We recently surveyed 500 people to ask which, if any, marketing automation and CRM tools they are using to generate leads and manage customer relations. Thank you to all who participated in our survey. Participants were eligible to win a $250 AmEx gift card for their time and answers; we are pleased to announce that Angie O’Hara of Clearwater Analytics is our winner. Congrats!

Are you curious to know how many of the 500 people surveyed are currently using a marketing automation and CRM tool? The results may surprise you:

76% of respondents are currently using or planning on using a marketing automation tool

Our results indicate that just over half (about 250) of people surveyed are currently implementing a web-based marketing automation tool. Of the remaining 50% without a marketing automation implementation, 25% are exploring using one while 25% say they aren’t even considering it.

When implemented and used correctly, conventional marketing automation tools can do an excellent job generating, scoring, and managing web leads. But if a lead picks up the phone and calls you, marketing automation can’t track it. To learn more about how to manage, measure, and automate phone leads, please download the white paper Tracking Phone Leads: The Missing Piece of Marketing Automation.

Which marketing automation tools are most popular?

Wondering which marketing automation solution is implemented most amongst the people who answered “Yes” to the above question? Of the respondents who said they are currently using a web-based marketing automation tool, 40% are implementing Constant Contact and 35% are using MailChimp. Note that both of these tools are specifically for email marketing, not comprehensive marketing automation. See the complete results below:

Other marketing automation tools mentioned were primarily custom-built solutions.

Next, we moved on to questions surrounding current CRM usage. About 60% of people surveyed say they are currently using a CRM to manage sales opportunities and customer relationships:

Which CRM is most popular?
52% of people who said “Yes” to the above question and went on to answer the next question told us that Salesforce.com is their CRM of choice:

A CRM system can be an extremely valuable tool for sales, and the survey results clearly demonstrate that Salesforce.com is the most popular. It’s one of the reasons why Ifbyphone has engineered such deep integration with Salesforce.com.

So did this data surprise you? Did you think another marketing automation tool or CRM solution would be more popular? Please let us know.

If you have more questions about voice-based marketing automation or the results of this survey, leave a comment below or feel free to contact Ifbyphone directly. We are always happy to have a conversation!