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Financial Services Marketing Automation vs. CRM: What’s the Difference?

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Financial services marketing automation tools and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are two powerful solutions to help financial institutions manage account holder interactions and drive engagement. However, they serve different purposes and offer distinct benefits. Let’s break down the differences and how each can support your financial services marketing automation needs with data analytics in banking.

What is a CRM?

A CRM system is designed to manage interactions with current and potential account holders. It helps track account holder data, interactions, and sales pipelines. However, traditional CRMs have their limitations:

  • Limited Personal Information: CRMs typically don’t include detailed personal information. For instance, CRMs won’t automatically update when an account holder mentions during a conversation with a teller that they’re buying a home. This limitation means that vital context about an account holder’s life stage or key financial milestones is often missing, which can impact the relevance of the interactions you have with them.
  • Manual Updates: If a teller notes a major life event like home buying, this information isn’t automatically added to the CRM. This gap can lead to missed opportunities for offering relevant products or services. The manual input required to keep CRM data current can be prone to errors, reducing the system’s overall effectiveness.
  • Missing Data: CRMs often lack comprehensive lifestyle data, behavioral patterns, competitive data, and digital banking engagement data. Without these data points, it becomes challenging to get a holistic view of the account holder, which is essential for creating personalized and meaningful engagements.

What is Marketing Automation?

Financial services marketing automation tools go beyond basic account holder tracking. They use data to create personalized marketing campaigns and can integrate with other systems to provide a clearer picture of account holders. Here’s how Alkami’s financial services marketing automation differs from traditional CRMs:

  • Comprehensive Data Integration: Alkami’s financial services marketing automation system connects various data points, from lifestyle information to engagement within digital banking. This integration helps in creating a more complete account holder profile. For example, if an account holder has been browsing home loan options, the system will note this interest and tailor future communications accordingly.
  • Automatic Updates: This system can automatically update account holder profiles with new information, such as when an account holder shows interest in buying a home, ensuring your data is always current. Alkami’s financial services marketing automation takes this one step further with always-on campaigns. For these campaigns, account holders automatically flow in and out of campaign lists with daily updates from data analytics in banking. This updating capability is crucial to maintain the accuracy of account holder profiles and ensure that marketing efforts are timely and relevant.
  • Enhanced Personalization: With insights into account holder behaviors and preferences from data analytics in banking, Alkami’s financial services marketing automation enables highly personalized and timely marketing campaigns. This means that instead of sending blanketed messages to your entire customer or member base, you can target specific segments with offers and information that are relevant to their needs and interests.

The Importance of Transaction Data Cleansing for Data Analytics in Banking

One crucial aspect of maintaining effective financial services marketing automation is transaction data cleansing. Regularly cleansing transaction data helps maintain accuracy and relevance, further enhancing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Clean data ensures that all automated processes run smoothly and that the insights derived from data analytics in banking are reliable.

Bridging the Gap with Financial Services Marketing Automation

While CRMs provide a foundation for managing account holder relationships, they often need additional tools to offer a holistic view of the account holder. This is where financial services marketing automation and data analytics in banking come in:

  • Connecting Data Points: By linking data from various sources, financial services marketing automation ensures that all relevant account holder information is connected and up-to-date. This integrated approach allows you to have a comprehensive view of account holders, which is crucial for making informed decisions and providing personalized service.
  • Enhanced Engagement: With financial services marketing automation, you can create more engaging and meaningful interactions with account holders. For example, if the system identifies that an account holder is interested in home loans, it can automatically send them content about mortgage options and the home buying process.
  • Efficiency and Scalability: Financial services marketing automation streamlines many of the repetitive tasks involved in running marketing campaigns. This not only saves time but also allows you to focus on more strategic initiatives. As your account holder base grows, financial services marketing automation can easily scale to accommodate this growth without a significant increase in manual workload.

Leverage Financial Services Marketing Automation Powered by Data Analytics in Banking

While CRMs are essential for managing account holder relationships, they are limited by their lack of personal and lifestyle data. Financial services marketing automation fills this gap by providing comprehensive, real-time updates and enabling personalized marketing strategies. Together, they create a powerful toolset that can significantly enhance engagement with account holders.

Related Post: Powering Digital Banking with Data and Analytics

Take your financial services marketing automation to the next level.

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Alkami Technology
Alkami Technology, Inc. is a leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for financial institutions in the United States that enables clients to grow confidently, adapt quickly and build thriving digital communities.

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