CRM x Paid

Hey there! Let’s talk about something that could really make a difference in your marketing strategy. Recently, Alexandre Schmitz, a Growth Marketing Manager at Project A, shared some fantastic insights during our INSIDE CRM meetup. His talk was all about how paid acquisition and CRM can team up to improve targeting, make campaigns more efficient, and refine ad copy. Let's dive in and see what you can take away from his experience.

Integrating CRM Segments into Paid Channels

Better Targeting

So, one of the best ways to improve your paid campaigns is by using CRM segments. By uploading highly engaged customer segments into platforms like Google or Facebook, you can target users who are more likely to engage with your ads. You can for example build audiences that are similar to your most engaged customers. This provides paid channels with additional, high value, signals to optimise campaigns.

On the other hand, you can also leverage paid data within your CRM campaigns. For example, specifically targeting high-value customers—e.g. those who have bought high-margin products or have big basket values —can really improve profitability and conversion rates.

When you use CRM segments in paid channels, you're using the data you already have to improve your ad performance. This not only makes your marketing spend more efficient but also gives your audience a better experience.

Excluding Segments for Efficiency

Sometimes, it's smart to exclude certain CRM segments from your paid campaigns. Why? Because you don't want to overwhelm users who have recently received a CRM campaign with too many ads. This can increase their engagement in the future and reduce unnecessary ad spend, creating a win-win for both channels. This can easily be done through the audience managers in paid platforms like Google and Meta.

Optimising Campaigns with Cross-Channel Insights

Impact on Lifetime Value (LTV)

Sharing performance data between CRM and paid channels can help you understand how paid acquisition efforts affect customer LTV. Knowing which channels bring the most long-term value helps you allocate your budget better. For example, TikTok ads might get a lot of leads, but Google ads might result in higher conversion rates and more repeat purchases. By leveraging the CRM insights on which customer groups have the highest LTV (and what paid channel they came through in the first place), you can feed back this audience information into your paid channels. That’s the value of sharing data across channels.

Lifetime Value (LTV) is a key measure of how profitable a customer will be over time. By looking at LTV, you can find the most valuable customer segments and focus your efforts on the channels that bring the best returns. This helps make better marketing decisions overall.

Email Campaign Timing

Using peak engagement times from paid channels to guide your CRM campaigns can really improve user interaction. For example, if you know from Google Ads data that most app downloads happen in the afternoon, you can time your CRM campaigns to match in an effort to increase engagement rates.

Aligning Ad Copy with CRM Insights

Consistency Across Channels

It’s crucial to keep your messaging consistent across paid ads and CRM. Consistent messaging creates a better user experience and improves conversion rates. For example, if your upper funnel TikTok ad highlights how easy your service is to use, your welcome message should reinforce the same points. This keeps the user journey aligned and can lead to a significant increase in conversion rates.

Using Customer Feedback

Feedback from your CRM and customer service tools can help you write better ad copy. Addressing common pain points in your ads can improve your campaign's effectiveness. For instance, if customer service interactions show common issues, use that info to adjust your headlines. This makes your message more relevant and drives better engagement.

Good communication is key to successful marketing. By using feedback and data from CRM systems, you can create ads that really resonate with your audience. This approach not only meets customer needs but also builds trust and loyalty.

Q&A

Question: How did you handle customer data protection when uploading segments to platforms like TikTok or Google?

Alex’ answer: For TikTok, we haven’t tested with segments yet. For Google, it hashes the data automatically and matches it with users who are already logged in with their Gmail accounts, so they’ve already accepted the data terms. For Facebook, it hashes the data during upload, making it compliant.

Question: Have you used active customer segments for retargeting, and did you see an uplift in results?

Alex’ answer: We haven’t tested with active CRM lists yet, but it’s a potential next step. In my experience, lookalike audiences in Facebook are quite powerful, so using actual customer data should be effective.

Question: How do you operationalise segment data in paid campaigns?

Alex’ answer: It depends on the CRM tool. For example, with Braze, there’s a direct integration with Facebook for uploading segments. For Google, you can use the customer match feature, which works for Gmail users. You can also create seed audiences in the paid channels containing CRM data and combine it with lookalikes in Facebook or audience expansion in Google.

Key Takeaways

• #1: Using CRM segments in paid channels, sharing data to optimise campaigns, and aligning ad copy with CRM insights are essential for a successful marketing strategy.

• #2: By combining the strengths of both paid acquisition and CRM, you can get higher engagement, better conversion rates, and stronger customer loyalty.

About the Speaker

Alexandre Schmitz is a Growth Marketing Manager at Project A with over four years of experience in paid marketing. Having recently worked on CRM projects, Alex brings a unique perspective on how paid acquisition and CRM can work together to improve marketing outcomes.

About the Meetup

Organised by Audrey Mann and Jessica Jantzen, the INSIDE CRM meetup is a platform for CRM professionals to share insights, strategies, and success stories. It brings together experts from various industries to discuss the latest trends and innovations in customer relationship management.

Disclaimer: This article has been generated with ChatGPT based on an audio transcript and presentation slides from the INSIDE CRM Meetup. The content has been reviewed by the presenter to ensure accuracy and relevance.