Marketing automation seeks to reduce bureaucratic work and optimize sector productivity, allowing employees to dedicate themselves to more strategic tasks instead of manual activities that take up a lot of time.
In turn, CRM is a consumer relationship management strategy that aims to transform the customer into the focus of the business.
In this way, it is possible to use CRM software to gather important information that collaborates with a better effectiveness of the marketing automation process. In the same way, the marketing automation strategy provides a competent contact between the company and the customer, collaborating for the management of the relationship with the consumer.
Therefore, learn about the advantages of using CRM and marketing automation together and learn how to unite the two for your company to achieve great results, such as increasing the conversion rate in the sales funnel and, consequently, increasing profit, plus a better digital marketing and content marketing strategy.
In this post you will see:
- The main advantages of using marketing automation and CRM together
- Integration of Marketing and Sales Teams
- Reduced Duplicate Actions
- More sales opportunity
- How the union of marketing automation and CRM works in practice
- Lead tracking
- Attracting leads
- Nurturing Streams
- Conversion into a sale
Come on?
The main advantages of using marketing automation and CRM together
The combination of the benefits that these two tools offer to the business is capable of optimizing the development of the digital marketing and the relationship with the customer. However, why does this happen? We list the main advantages.
Integration of Marketing and Sales Teams
When CRM and marketing automation come together, marketing and sales teams must collaborate with each other and work together. This is extremely advantageous for the business, as, in addition to creating a collaborative environment, the work of both teams is improved through this union.
To make this integration truly operational, it's worth adopting a digital business hub that unifies Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success data and processes in real time. With CRM and automation plugged into this hub, the MQL-to-SQL handoff becomes transparent, teams access the same history, and decision-making accelerates, reducing rework and friction between departments.
In digital markets, aligning Marketing, Sales, and IT has proven crucial to improving customer experience and retention.
Reduced Duplicate Actions
With marketing and sales information gathered, there is no risk of both teams taking the same actions with the same customer. In this way, the customer is prevented from being bothered by an exaggerated amount of content or contacts from the company, or even stop receiving content from both teams.
More sales opportunity
Once the customer is satisfied and there is effective communication between him and the company, the tendency is for the number of sales to increase. After all, the union of these strategies allows the marketing and sales teams to know exactly when and how to approach the consumer, identifying a good sales opportunity and increasing the conversion rate.
So those are three of the many advantages that exist when marketing automation and CRM are used together. Now, learn how the union of these two strategies works in practice.
See too:
- CRM and marketing automation for all stages of the funnel;
- CRO – Conversion Rate Optimization: what it is and how it works;
- Students Retention and Acquisition: who to do it? Learn with the best!
How the union of marketing automation and CRM works in practice
To make it even clearer how important it is for these two strategies to act together, understand the step-by-step of the entire customer journey (from attraction to purchase) and how the marketing automation and CRM apply.
Lead tracking
The first step of the buying journey is done by marketing automation. The tool tracks all leads and visitors to the company's website. That is, the automation program identifies which pages the potential customer visits, how long he stays, etc.
With the integration between marketing automation and CRM, this is the moment when the first tool connects the lead with the second.
Although Chrome has maintained third-party cookies in 2025, the market direction continues to prioritize first-party/zero-party data. Therefore, design landing pages and forms to collect explicit consent, preferences, and interests—while integrating everything with CRM and automation workflows. This reduces cookie dependency, improves profile quality, and supports personalization and segmentation based on first-party data.
When collecting data, reinforce compliance with the LGPD. In July 2024, the ANPD published a Guide on the Role of the Data Protection Officer (DPO) with best practices. Record the legal basis, consent, and purpose of use in the CRM, and replicate these preferences in automation flows (opt-in/opt-out, channels, topics).
This prevents inappropriate triggers, facilitates audits, and protects your brand's reputation.
Attracting leads
Through content marketing, leads are attracted to landing pages, chatbots and pop-ups to provide the company with their information (name, phone, email, etc.). The information obtained by the marketing automation strategy is instantly shared with the CRM and the entire sales team, ensuring that no potential customer is forgotten.
Nurturing Streams
Once the lead has been tracked and engaged, the CRM software, integrated with marketing automation, has relevant information about the lead's behavior. Therefore, a work of nutrition flows is started, such as email marketing.
Of course, the marketing team will not need to nurture the lead manually, as automation is able to analyze lead information and deliver personalized and automatic content. Therefore, the team does not need to spend time on manual tasks, only on strategic tasks.
Whenever possible, use predictive lead scoring instead of static rules. AI capabilities already built into CRMs and automation platforms prioritize leads most likely to purchase, suggest next steps, and make journeys more relevant. Recent reviews of AI in CRM indicate improved campaign effectiveness and better use of multichannel data, especially when scoring guides triggers and SLAs across teams.
Conversion into a sale
As the relationship with the customer progresses, the lead becomes qualified. So it's time for a salesperson to get in touch with the potential customer and make an offer.
However, due to the integration of automation and CRM, the seller will have the entire history of the consumer. In this way, the sales team knows exactly what the customer's pain is, what solution they are looking for, what their objections are and a series of information that allows for an intelligent and accurate approach with high chances of conversion.
But what if the customer doesn't convert? In this case, this information is recorded in the CRM software. Thus, marketing automation assimilates this information and continues the relationship with the consumer according to this data. Additionally, the CRM can remind the salesperson to contact the customer again and take one more approach to possibly close the sale.
Now you know why it's important to use marketing automation and CRM together, as well as using them in each step of the consumer's buying journey, improving the digital marketing and content marketing strategy, increasing the conversion rate.
Summary: Combining CRM and marketing automation is essential to optimize processes, integrate teams, and increase conversion rates in the sales funnel. While CRM centralizes data, history, and the customer journey, automation reduces manual tasks, tracks leads, nurtures contacts, and delivers personalized communications at scale. This integration avoids duplication of action, improves collaboration between marketing and sales, and ensures more assertive approaches at each stage of the journey, from tracking to conversion. With primary data, lead scoring, and intelligent workflows, it's possible to prioritize opportunities, align messages, and reduce friction in relationships. The result is greater efficiency, satisfied customers, and greater sales predictability, transforming CRM and automation into pillars of sustainable growth.
Do you want to know more advantages in using these tools in your business strategy? So, understand right now what the relationship between the CRM and the stages of the sales funnel is.
How to Use CRM and Marketing Automation Together to Boost Conversions
What are the main benefits of using CRM and marketing automation together?
The main benefits include marketing and sales team integration, reduction of duplicate actions, and increased sales opportunities. This synergy improves processes, enhances efficiency, and raises conversion rates.
How do CRM and marketing automation integrate marketing and sales?
When connected, both teams access the same customer data in real time. This fosters collaboration, improves lead handoff, accelerates decision-making, and reduces rework or misalignment.
How do CRM and automation prevent duplicate actions?
By centralizing customer information, CRM and automation ensure that leads are not contacted redundantly by different teams. This protects the customer experience and guarantees timely, relevant communication.
How do CRM and automation increase sales opportunities?
The integration allows teams to identify the right moment to approach leads. With detailed CRM insights and automated nurturing, sales can present tailored solutions, boosting the likelihood of conversion.
How does the union of CRM and marketing automation work in practice?
The process starts with lead tracking, followed by attraction through landing pages and forms. Data is instantly shared with CRM, which integrates nurturing flows and supports sales with complete customer information when the lead is ready to buy.
What is the role of CRM and automation in lead nurturing?
With collected data, automation delivers personalized communications at scale, while CRM tracks interactions and applies lead scoring. This combination keeps leads engaged until they are ready to purchase.
How do CRM and automation drive sales conversions?
Once a lead is qualified, CRM provides full insights for the sales team to deliver accurate offers. If conversion doesn’t happen immediately, automation continues the engagement, increasing chances of future sales.
Portugal