In a few of our recent blogs, we’ve talked about the value of integrating Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data with web analytics data. Does your company use a CRM solution but struggle to maximize value? Are you curious how linking this data to your website can become an abundance of incredible information to help your organization improve efficiency and increase your core client base? This blog will help to answer these questions and help you uncover the benefits of CRM-analytics integration.
Is My CRM Up To Snuff?
For companies that already have a CRM solution in play, read our blog entitled “Integrating CRM and analytics data: What you need to get started” to determine if your tool has the fundamentals required to integrate with web analytics data. The previous blog will also provide an understanding of some of the requirements which will help you narrow your options more easily.
What Value Will This Bring To Your Organization?
This is a great question which is both common and, ultimately, required. The answer is more difficult. There are many factors which will determine the value and benefits that an organization can achieve by pursuing this type of integration. A non-governmental organization that simply shares information to the general public may not benefit as much as a Business-to-Business company that sells hardware globally and offers a variety of reading material (such as whitepapers, brochures, and FAQs) on their site.
To answer this question, there are low-cost options for completing a needs analysis which can include:
- Understanding overall business value which can be derived from the integration of CRM data to Web analytics data;
- Identifying an appropriate combination of tools that best suit the organization’s needs and budget (for the CRM and web analytics solution); and
- A pilot project which will perform some preliminary implementations using the lowest cost options to demonstrate possible outcomes.
Depending on the company, the volume of traffic to the site, and the functionality of the site, tangible results can often be achieved within a few weeks after the pilot implementation; others may require a few months. Many factors contribute to the duration and cost of the pilot project, but can include the current client base, the inbound and outbound marketing strategies, pay-per-click campaigns, information solicitation options on the site, etc.
It is worth noting that there is often no change to the client experience on the website; only back-end improvements which allow for more complete data capture. Examples of the features which these pilot projects can often include are the “Contact Us”, “Register for an Event”, “Download a White Paper”, and “Subscribe to a Newsletter” forms.
A strong analytics practice within an organization can be a great asset, and robust CRM data is critical for business continuity. By bringing the two together, there is an array of options and reports that can help the organization improve its outreach strategies, increase sales, gain knowledge about current clients, and ultimately provide better value to your clients. Consider a CRM to web analytics integration plan for your organization and the results will not disappoint.
Cardinal Path is a Google Analytics Certified Partner
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