Back in the early days of CRM software, only professional marketers and data analysts studied their customers’ behavior. Now, though, with the rise of consumer CRMs like Redtail and Salesforce, it’s easier than ever for financial advisors and other small business owners to incorporate data into their content strategies.

The basic principle of CRMs is knowing your customer. In one of our previous blog posts, we talked about the different types of data one can find using a CRM. This includes basic data, like name and address, personal data, like family information, and client motivations, such as the reasons why your client made the decision they did.

So where does content come in?

We all know that the best content marketing comes when marketers cater their content based on their audience’s needs. But unfortunately, this takes time and energy and businesses turn to generalized promotional posts and advertisements, instead.

Without a CRM, you may be missing a key component of content marketing data. With increased use of a CRM system, though, you can monitor what your clients are doing, what is important to them, and how you can craft your content accordingly.

  1. Monitor the traffic on your existing content — By looking at clicks, comments and social/website traffic, you can see what content resonates most with your followers. Use this data to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
  2. Make changes when necessary — Instead of thinking of your content strategy as being written in permanent marker, think of it as written on a dry erase board. Based on the data you gather, you can make changes to your strategies and adjust them over time. The same post that worked months ago likely won’t work today.
  3. Develop personas and cater your content for them — Most CRMs allow you to analyze the characteristics of your best clients and those who engage with your content the most. Using this information, you can craft content that is catered to their needs, instead of sending out blanket statements that don’t appeal to a specific market.

These are just three of the ways you can use the data you gather from your CRM to influence your content marketing efforts. Some of the best advertisers, including Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, and Nike, have looked at their customer’s pain points, followed their buying journey, and adjusted their advertising and content methods accordingly.

This graphic (from Merkle, Inc.) shows the fundamental steps of what marketers call the “Conversion Funnel.” The future of content marketing will rely on integrative data reporting. By integrating your content marketing campaign with your CRM, you can streamline the complicated conversion processes that have plagued companies for decades.