CRM for an advertising agency

It has not been known for a long time that advertising is the lever of commerce, and without proper marketing it is difficult to talk about the success of a business. That’s why the popularity of working with marketing agencies is growing year after year among both small companies and global businesses. More demand means more work for a particular agency, which will reach its capacity ceiling very quickly without proper support. A CRM for an advertising agency is an indispensable tool.

Advertising agency – specifics of daily challenges

Both the term “marketing” and “advertising agency” are extremely capacious and accommodate a variety of activities. On the one hand, there are interactive marketing agencies that develop an advertising strategy in the online space. On the other hand, there are still many classic agencies, where marketing activities are based on tangible objects: designing advertising banners, stands or promotional stands. This makes the day-to-day operation of such businesses diverse and implies interaction with many customers. Faced with a flurry of inquiries, it is sometimes difficult to pick out customers who actually want to make a deal and those who are merely gathering information. With many requests in a narrow time window, it is very easy to miss a message or not send an important email. On the other hand, the marketing industry is characterized by very strong competition and it may become necessary to acquire sales leads on your own. Relying solely on the human factor, without utilizing the benefits of technology and information technology, will quickly prove ineffective. In today’s world, it is virtually impossible to run an advertising agency without digitalization.

What problems can be encountered in the absence of digitization?

Digitization is a key element in all aspects of the advertising industry. Related to advertising, the printing business – large-format printing, preparation of business cards, flyers and other accessories – should also have access to digital resources. By this term we do not only mean programs for processing graphics, licenses for stock images or applications for preparing text. It’s also a necessity to have the tools to efficiently manage the team and the tasks assigned to individuals. It is also impossible to talk about the development of a company when you rely solely on a fixed pool of customers. It is necessary to attract new contractors, even if their order is of a one-time nature. The above three issues are the bare minimum, which can be developed with further improvements and facilities. It will be much easier to prepare a transaction proposal and a contract template if there is an online quoting module or access to a document database. Likewise with the flow of information within the company: virtual sales funnels and unification of communication channels allow you to streamline your work and understand where the customer is waiting. All these elements can be found in a single IT tool, which is a CRM system.

What is a CRM?

The term CRM itself is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management and has been known for almost 30 years. The abbreviation, which comes from English, translates as “Corporate Relationship Management.” It is a business concept whereby the customer interacts with an organization through their reported needs and their preferences and tastes. Previously, any consumer expectation was treated as a fad or a cost charged to the entrepreneur. The CRM philosophy changed optics and began to analyze such customer behavior as an indicator, a direction for development. Why? Because if a few of your customers point out a particular shortage in your product line (such as an unavailable color, size or flavor), you may find that more people also experience such a shortage and, for that reason, did not engage in a transaction with you. In order to find such leads, it is necessary to implement customer relationship management activities. This is helped by a CRM system, which is an IT software that contains a number of tools for building and consolidating relationships.

CRM system for a marketing agency

A CRM system is a kind of database, where every contact, every order and every sales opportunity is recorded. The right set of information allows you to create a more tailored offer in the future, which increases the chance of a transaction. With the help of the CRM system, it is also possible to perform tasks that do not always involve direct sales. For example, sending a customer a birthday greeting email is a nice gesture that warms the image and builds a more personalized relationship. Customer service employees do not need to have such information noted down in their notebooks or address books. The CRM system will take advantage of data automation and send the wishes to the right addressee on the right day on its own. Many other modules of the system work on this principle, for example: quoting allows you to automatically substitute customer data for the contract template and products included in the online store. The system will also take specific actions when certain conditions are met, for example, it will send a notice of unpaid receivables when billing is not received by the indicated date.

CRM system as support for marketing agency

There is no doubt that CRM software will work well in the marketing space, especially in the advertising house industry. Although this is a creative area, emerging concepts need to be controlled and short-circuited into appropriate, systematic actions. The vast majority of employees will be able to perform their tasks faster, more efficiently and with less risk of human error. The assignment and accountability function ensures that everyone in the company knows who is responsible for a particular client or for a specific step of a campaign. Transparency in this area makes it possible to streamline and optimize work time and prioritize specific areas or tasks. Thanks to this – for example – a person working as a graphic designer will be able to move smoothly from one task to another, and it will be possible to plug in a brief in the information panel. This way, there will no longer be bottlenecks at the interactive agency due to the fact that some stage of implementation has been delayed or files have not yet been transferred to the relevant employees.

Which CRM features will be particularly useful?

CRM software for agencies is a holistic whole created by a dozen or more diverse tools. Depending on the publisher, the technical solutions or the subscription you choose, you can get access to a really large assortment to support your work. Among them are some key CRM modules that will prove particularly useful in the marketing industry. When implementing a CRM system for an agency, make sure that the program has the following functionalities:

Customer service statuses

This tool allows you to organize the various stages of service and order execution. Each stage can be named in a way appropriate to the organization, and the system administrator can create up to a dozen different statuses. The whole thing should look like a Kanban board, which has been enhanced with a Gantt chart. This allows everyone to see where the work stands, who is servicing the customer now, what items are still to be completed and the estimated time to complete a particular stage.

Reporting and record keeping

This is an integral part of the task module, which is an invaluable resource for every employee. Notes are the space where the most important information is conveyed, and the brief necessary for the proper execution of the task can be found there. In turn, the reporting element allows you to give a summary of the work done to the project manager or team leader, and the contractor can add comments and insights. This functionality also allows you to refine your messages and communicate your vision consistent with your overall marketing concept.

Online bidding

This module has a dual purpose and helps both the employee and the entire organization. Through the offer template, you can quickly and easily prepare an email with a ready-made deal proposal. This helps to standardize the offer pattern, which translates into a better standard of communication with customers. The second use of the bidding module is to verify the statuses of individual bids, which allows you to assess sales effectiveness. Insights into such functionality will allow the manager to take action to increase transactivity.

Document generator

CRM for a marketing agency should include in it a database of contract templates and documents necessary for daily work. It would seem that, after all, it is enough to put such a database in Google Docs or .doc files. However, using a CRM program in this case also means automating part of the work. Customer data will be automatically substituted into the document template, and such optimization translates into saving time and energy on repetitive tasks.

Project management

The vast majority of orders referred to the agency are a multi-stage, staggered, complex process. The projects module – as the name suggests – allows you to manage projects that are based on several stages. This is a guarantee that each successive stage will be implemented not only according to the guidelines, but also presented on time. The ability to plan for the medium and long term has a positive impact on the effectiveness of your employees and the efficiency of your agency’s operations.

Why choose SalesWizard CRM software for your interactive agency?

Implementing a CRM system in an agency is an excellent way to manage tasks more efficiently and increase sales volume. This is one of the most essential ways to grow business by building relationships with customers and facilitating the entire organization. So it is worth betting on proven and trusted partners who have prepared specialized software for advertising agencies. SalesWizard CRM is a tool developed by Polish software house 4B Systems in cooperation with various business entities. Through consultations with entrepreneurs, we focused on those solutions that significantly affect the management of the company. You won’t find a number of add-ons or embellishments that could hinder the system. The whole thing is intuitive and easy to use, so that within minutes any employee will be ready to carry out their tasks.

If your company previously used other systems or worked in xls tables, you will be able to import all data through SalesWizard. What’s more – integration with Google Ads, Facebook Ads and OpenAI forms will allow you to continue the activities you have already undertaken in the area of promoting your own services. SalesWizard realistically helps agencies effectively manage and execute projects, no matter how many clients they have or how large their internal company structure is. See for yourself and take advantage of the free trial for seven days today – no obligation and no hidden fees. During the trial period, our support team will be happy to answer any questions and show you the full capabilities of SalesWizard.