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Top 3 Benefits of Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics Integration

17 April 2019

Sitecore, an end-to-end content and commerce platform for marketing, has won praise from industry experts and customers for its versatility, its ability to collect real-time audience data, and its smart personalisation capability. Yet, Sitecore can get even better. How is that possible?

A Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration boosts the capabilities of Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics by maximising your data, helping you to understand your customers better and improve your marketing efforts.

Maximise Your Data

Everyone wants to get more out of the information they have, but they don’t always know how to go about it. One of the things a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration does is allow you to maximise your data.

When you integrate Sitecore with Microsoft Dynamics, you have the capability of bi-directional sharing. You can easily share information and content between the two applications.

“A Sitecore Microsoft Dynamics integration allows for bi-directional sharing between the two applications”

For example, you can create a feedback survey in Sitecore and store the results in Microsoft Dynamics. Moreover, you can associate responses with particular clients, so when you go back into their records, you can use that information to improve your relationship with them. You can also generate reports on prospects so that you can see things like which campaigns have attracted a prospect or which conversion activities that prospect has completed.

Additionally, you can quantify the business value of marketing activities through a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration. Create custom reports that combine marketing analytics from Sitecore with reported sales information from Microsoft Dynamics. Not only will you have an overall comparison of sales numbers to marketing data, but you can examine individual accounts in-depth to determine how profitable they are.

Better Understand Your Customers

Some things are just better together; Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one such example. Sitecore is a multi-channel engine with a set of tools to optimise the customer experience, while Microsoft Dynamics is a CRM that holds and tracks customer data. Why are they better together?

With Sitecore alone, you can control the user experience at a granular level across all digital channels. Microsoft Dynamics, on its own, offers you a way to store customer information as well as track interactions. When they combine is when the magic takes place.

“When Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics combine, marketing magic takes place.”

The power of a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration is that it lets you track leads from the first website visit to beyond the final closing. Because Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics are built for integration (with each other and with other applications), the ease of information sharing between the two applications enables you to gain deeper insight into your customers. 

You can bring information from disparate sources together, regardless of its origin or format. That means that you can accept data from digital devices and touch-points, machine learning engines, and almost any screen or system using the OData industry standard. In addition, you can extract information from a range of connected devices – from mobile apps, store beacons, augmented/virtual/mixed reality systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, wearables, and customer experience systems.

“You can bring data from disparate sources together, regardless of its origin or format.”

With a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration, you can create a holistic view of the customer so that you can better understand them. The integration allows you to add a customer’s web activity to his or her profile so that you could see if someone has visited your site more than once. This might indicate that the person might be interested in receiving a sales call.

One of the benefits of a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration is that you can gain this deeper understanding of your customers even if there are many of them. You can connect information from Sitecore (even if it’s offline) with Microsoft Dynamics so that you have greater insight into what happens during the front-end experience.

Improve Your Marketing Efforts

Did you know that three-quarters of consumers get frustrated when they encounter content that isn’t personalised? B2B buyers feel exasperated by the lack of personalised content, too – so much so that 92 percent of B2B marketers have realised the need to deliver tailored content. A Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics integration helps you transform that frustration into interest by improving your marketing efforts. 

One of the ways in which you can improve your marketing efforts is to personalise content. With the information from Microsoft Dynamics, Sitecore can create individualised messages that speak to leads’ pain points. As soon as a contact visits your website, you can display targeted information that’s tailored to the contact’s exact needs.

“One step to improving marketing efforts is personalising content.”

Another way to improve marketing efforts is through email marketing. While you might hear rumours of email marketing’s demise, they’re not true; 91 percent of people check their email at least once a day, and according to research from the Channel Preferences Survey, they prefer receiving business information via email. Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration enables you to increase the likelihood of successful email campaigns. 

Sitecore and Microsoft Dynamics each have integrated email tools, and when they’re combined, they work even better. You can generate attractive, attention-grabbing emails in Sitecore, then target lead groups and customers with Microsoft Dynamics. After the campaign is over, you can track the results of it with Microsoft Dynamics. 

“Email marketing isn’t dead, and a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration increases the likelihood of successful email campaigns.”

When you personalise customer experiences, customers want to do business with you because they feel as though you understand them. As a result, you’ll forge longer, deeper relationships with them. It’s easier and cheaper to retain a customer than to find new ones, yet another added benefit of a Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics integration.

Why Choose Enlighten for Your Sitecore/Microsoft Dynamics Integration

Enlighten has over 20 years of experience, which has given us deep knowledge across a wide range of best-in-breed technologies to meet your unique business needs. Additionally, we’re award-winning leaders in designing and applying Microsoft applications. To learn more, contact us today for a free consultation.

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