Marketing Automation Best Practices – CRM Field Guide Chapter 9

It is week 9 in the review of the CRM Field Guide chapters from the book – The CRM Field Guide – How to CRM Like an MVP with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This week it is the 40 page Marketing Automation Best Practices chapter.

The Marketing Module (Sales, Service, Marketing) was not a part of the early product release circa 2003 (V1.2) The module was introduced as part of CRM 3.0. Its adoption at the time and up to about 2 years ago was lack luster to say the least. Marketing was something that happened on its own, it consisted predominantly of building a website, search engine optimization, pay per click management and monthly email newsletters. About 2+ years ago it changed dramatically planning, managing, tracking and reporting on return on investment of digital marketing campaigns became a part of the corporate strategic process. Now marketing functionality of a CRM system comes up during every pre-sales discussion and is a key element in the qualification of any CRM system buying decision.

Chapter 9 takes you through the process of understanding how to leverage the marketing functions of Dynamics CRM to improve a company’s bottom line. It covers Marketing Campaigns, Marketing Lists, Campaign Activities, Campaign Reponses and the reporting tools that are available to help you analyze the effectiveness of the marketing program. It is a must read for the marketing team while considering the purchase of Dynamics CRM or during the implementation phase.

This chapter takes a training tutorial approach on how to use each of the built-in features of the system. It provides tips on when you to use Static or Dynamic lists.

It also provides a easy to understand practical explanation of when to use a Quick Campaign vs a ‘Full’ Campaign.