Dynamics Marketing — How Should I Decide?

There are many marketing automation solutions available for Dynamics 365 and the most of them do a nice job of providing the core functionality that marketers want. However, there are differences that may rule out that solution depending on your organization’s needs.

Here are seven things you should know, based on your current marketing strategy, if you are considering the Microsoft Dynamics Marketing app for your D365 marketing solution:

1. Account-based marketing

Microsoft designed the marketing app with a Contacts-centric approach rather than Leads-driven. What this means is communication is targeted at Contacts and Accounts out-of-the-box rather than Leads. For example, when sending email campaigns or “customer journeys,” as Microsoft defines them, you can only target Contacts or Accounts. Leads are still used but the definition of Leads has changed. Microsoft has redefined Leads as records that represent specific expressions of interest made by Contacts. Because of this, any Lead that you want to score and nurture must be associated to a Contact or Account. If your current marketing strategy is Leads-driven rather than an account-based approach, then the good news is Microsoft includes some automation that allows Leads to be generated automatically and associated to the right Contact. Additionally, you can create segments that target Leads. So, while you can still market to Leads with the new design model, be sure to remember that Leads are expected to be associated with Contacts and Accounts for most of the automation related to Leads to function properly.

2. Pricing model

In lieu of the Contacts-centric approach, the pricing model is also centered around Contacts. When the app was first introduced, the pricing model was based on the number of Contacts in your database — period. As you may know, Contacts in D365 are used for much more than just marketing purposes. So, you might have hundreds of Contacts potentially that were not used by marketing but still counted against your license. Thankfully, Microsoft changed this and now the model is any “Contact” that is in your database that you engage with marketing activities. Marketing activities include emails, landing pages, forms, LinkedIn integration, events, and surveys. Contacts that you never engage in marketing activities won’t be counted as part of your D365 Marketing license.

3. Social engagement

Microsoft has recently deprecated social listening functionality for the marketing app that was part of an offering known as Social Engagement. This allowed users to view how people were reacting to your campaigns, events, brands, and so on. Currently the app includes social posting functionality that allows you to schedule and post any message to Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. However, if your marketing strategy relies heavily on social media automation beyond posting, then you will need to investigate other options to customize the system to meet this requirement.

4. Smart segmentation

Your marketing strategy most likely requires a solution with robust segmentation features. The Marketing app includes a powerful segmentation engine that allows you to build dynamic or fixed queries to target specific groups or individuals based on your needs. For example, you could build a query that targets contacts, leads, accounts, events, marketing lists, and much more. One particularly nice feature is the ability to segment based on marketing interactions. This allows you to find contacts that have shown engagement with your marketing initiatives, or contacts that you may be failing to reach.

5. Event management

Event planning and management is typically a vital part of most marketing strategies. If this is the case for you, then the Marketing app includes a robust event management feature. It allows you to easily maintain and track events from initial contact all the way through to evaluation of ROI. There are two things to consider regarding this offering: First, the event management platform is designed for very large conference style events rather than tactical marketing events. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t use the feature if you don’t have large events, but it might be overkill. Second, Microsoft has partnered with a provider called On24 for webinars. Out-of-the-box this is the ONLY provider that will work as the webinar provider. There is a possibility to use a different provider, but your system would need to be customized for this and it involves custom development.

6. Lead scoring

Lead scoring is vital to any marketing strategy because it allows you to categorize a prospect’s level of commitment. If this is important to your current marketing strategy, then the app does include scoring models that allow you to track and score Leads based on a wide variety of conditions and grades. One very important thing to remember is that, out-of-the-box, Leads are only scored automatically if they are associated to Contacts or Accounts. It is possible to implement predictive scoring using Power Automate, but just remember you will need to build this prior to go-live.

7. Reporting

Finally, Microsoft includes reporting based on intelligent analytics called Customer Insights. This allows you to better understand and engage with your customers and potential customers. One important note to remember is that it can take some time for these insights to update in your system.

Still on the fence about Dynamics Marketing? Contact us if you need help determining if it is the right solution for you.