Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing arrives in April

It's already been teased but Microsoft’s spring 2018 release includes Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing which will be generally available from April.

James Phillips, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft Business Applications Group describes it as "a new marketing automation application for companies that need more than basic email marketing at the front end of a sales cycle to turn prospects into relationships".

So what can this application do for users?

Email and landing pages

Emails play a vital part in online marketing campaigns but, with many recipients suffering from digital marketing fatigue, it's important to ensure that emails stand out. Use intuitive drag and drop tools to customise emails, landing pages and other online content.

Interactive customer journeys

Users can also use a drag and drop tool to design personalised customer journeys that will help nurture leads. Automated campaigns react to interactions and can undertake tasks such as sending personalised emails and generating follow-up responses.

LinkedIn lead tools

Now, users can leverage LinkedIn's lead tools to use them directly from Dynamics 365 for Marketing, allowing them to easily reach and target relevant contacts and audiences.

Information sharing across teams

Microsoft also announced that users can use the app to link marketing and sales, which will help keep track of every lead at every stage of the journey. Plus, users can share information easily and securely amongst teams and people who need it.

Comprehensive view of leads

By using this single data source across marketing and sales, it provides a 360-degree view of leads and customers to the relevant teams. Some of the information available could include contact data, recent activities, purchase history and open opportunities.

Events

Event information can also be held in the same place. If a team or individual needs access to information such as speakers, venue logistics, ticketing or attendance data, it can all be made available at their fingertips. Users can also set up an online event portal for attendees and work with webinar provider ON24.

 

Marketing ROI

Now, users can track and calculate marketing return on investment (MROI) with a range of reports and dashboards, bringing together results and data from both sales and marketing.

Lead prioritisation

Set up scoring systems that automatically identify the best leads based on pre-set criteria and their interactions with campaigns and events. When a lead hits a sales-ready score you can have the app automatically flag them for a salesperson to follow up on.

Actionable surveys

Surveys are a great way of collecting actionable feedback from customers and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing gives users the extra tools to do so.

Future expansion

There are plenty of apps and products included with Dynamics 365 for Marketing, some of which are also available as add-ons or bundles elsewhere.

Admins can configure and expand the application in order to fully customise the product to suit their teams’ own needs. There are customisation tools built into the app but users can also install third-party products sourced from Microsoft AppSource for even greater versatility.