CRM vs marketing automation

CRM and marketing automation overlap, but they handle different parts of the customer journey. CRM organizes customer and sales information. Automation responds to events and moves work forward.

What CRM handles

A CRM typically stores contact information, sales activity, opportunities, pipeline stages and customer history.

What automation handles

Automation watches for events and performs actions. A new lead might trigger a confirmation, task assignment and follow up.

Why agencies connect them

When the systems work together, automation can respond to CRM changes and update the CRM as the journey progresses.

One platform or separate tools?

That depends on the depth you need and the complexity of maintaining integrations. Read our agency CRM guide.