Read this article and evaluate how well you understand database marketing and CRM by answering the questions at the end of the article.
CRM systems are transformational for marketing communication because they allow marketers to use customer data to personalize their interactions to fit the unique needs of individuals. When marketers or salespeople know more about the customer–thanks to information the CRM telling them who the customer is, how she found the company, what information she has requested, and so forth–they can anticipate that person's needs and tailor the next set of interactions to help her progress through the decision-making process.
Information gained through CRM initiatives can support the development of sales and marketing strategy by developing the organization's knowledge in key areas: identifying customer segments, improving customer retention, improving product offerings (by better understanding customer needs), improving the customer experience, and identifying the organization's most profitable customers.
In the following video, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explains how his company captures data about what products customers buy to tailor the shopping experience every time someone visits the Amazon Web site. The customer data, captured in Amazon's CRM system, feeds a "recommendation engine" to suggest products Amazon thinks customers will want, based on their prior purchases and the purchase histories of other customers who buy the same types of things they do.