integrate data from a wide range of sources, creating a unified and comprehensive view of each customer. By pulling in data from various channels, including customer interactions, social media activity, purchase history and website behaviour, MS Dynamics enables businesses to build a detailed and nuanced profile of their customers.

By capturing as many touchpoints as possible, businesses develop insights into customer preferences and sentiment, while analysing purchase history can reveal buying patterns and product affinities.

Combining these data points in MS Dynamics 365 gives you the ability to segment your audience more accurately, leading to more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

Moreover, integrating multiple data sources enriches your customer data and ensures that your marketing strategies utilise the most relevant and up-to-date information.

Ensuring Data Quality

Integrations alone don’t ensure data quality, the data itself has to have been well maintained or, at the very least, gone through a cleansing process before integrating with your CRM. Bad data can lead to ineffective marketing campaigns, miscommunication, and ultimately, a loss of customer trust. To maximise the value of your data in Dynamics 365, it’s crucial to maintain clean and accurate records through regular data quality management practices.

Deduplication and standardisation of your data, preferably before it enters Dynamics 365, are key. Identifying and merging duplicate records prevents the very kind of mistakes and duplication of work a CRM can help you to avoid.

Fragmented customer profiles can result in an inconsistent customer experience at best or losing the customer at worst. So, managing your data properly is key.

Similarly, standardising your data means your data is consistent. Consistent data is manageable data. Ensure that all data entering Dynamics 365 follows a consistent format. Standardisation helps prevent errors during data analysis and ensures that all marketing communications are accurate and professional.

In addition to deduplication and standardisation, it’s also important to regularly audit and cleanse your data. This means periodically reviewing your data for accuracy, removing outdated information, and updating records as necessary. By keeping your data clean, you enhance the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and improve the overall customer experience.

Segmentation within MS Dynamics

Dynamics 365 can segment your data by almost any data point you care to use. If the data exists, it can be used for segmentation. This gives your marketing team a substantial number of options to engage your audience with.

Demographical, transactional, behavioural and search data can all exist within your Dynamics CRM. So not only can you send a campaign to that customer who buys tops and skirts, but you can recommend products that match both their purchase history and their search history.

The value of that email vastly outstrips anything generic hitting inboxes from your competitors.

Just be careful; the more you segment your data, the more you have to keep track of it. Carefully plan your segments before you add them to Dynamics 365 so you know exactly what you can do with your marketing campaigns.

It doesn’t preclude you from adding further segments in the future, it’s about making the process as manageable as possible early on.

As you get more experienced using Customer Insights Journeys, you can start to use advanced functionality like predictive modelling and AI-driven segmentation.

Predictive modelling can help you to identify changes in customer behaviour and allow you to take action. Churn analysis, purchase propensity and lead scoring can be predictively modelled so your team can put their energies where they will yield the best results.

Trigger-based campaigns are highly effective when used in conjunction with predictive modelling. You can engage with your audiences at just the right moment which can result in higher customer retention or increased sales. Or both.

The Impact of Data on Segmentation

The more data sources you can draw upon, the richer the data available becomes. Again, it’s knowing a customer likes to buy clothes and knowing specifically which clothes in brand, size and colour. And, actually going a step further and recognising the difference when a customer is buying for themselves or buying for someone else.

The more data you can integrate with Dynamics 365 from across your business, the more precise their segments become.

While this may seem a lot of busy work to some, be under no illusions, your audience expects personalised communication. Not least because, fundamentally, the people who spend money with you want to feel seen and they want to feel valued.

This has been a marked shift from traditional transactional relationships, especially in eCommerce. Goods at a low price with free delivery aren’t enough anymore.

According to a study by Evergage, 88% of marketers report a measurable improvement due to personalisation, with more personalised content leading to better customer engagement.

Better customer engagement usually equates to sales.

Segmentation and Customer Insights Journeys

Once you have the data, you can put it to use with Customer Insight Journeys. This tool, within MS Dynamics 365, allows you to go through a strategic process of mapping out and understanding the various stages a customer goes through when interacting with your brand. From initial awareness all the way through to post-purchase engagement. These journeys allow you to tailor communications and interactions to meet the specific needs and behaviours of each customer segment at every touchpoint.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365, Customer Insight Journeys is enhanced by the CRM, allowing you to create highly personalised and automated marketing strategies. By leveraging the data ingested and segmented within Dynamics 365, companies can craft detailed customer journeys.

Each journey can reflect the individual preferences and behaviours of each segment and adapt in real-time as customers progress through the different stages.

Personalised Communication Strategies

The ability to segment customers effectively within Dynamics 365 enables marketers to develop communication strategies that are not just personalised but also contextually relevant. Segmentation allows for the creation of dynamic customer journeys, where each communication is tailored to the specific interests and behaviours of the individual, leading to more meaningful interactions.

Providing you have the segmentation in place, you can create campaigns based on their behaviour and interests, as well as special offers (including individualised offers), and relevant content.

Similarly, customers who have abandoned a shopping cart can be automatically sent reminders or incentives to complete their purchases. These tailored and timed messages, driven by the segmentation within MS Dynamics 365, help to build stronger relationships with customers by delivering content that resonates with them.

Statistical Insight

According to research by Epsilon, 90% of consumers find personalised content appealing, and 80% are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalised experiences. This underscores the importance of using segmentation to drive personalised communications.

Automation and Customer Journeys

One of the standout features of Dynamics 365 is its ability to automate customer journeys based on the data-driven insights gained from segmentation. This means you can set up automated workflows that trigger specific actions, such as sending emails, notifications, or SMS messages, at the optimal time for each customer segment.

MS Dynamics 365 can automate the nurturing of leads by sending targeted content based on a prospect’s behaviour, such as downloading a whitepaper or attending a webinar. As the customer progresses through the journey, the system can automatically adjust the messaging to reflect their changing needs and preferences, ensuring that each interaction is timely and relevant.

This level of automation enhances the efficiency of marketing campaigns but also ensures that customers receive a seamless and consistent experience across all touchpoints. It reduces the manual effort required to manage complex customer journeys, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creative development.

Measuring Success

To ensure that the segmented and automated customer journeys are achieving their desired outcomes, Dynamics 365 provides analytics and reporting tools. Marketers can track key performance indicators such as open and click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall engagement across segments and campaigns.

By continuously monitoring these metrics, you can refine their segmentation strategies and optimise their customer journeys to improve results. This iterative process of analysis and optimisation ensures that customer journeys remain effective and aligned with business goals.

Maximising your MS Dynamics for Marketing

Dynamics 365’s marketing functionality allows you to engage with your customers in a hyper-personalised way, and without the need for a third-party tool to do it.

You can create your campaigns in Dynamics and see all the reporting come through, along with ever-enriching customer profiles.

The more data-driven campaigns you send, the more refined they become based on customer interaction. And, by extension, the more insight you gain about your customers, clients or prospects.

However, your ability to effectively market to your audiences is dependent on the data you’re using and how it exists within Dynamics 365.

Without proper configuration, integration and segmentation your ability to create personalised journeys will be severely impaired.

To learn more about how Dynamics 365 can be configured to your precise business needs, or how to utilise Customer Insights Journeys to better engage with your audience, speak to a member of the team today.

First published on the QGate website on 14/08/2024