Rumble in the Business Jungle – CRM vs Marketing Automation

There’s a fight going on in the business world. In one corner is CRM, and in the other is Marketing Automation – the undisputed heavyweights in sales and marketing systems. At first glance, these look an even match; both help businesses keep track of your sales stream, and both build relationships with your customers. However, closer analysis reveals key differences in technique. As these systems wrestle for supremacy, we consider their strengths and weaknesses to answer the burning question – CRM or Marketing Automation, which one is the champ?

The weigh-in – CRM and Marketing Automation side by side comparison

CRM is the old pro, a sales and marketing bruiser which has been around since the 1980s. Highly adept at contact management, sales management, customer relationships, and interactions with existing and potential clients.  CRM is an advanced piece of software with a high finish rate but is better at closing deals than in the early stages of a sales bout. As you would expect from a seasoned professional, CRM comes with a full suite of moves – agility to target profitable customers and enhance sales force efficiency, intuitive tactics to improve pricing and customer service, deep experience that can create customer-centric products and services, and a canny ability to connect customers and all marketing channels on a single platform. 

Verdict: A slow starter, but strong at the finish.

Marketing Automation is the new kid on the block, some 20 years younger than CRM and with a reputation for large-scale marketing actions that turn cold leads into hot customers. Always a fast starter, this contender’s multiple abilities are effective but unobtrusive, often appearing like it’s on auto-pilot and easily soaking up the punishment of repetitive tasks such as scheduling and sending personalised email marketing, social media updates, list management, and the all-important measuring and enhancement of conversion rates. However,  it may be good from the first bell, but is Marketing Automation a distance player?

Verdict:  Unbeatable in the early rounds, uncertain follow-through.

Strengths & weaknesses – who wins or loses in the clinch?

CRM: Working best when given a soft opening, this contender organises and creates detailed profiles to keep a close record of both your customers and partners. This allows marketers to have a clear view of the customer journey – allowing you to see which company your prospects come from, where they’re based if you’ve already contacted them and what they’ve said – information that CRM then uses to personalise your sales process, ensuring a better relationship with your customers.

Top weakness: Needs coaching in the early stages. 

Marketing Automation: Best for lead nurturing, email autoresponders, and leads qualification to advance sales prospects through a predefined customer journey. This fighter doggedly tracks your engaged leads’ behaviour and monitors their data to automate personalised lead-nurturing campaigns. However, excellence at lead generation and development is not matched by an ability to close sales. It does need a bit of handholding, and if the message cycles are too frequent or the message is clearly automated, it may do more harm than good with your prospective buyers.

Top weakness: Unsure finisher.

The decision – CRM or Marketing Automation, who comes out on top?

In the battle for marketing and sales supremacy, neither CRM nor Marketing Automation has it all. Where CRM is powerful in the closing stages – the narrow end of the sales funnel –  Marketing Automation is the best lead opener, and easily the strongest in the wide end of the sales funnel. Correspondingly, where one contender is weak, the other is strong, leading to neither having an overall advantage or the ability to land a knock-out blow. 

Verdict: It’s a tie on points.

Coach’s Opinion – CRM or Marketing Automation, which is best for you?

You need both. Like a tag team.

To create a winning sales and marketing program, you need a powerful tool to generate, nurture, and qualify sales leads. This is where Marketing Automation software is at its best. Organise leads by segment (such as blog subscribers or trial users), then reach out to them via automated and personalised emails that resonate with their interests. Send relevant offers based on each contact’s life-cycle stage, interest, geo-location and more. Nurture your most qualified leads into the bottom of your sales funnel for conversion into paying customers – where CRM picks up the fight…

…CRM systems let your sales and marketing team see where a lead is in the sales funnel and helps close the deal with customer journey mapping – a visual process that documents every interaction between your business and the client. CRM enables you to understand the customer experience, detect any downfalls in their journey, learn what steps converted them from a lead to a customer. Then stay on top of your clients by coordinating your marketing channels and synchronising your customer journey in one place. Nurture customers from the moment they like your Facebook page, visit your website or sign up for a product trial. Use CRM to manage that first customer into a repeat customer and turn them into an advocate for your business.

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Red Pegasus provides strategic advice, CRM, sales & leadership training, and interim commercial management. We aim to accelerate revenue, improve profitability, and create a culture for high performance through a blend of technology, experience, and collaboration. If you found this article helpful or interesting and you’d like to have a chat with us, please book a no-obligation meeting now.