A customer makes a purchase yesterday, only to receive an email today inviting them to a "new customer offer." The marketing team reports 500 generated leads, while the sales team dismisses them all as "cold leads." Both issues stem from the same root cause: customer data is scattered, and no one shares a unified view. Marketing CRM exists specifically to solve this problem.
This article by OMN1 Solution explains how to use CRM in marketing and covers three frequently asked concepts: customer lifecycle, Social CRM, and NPS.
What is CRM in Marketing?
CRM in Marketing involves using customer data stored within a CRM system to deliver the right marketing message to the right person at the right time. While sales-focused CRM primarily tracks opportunities and contracts, marketing CRM reveals who the customer is, where they have interacted, what interests them, and which stage of the journey they are in.
What can CRM do for marketing?
- Segment customers based on behavior, needs, and value, rather than sending a generic message to everyone.
- Personalize content based on each individual's purchase and interaction history.
- Nurture leads and hand them over to the sales team at the optimal moment, avoiding the "cold lead" issue.
- Measure campaign effectiveness from lead source to revenue, rather than just counting clicks.
- Reduce waste: stop targeting the wrong audience and focus the budget on groups with high conversion potential.
What is the customer lifecycle, and how does CRM support each stage?
The customer lifecycle represents the entire journey a person takes with a business, from the moment they discover the brand until they become a loyal customer. A common framework divides this into five stages:
- Awareness: The customer does not yet know you. CRM records the lead source (ads, website, events).
- Consideration: The customer is exploring options. CRM tracks the content they read to send relevant materials.
- Purchase: CRM coordinates marketing and sales efforts to close the deal at the right moment.
- Retention: Checking in, sending reminders, and offering post-purchase incentives based on customer profiles.
- Referral: Satisfied customers are invited to recommend the business to others.
Key takeaway: Each stage requires a different type of message; CRM helps you identify the customer's current stage to avoid sending inappropriate communications.
What is Social CRM?
Social CRM integrates social media and messaging channels (such as Facebook, Zalo, and LinkedIn) into the CRM system. Instead of leaving comments and messages scattered across individual employee accounts, the business consolidates them into the customer's profile alongside emails and call logs.
The most significant benefit is understanding customers where they actually communicate. Staff can instantly view interaction history across all channels and provide consistent responses. An important note: only contact customers who have consented, and avoid sending mass messages that could be perceived as a nuisance.
What is NPS, and why does CRM need it?
NPS (Net Promoter Score) measures a customer's willingness to recommend a business based on the question: "How likely are you to recommend us to others?" Responses are rated on a scale of 0 to 10, categorizing customers into three groups:
- Promoters (9–10): Willing to recommend the business.
- Passives (7–8): Satisfied but not strongly loyal.
- Detractors (0–6): Likely to leave or speak negatively about the business.
Calculation: NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, resulting in a score ranging from −100 to +100. Illustrative example: If 50% are promoters, 30% are neutral, and 20% are detractors, the NPS is 50 − 20 = 30.
When storing NPS scores in customer profiles within the CRM, the marketing team can automatically follow up with detractors to address issues early, invite promoters to write reviews or provide referrals, and track trends across different segments. Since NPS is just one metric, it should be viewed alongside customer retention rates and detailed feedback.
Getting started with CRM in marketing: five simple steps
- Choose a specific goal: for example, increasing the customer repurchase rate.
- Clean your data: merge duplicates and fill in missing information.
- Segment customers based on 2–3 easily measurable criteria.
- Automate a simple workflow first, such as a post-purchase welcome email series.
- Measure and adjust monthly, then scale up.
Conclusion
CRM in marketing helps businesses understand customers at every stage of the lifecycle, listen to them on social media, and measure engagement through metrics like NPS. Start small—with one goal and one automated workflow—and expand gradually.
👉 Contact OMN1 Solution today for a consultation on the CRM implementation roadmap best suited to your business.
