March 21, 2024

Email Marketing CRM: What It Is and Why You Need One

Reading time about 4 min

Combine email marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) to improve your marketing strategy. Learn more about email marketing CRMs and their main benefits.

Many businesses rely on email marketing campaigns to engage customers and drive sales. But if you don’t send personalized messages, it’s hard to make your brand stand out.

Email marketing platforms let you personalize your campaigns with segmentation, marketing automation, and other features. And with the right CRM tools, you can tailor your messages even further.

Email marketing CRMs deliver the best of both worlds, offering the benefits of email marketing software and CRM systems. Their combined features can enhance your marketing efforts and streamline your workflows.

Here’s why you need an email marketing CRM for your business.

What is an email marketing CRM?

An email marketing CRM is a type of CRM software that offers email marketing features. The CRM stores valuable customer data. This includes contact information, customer engagement activity, and purchase history. 

Email marketing CRMs help you better understand what interests your potential customers. They can also tell you how they interact with your brand across marketing channels. With all this information in one place, it’s easier to craft personalized email campaigns.

Many email marketing tools integrate with CRMs. Some CRM solutions like Brevo even have a built-in email marketing platform. CRMs help you build strong customer relationships — from lead generation all the way to retention.

Benefits of using an email marketing CRM

Want to learn more? Here’s how email marketing CRMs can benefit your business.

Enhance the customer experience

Email marketing CRMs make it easier to send personalized, targeted campaigns. That’s because CRM platforms store data related to customers’ interests, behaviors, and preferences.

CRMs also connect email with different channels (e.g. social media, SMS marketing). That way, you can send targeted messages across the customer journey.

Drive results

Set your campaigns up for success with CRM email marketing. Use the data to identify your high-value customers. Then improve click-through and open rates with timely follow-ups.

Email marketing CRMs help you get the most out of your marketing efforts and maximize returns. In fact, email marketing can lead to a 760% increase in revenue.

Boost efficiency

Email marketing CRMs allow you to send bulk emails more efficiently. With the best CRMs, it’s possible to automate repetitive workflows.

Your marketing teams won’t need to manually manage email lists or schedule mass email sequences. That way, they can devote more time to other tasks.

Further reading: 10 Key CRM Benefits for Small Businesses

What email marketing features to look for in a CRM?

Integrate email marketing and CRM features to improve your marketing strategy. Here’s what you should look for.

  • Contact management: Store customer data in one CRM database. Track details that you can use to personalize campaigns (e.g. name, location, interaction history). This is a core CRM functionality.
  • Email marketing automation: Set up automated workflows for all kinds of scenarios (e.g. welcome emails, birthday greetings, abandoned cart). The best CRMs offer an automation editor, pre-made templates, and other automation features.
  • Customizable email templates: Design eye-catching email templates customers will love. Look for CRMs that include a free template gallery and drag-and-drop editor.
  • Email list segmentation: Segment your contact list based on demographics, preferences, or behavior. Some email marketing CRMs automatically come up with segments for you.
  • Lead scoring: Identify high-quality leads with lead scoring. Look for an email marketing CRM that lets you build lead scoring models.
  • Integrations: Make sure your email marketing CRM integrates with your existing tech stack. Look for CMS and ecommerce plugins. 
  • Sales pipeline: To better sync your sales reps and marketing team, look for one that offers a built-in sales pipeline.
  • A/B testing: Find the approach that resonates with your audience. Many email marketing CRMs enable email subject line testing. You can also choose one that lets you A/B test content, CTAs, and more.
  • Analytics dashboards: Look for a CRM that tracks real-time metrics (e.g. deliverability, clicks, open rates). Compare different segments in your CRM. Use this information to improve your campaigns in the future.
  • User-friendly interface: Your email marketing CRM should be accessible to all team members. Try to find one with an intuitive interface and a manageable learning curve.

Further reading: How to Choose CRM Software for Your Business

Get started with Brevo’s email marketing CRM

Looking for an email marketing CRM for your company? Brevo offers the email marketing and CRM features you need to grow your business — all with unbeatable ease of use.

On the free plan, you’ll get 300 emails/day, advanced segmentation, and unlimited contacts. Upgrade for more advanced features such as A/B testing, Send Time Optimization, and the landing page builder. Pricing starts at $25/month.

Combine email marketing and CRM with Brevo

Free plan includes access to all core email features, 300 emails/day, 40+ email templates, signup forms, advanced segmentation, and unlimited contacts.

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