eCRM is essential in a multichannel world

Electronic customer relationship marketing (eCRM) provides marketers with far richer, more timely and more accurate data about their customers than they previously had access to, allowing them to target customers with more precision than they could have dreamt of in the past.

That’s according to John Ginsberg, product and marketing director at Ensight. He says that eCRM should form a part of any marketing department’s strategy because it addresses one of the largest challenges it faces – which is accessing high-quality customer data.

Ginsberg says that the key difference between CRM and eCRM lies in the fact that the latter captures data automatically as a customer interacts with a brand using one of its digital interfaces. Traditional CRM, by contrast, relies on the manual capture of customer data at a call centre or a branch.

Ginsberg says that eCRM generates a wealth of data that can be leveraged for marketing, whereas traditional CRM is more sales-focused. CRM often leaves marketers wanting for the information they need to intelligently segment and target customers for their campaigns. eCRM often provides a more complete and accurate picture of each customer.

There are fewer opportunities for manual data capture errors to creep in. It is the customer him or herself who enters data using a web form, placing an order or interacting with the organisation using a social media platform. This provides clean, quality data for marketers to work with.

One of the biggest advantages of eCRM data is that it provides a real-time view of recency, frequency and monetary value of customers’ interactions as well as their behaviour. For example, marketers can see which pages a customer visited on their Web sites, where they come from (email or social media, for example) and what they’ve searched for on the Web site.

This is valuable information that can be used to segment, profile and target customers in an automated yet highly personalised manner. Marketers can present their audiences with messages that are relevant to their needs and interests and which are more likely to influence them to convert, says Ginsberg.

For example, marketers can target customers with promotions or special offers based on recent searches on their Web sites, in addition to historical purchases. Or a follow-up email can be sent to a customer who has abandoned a basket.

eCRM is invaluable in a multichannel world where consumers might interact with an organisation across multiple channels such as mobile, email, various Web properties and social media services before they convert, Ginsberg says.

It provides a clear map of their journey from prospects to customers. “eCRM can help marketers understand the patterns of customer acquisition across multiple channels so that they can use the blend of channels and strategies that yield the best results for various customer segments,”

Ginsberg adds. “With this information, marketers can improve response and acquisition rates across various channels while managing their budgets in the optimal fashion.

Ginsberg says that CRM and eCRM complement each other when they are tied together. By integrating their CRM and eCRM systems, marketers can get a full 360 degree view of the customer that spans all of their touchpoints.