Salesforce Marketing Cloud touts itself as “the number-one marketing software for consumer engagement at scale.” But what does that mean for your business? Is Salesforce worth the hype?
A history of Salesforce software
Salesforce has been helping businesses build better relationships with customers since 1999. Their customer relationship management tool – the flagship software solution – helps businesses manage their customer information. It functions like a client or customer database that not only includes email addresses and physical space addresses for contacts and businesses but also helps track all transaction information between a sales team and a business contact. It’s an integrated CRM tool that helps businesses, particularly sales teams, access customer account information in real time. From phone calls to emails to orders, as well as customers service management – Salesforce can help teams better understand the status of their customer relationship and accounts.
The power of this relationship management tool is invaluable. Businesses don’t have to dig through old records to research and plan for pitches, presentations, and follow-ups. The system can automatically track all customer touchpoints for accurate information on the account’s standing.
But Salesforce, despite the name, isn’t just a tool for sales teams. Marketing teams have found Salesforce Marketing Clout to be a hugely important part of their digital marketing strategies.
The benefits of Salesforce Marketing Cloud to digital marketers
The Marketing Cloud feature of the Salesforce CRM program gives digital marketers many advantages when reaching out to their customers. It’s also hugely beneficial in allowing marketing to significantly support sales goals, as Salesforce software enables better communication and alignment on goals between the two groups. Here are some of the ways that Salesforce Marketing Cloud builds better marketing campaigns and increased customer engagement.
Integrated, personalized solutions
The Marketing Cloud helps manage all parts of a campaign, including mobile, social media, web personalization, advertising, content creation, content management, and data analysis. It has built-in data analysis to allow marketing teams to understand how the various parts of their campaign are performing and getting the most engagement or increasing conversions. It gives digital marketers more insight into the customer journey and helps marketing teams understand the best channels to communicate with customers, based on customer behavior, demographics, preferences, and more.
Event-triggered actions
Digital marketing focuses on more personalized marketing experiences for the customer. Rather than focusing on blanket advertising, like tv or radio commercials, digital marketers are able to tailor their messaging to different audiences. One of the most effective ways to drive personalized communication and grow brand awareness and authority is through event-triggered marketing. This can come in the form of “rate our service” emails after a customer service email or phone call or welcome emails with product tutorials that are sent out after a purchase; regardless of the communication, Salesforce helps you automate your communications. Plus, the Marketing Cloud is connected to Salesforce.com’s Sales Cloud and Service Cloud to help ensure unified communication and better customers experience.
B2B or B2C functionality
No matter who your customers are or what industry you’re in, Salesforce can help you create and sustain meaningful customer relationships. Robust analytics tools and seamless channel integration mean that your business can engage with any customer at any stage in their journey.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an important piece of the marketing plan for many businesses. Having the right software tool can make a difference in the effectiveness of marketing efforts, and Salesforce customers consistently see higher conversions and more engagement than before using Salesforce, giving businesses better ROI and better brand awareness.
When it comes to choosing a tool for your digital marketing, Salesforce offers incredible integration and makes it easier for businesses to connect with customers. It also has the analytical capability to create meaning from data and allow businesses to make their best decisions.
