# Merging CRM & Retargeting

- Link: https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/
- Published: 2017-08-09T11:43:19+01:00
- Author: Jacques Frisch

_This is a guest post by Jacques Frisch, a Mobile Marketing veteran, responsible
for user acquisition and retention at Wallapop._

An all-synced re-engagement automation setup.

![Merging CRM & Retargeting ](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Merging-
CRM-Retargeting-min.jpeg)

Table of Contents

 * [We need to communicate better](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/#we_need_to_communicate_better)
 * [CRM meets Retargeting](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/#crm_meets_retargeting)
 * [Strategy](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/#strategy)
 * [Challenges](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/#challenges)
 * [Technical setup](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/#technical_setup)
 * [Initial results](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/merging-crm-and-retargeting-40109cb49fb5/#initial_results)

## **We need to communicate better**

Surely you have been there. Separate teams inside an organization working within
their own silo with no visibility of what the other is working on right now. This
happens across the board, from startups to large corporations. The missing link 
remains always the same: communication.

The same issue can occur with user data when you use two or more different tools
independently from another. Why not let them talk to each other?

## **CRM meets Retargeting**

Earlier this year I’ve started to work on a solution that solves a pretty basic 
problem in my digital marketing ecosystem: how to connect CRM with retargeting actions.
How can you make sure CRM and retargeting ads are well aligned? How to be sure a
less active user that has already received and read a push notification isn’t contacted
by an ad with the same message again? Also, how can you make sure retargeting performance(
costs) isn’t too positively influenced by the CRM strategy?

The result is an automation that enables both systems to have visibility of what
the other does and adapt its message accordingly.

In this case, we talk about a mobile-first company, the main product is a non-gaming
mobile application. So, let’s say you’d have a CRM strategy using a third-party 
tool (_e.g. Appboy_) in place. That means all app users, categorized into different
app usage life cycle segments (= custom audiences), receive constantly in-app and
push notification messages with different CTAs.

When it comes to user re-engagement, what is the point in running retargeting ad
campaigns in parallel to a decent CRM strategy, when both run completely independent
of each other? This never made sense to me. Wouldn’t it be much better showing users
outside the app only ads, with an adapted message after any CRM action has already
reached them from the app itself? For instance, an unregistered user receives a 
push with something like “Thanks for installing our app, sign up today and explore
great content”. Once that user signs up following the notification message, an adapted
follow-up message to the exact same user should be displayed in a retargeting ad,
e.g. “Thanks for signing up, use the discount code XXXX for your first purchase”.

Trying to understand how to make this happen; I first reached out to some industry
verticals: music, travel, and gaming app companies, but it turned out that none 
of them had this really figured out to an extent that would be satisfying. (Although,
I’m sure the big gaming players have sorted this one out by now).

To move this forward, we pushed the idea at a round table with our CRM and retargeting
partner to work out the following integration and get it up and running.

## **Strategy**

The scenario: you use a CRM tool to manage user re-engagement and work additionally
with a retargeting partner specialized in mobile (e.g. _Remerge_). The idea should
be that the retargeting partner receives automated, almost in real-time, all user
info from the CRM tool. In order to get this done, you can connect both of them 
in a custom integration, which tells the retargeting folks, user X with the IDFA
xxxx or ADID yyyy is inside segment 1 (true or false). This info is being passed
constantly.

 

⌊Automation setup combining CRM and retargeting⌉⌊Automation setup combining CRM 
and retargeting⌉

_Figure 1: Automation setup combining CRM and retargeting_

**Example**: an inactive user has received a push notification via the CRM tool 
to get back and re-open the app. If the action was successful the user has changed
the life cycle segment in the backend from inactive to active again, the retargeting
partner would automatically target that user as an active, with matching messaging
+ CTA. No confusion, it’s clear the user isn’t inactive any longer.

It is important to mention that this is a direct integration from a CRM tool to 
a retargeting network. No mobile attribution platform (_Adjust, Tune, Appsflyer_…)
in between. Initially, we considered doing this via a measurement partner, but the
market-common data discrepancies of up to 10% can easily be taken out of the equation
by setting up this sort of direct integration. All retargeting and CRM campaigns
are being tracked in the measurement partner dashboard and via their raw data dump(
_Amazon S3_) to the backend, though. (Figure 1)

## **Challenges**

The tricky part is to mirror the same logic and rules set up in the CRM tool and
reflect them in retargeting advertising campaigns. For instance, for one user segment
there are in-app messages and push notifications scheduled for the period D1-D30
after an install and for another one from D60-D90 (compare figure 2 and 3).

⌊Example CRM strategy for two user segments⌉⌊Example CRM strategy for two user segments⌉

_Figure 2: Example CRM strategy for two user segments_

![Example app user movement in life-cycle segments](https://phiture.com/wp-content/
uploads/2017/08/Example-app-user-movement-in-life-cycle-segments-min.png)

_Figure 3: Example app user movement in life-cycle segments_

The retargeting ads should be well aligned, so not only would they display the right
message, but also make sure a user wouldn’t see a CTA on the same day twice. Instead,
the retargeting ad with the same or adapted message would appear on other apps 1–
3 days after the CRM action.

We created together with both partners a structure consisting of events and rules(
1-3) which define the flow of this automation setup (figure 4, big thanks to the
CTO of Remerge, Christian Liesegang, who created the initial draft).

In addition to the campaigns and rules in place within the CRM setup, you could 
then add further, even more specific rules and events completing an overall re-engagement
automation strategy.

**Example:**

**Step 1** — a user in segment 1 has been reached via an in-app message and has 
moved to segment 2. Retargeting is being informed in real-time by CRM and displays
the same user now the ad with matching CTA for segment 2, X days later.

**Step 2 — **depending on the user behavior, ad message and CTA should be customized:

– users that have done action 1, but not 2 (e.g. an in-app purchase)

– users that have done action 1 and 2, but not action 3 (e.g. a friend invite)

**Also defined:**

– objectives per segment,

– type of ad creative (video, interstitial, dynamic feed ads) and

– deeplinks per ad.

⌊Automation strategy template aligning CRM and retargeting campaigns⌉⌊Automation
strategy template aligning CRM and retargeting campaigns⌉

_Figure 4: Automation strategy template aligning CRM and retargeting campaigns_

## **Technical setup**

Make sure to pass user IDs (IDFA / ADID) via SDK in your app to the CRM partner.
This info needs to be passed on to retargeting once the automation is in place. 
The retargeting partner is connected to your attribution measurement tool, where
you analyze all campaign performance.

Note: if you use a data management platform such as _Mparticle_, just check if your
CRM tool and retargeting partner are connected and pass or receive all info required.

In order to get the automation machine up and running, you can add some info to 
the CRM tool. A common way to do this is by creating user-defined HTTP callbacks(
webhooks, figure 5). These webhooks have specific rules such as adding the command
that every time a push or in-app is being sent out to user x in segment 1, a retargeting
ad gets fired up 48 hours later, whether the user has converted or not.

For instance, if a user didn’t complete the required action, the same message with
different wording would be displayed in the retargeting ad. If the user converts,
the ad message and CTA get adapted for a segment change or a follow-up action, depending
on the life cycle segment.

Make sure that each CRM campaign logic is being reflected 1:1 in the retargeting
campaign setup. That means if you’ve got campaigns running for six user life cycle
segments, each one split up into different sendings within sub-campaigns, the retargeting
partner should be informed via the webhooks about any action that has gone out from
CRM.

⌊Example webhook structure sending user segment info⌉⌊Example webhook structure 
sending user segment info⌉

_Figure 5: Example webhook structure sending user segment info_

## **Initial results**

One of the main concerns running CRM and ad retargeting which is uncoordinated from
one another, was always that ad performance would be too positively influenced by
CRM actions, i.e. actual ad retargeting performance would be much worse without 
having CRM in the game. By establishing the setup shown above, you can to an extent
make sure that retargeting ads don’t benefit more than they should from push notifications
and in-app messages.

Moreover, for me, one of the main reasons why ad retargeting should always be in
place parallel to CRM actions is the fact that half your users or more have push
notifications disabled, hence you won’t reach those with CRM. You won’t reach the
inactive with in-app messages either, because they don’t open your app.

So, the first test run with this automation setup was dedicated to two user segments
we wanted to engage the most, either to become real verified users or to get users
back to be active. Comparing 4 weeks of data without and with the new automation
showed that for one of those two segments, the CPX stayed exactly the same, and 
for the other, it slightly increased by up to 0,20€. The latter was rather expected
than the first, but any cost that doesn’t increase is a bonus.

Following this approach, you could then as a next step try to use two test groups
1 and 2 per app user segment. Expose 1 to CRM actions first, followed by retargeting
ads, and expose 2 ads first, then CRM. Then you can check how your CPXs, ROAS, and,
most of all, the incrementality of retargeting campaigns will change. Compare the
percentages against each other and make sure to create rules per segment as suggested
above.

![Push, in-app Retargeting ad](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Push-
in-app-Retargeting-ad-min.png)

This way you can ensure that enough time between CRM and ad retargeting action is
given, so one is not influenced too heavily by the other…at least for the users,
which are going to receive both.

Please feel free to share how you tackle this issue and what solutions you have 
come up with internally.

_Shout-outs go to Pedro and Christian from Remerge and Nicolas and James from Appboy,
who all helped to make this happen._