CRM vs. Experiential Marketing Software: The Key Differences

When it comes to creating unforgettable experiences and managing customer relationships, there are a handful of different software to use.

Two of the most commonly used are Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and experiential marketing software. On the surface, both software may help achieve similar tasks like collecting data but they serve unique purposes.

Think of your CRM as a system of record for all your customer interactions. It helps you keep track of customer information, recent activity and deal management. In contrast, experiential marketing software is a system of engagement. It enables you to plan, build, organize, and manage immersive brand experiences that leave a lasting impression on your audience.

When working in lockstep, the two technologies serve distinct purposes but complement one another to drive more sales and prove the value — or return on investment (ROI) — of experiential marketing.

In this blog, we’ll dive into the key differences between these two powerful tools, explore their unique benefits, and help you decide which one—or both!—is right for your marketing goals. 

What is Experiential Marketing Software?

Experiential marketing software is a platform marketers use to plan, build, organize, and manage in-person events like test drives, track days, meet-and-greets, pop-ups, etc. 

The main goal for experiential marketing software is to capture and qualify leads and upload them to fill the top of the funnel and begin the nurturing process. It should also track customer interactions, collect real-time feedback, and keep activations running smoothly. 

A top-notch experiential marketing software will do both by using digital forms and/or questionnaires, licence scans, and even gamification to gain more context about individuals and eliminate lines and wait times. That means more exact data about leads flowing into CRMs, which increases personalization and eliminates friction points.

Key features of experiential marketing software

• Event management: Tools for planning, organizing, and managing live and virtual activations.
• Lead capture: Collects leads during experiences and (often) integrates them into CRM experiential marketing software for follow-up and nurturing.
• Personalization: Customizes interactions based on user preferences, behavior, and location to make interactions more engaging.
• Data analysis: Tracks engagements, collects real-time feedback and analyzes data to measure success.

Use case: test drive event

Test drive experiences are an effective method that allows consumers to experience vehicles firsthand. Nearly 74% of consumers report that they would not purchase a car without test driving it first. 

Experiential marketing software can enhance this process by streamlining everything from registration to post-drive feedback. 

First, it creates a registration portal and on-site check-in system that works offline. It then promotes the event via digital and social channels and invites customers its identified as interested leads. 

This drives interested consumers to pre-register and their information is sent to a CRM. Leading up to the event, automated reminders are sent to attendees, encouraging them to join a promotional newsletter and sign up for dealership offers.

On the day of the test drive, the experiential marketing software keeps everything running smoothly. It efficiently checks customers in and sends SMS alerts when their turn behind the wheel nears. It also directs them to on-site interactive activations, merchandise booths, etc. they can visit before and after their drive.

After the drive, customers can complete digital surveys about their experience and interest level. That data is also funnelled into the CRM in real-time for marketing insights and to alert dealers to hot leads in their area for timely follow-up.

The combination of experiential marketing software and CRM makes test drive experiences memorable and a strategic sales approach.

The benefits of using experiential marketing software

Experiential marketing software provides several benefits for brands looking to create impactful, memorable events that resonate with their audience.

By seamlessly connecting every stage of an event, from initial invitations to post-event follow-ups, this software enhances customer engagement and keeps the brand top of mind.

Here are a handful of benefits of experiential marketing software to be aware of:

• Enhanced engagement: By connecting the before, during, and after of an event, brands stay top of mind for customers and keep them moving through the sales funnel.
• Lead generation: Nurturing any purchase journey begins with understanding who’s interested and how far that interest goes. A good experiential marketing software should qualify leads, not just provide a firehose of them.
• Personalization: Conversion is the end goal of any marketing initiative, and personalized, timely communications lead to more sales.  
• Data-driven insights: Customer behavior and preferences are key to improving future activations. Marketers should also be able to adjust on the fly when the real-time data shows a need.
• Brand loyalty: A product can be great, but if the experience promoting it isn’t, that will impact future engagement and sales. The right experiential marketing software helps run efficient activations.

Examples of experiential marketing software

There are numerous experiential marketing software available. Some are point solutions that focus on one task, such as lead capture tools. While others are all-in-one solutions that support multiple tasks including lead capture, event management, lead nurture and measurement. 

Here are several of the most commonly used options:

• iCapture eliminates manual work like paper forms and uploading CSV files and segments, prioritizes leads for sales, quantifies ROI, and connects with major CRMs.
• Limelight Platform specializes in capturing, qualifying and engaging leads. Its highlights include digital forms that adapt to answers and work online or off, instant lead qualification, personalized follow-ups via email or SMS, real-time reports and retailer alerts, and CRM integration.
• vCapture by Validar is a lead retrieval and management software that allows marketers to power on-site registration, badge printing, and ticketing services and integrate it into their tech stacks. 
• Eventmobi’s engagement tools power networking for events and provide comprehensive data for easy sponsorship reporting.
• Captello streamlines lead capture and bridges the gap between marketing and sales departments. It helps drive engagement via branded lead capture forms and personalized communications.

What is Customer Relationship Management?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a set of tools to manage, record and analyze interactions with current and potential customers. 

CRM systems centralize customer information, making it easy for businesses to track every stage of the customer journey—from first contact to ongoing support.

A good CRM keeps current, former and future customers thinking about your brand by engaging them with as much personalization as possible.

Key features of CRM

• Contact management: Stores and organizes customer information like name, contact info, purchase history and communication preferences.
• Sales management: Manages the sales pipeline, tracks sales activity, and helps the sales team manage their leads and opportunities.
• Customer support: Tracks and resolves customer issues with timely service.
• Analytics and reporting: Use dashboards and reports to provide insights on customer interactions, sales performance, campaign effectiveness, etc.

Use case: scaling the business

Whether it's an emerging brand or an industry leader, scaling automotive companies isn’t just about production; it’s about effectively managing customer relationships.

As an automotive company grows, it’ll likely run more test drive experiences and exhibit at more trade shows to engage its audience. With more events, it’ll have more leads.

A CRM system stores valuable leads from various sources—website forms, social media, and events—into one platform. Leads can then be segmented based on interest level, location, or specific vehicle preferences, allowing the sales team to prioritize high-potential opportunities. 

Data becomes crucial for making informed business decisions as an automotive company scales. A CRM provides comprehensive analytics and reporting tools, giving managers real-time insights into sales performance, customer behavior, and market trends. 

For example, CRM dashboards can display metrics on lead conversion rates, sales cycle duration, and customer satisfaction scores, allowing management to identify bottlenecks and optimize the sales process.

The benefits of using Customer Relationship Management

• Data-driven decisions: More information to analyze, report and act on makes identifying inefficiencies and emerging and flailing trends and monitoring overall performance easier.  
• Collaboration: Stakeholders across departments have a line of sight into more data in real-time and can better coordinate moves.
• Efficiencies: Automating repetitive tasks allows teams to focus on higher-value things, like closing deals.
• Retention: The ability to keep customers engaged by supporting them when needed and ensuring the right offers get to the right people keeps them returning.
• More sales: Clarity within the sales funnel means more accurate forecasting and follow-up planning.

Examples of CRM

• Salesforce is arguably the leading cloud-based platform offering all kinds of tools for sales, marketing and customer service.
• HubSpot is easy to use and scalable; it includes integrated marketing, sales, and customer service features.
• Creatio is a highly customizable, no-code platform for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Zoho CRM has comprehensive tools for managing sales, marketing and support, focusing on customization (including gamification) and AI automation.
• Apptivo is best for small businesses and has some of the best apps in the industry, user-level security and excellent support. 

What are the differences between CRM and Experiential Marketing Software?

If you’re planning an event or executing on your experiential marketing strategy, you might consider choosing between CRM systems and experiential marketing software. While both solutions aim to enhance customer engagement, they serve distinct purposes and function differently.

Let’s walk through the main differences between the two.

Focus and purpose

• Experiential marketing software manages activations and fosters customer engagement to a brand by delivering memorable experiences.

• CRM manages interactions and maintains longer-term relationships through centralizing and automating sales, marketing, and customer service.

Data collection and analysis

• Experiential marketing software captures qualified leads and engagement data before, during and after events, focusing on lead generation, customer preferences, and behavior to measure effectiveness and improve future iterations.

• CRM stores customer data focusing on long-term customer behavior, sales performance, customer segmentation and overall satisfaction.

Integration with other systems

• Experiential marketing software often integrates with other event management platforms, social media, and CRMs to share leads, preferences, and engagement data.

• CRM integrates with business tools such as marketing automation platforms, sales tools, e-commerce platforms, social media, email experiential marketing software and customer service software. The focus is data centralization across every touchpoint to manage customers efficiently.

How Experiential Marketing Software and CRM can work together

Experiential marketing software and CRM complement one another. Together, they can help build a more comprehensive, practical, data-based marketing strategy. 

They provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, generate and qualify leads, track campaign performance, and personalize engagements.

Here are five ways that both solutions enhance your experiential marketing efforts.

1. Data synchronization

Data collected from experiential marketing events — attendance, interactions with brand ambassadors, survey answers, etc. — improves customer segmentation and can be uploaded to a CRM in real-time. The system can then alert stakeholders to hot leads and create a more robust customer profile for long-term management.

2. Reporting

Both experiential marketing software can track and report KPIs like event attendance and engagement, conversions and customer satisfaction to understand behaviors and campaign ROI better.

3. Personalization

Once customers are segmented, the CRM can use experiential marketing software data to target specific individuals and buckets of people with personalized communications, offers and support, which drives ongoing engagement and brand loyalty.

4. Campaign management

Experiential marketing software fills the top of the sales funnel with leads and provides actionable insights for future events, while the CRM tracks overall performance and nurtures the purchase journey.

5. Best practices

Integrating experiential marketing software with your CRM isn’t a must. Both can work independently and still show results. But mature businesses realize benefits and efficiencies through integration; all it takes is clear mapping rules to ensure accurate and consistent data.

CRM vs. Experiential Marketing Software: Which do you need?

Although CRM and experiential marketing accomplish different goals, they’re better used together. The easiest way to think of them is as a system of record (CRM) and a system of engagement (experiential marketing software).

Marketers need experiential marketing software to engage and qualify leads in the field, understand what works at events, streamline activations, begin the conversion journey and report ROI. 

While CRMs are used to store and manage customer information from various sources. It helps to demonstrate overall campaign effectiveness better, nurture long-term customer relationships, track sales and provide support.

Thinking of the two solutions in those ways will help you decide which system is best for your business now and in the future. Although there’s some overlap, it’s minimal, and prioritizing the wrong one can make it tough to maximize revenue.