Take advantage of e-mail communication methods in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Published: September 8, 2006
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 includes several ways to connect with your customers using e-mail.
Which of these approaches you choose depends on the specific Microsoft Dynamics CRM features you want to take advantage of.
On This Page
Three ways to send e-mail using Microsoft Dynamics CRM
In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you can send e-mail using one of three methods:
| • | Bulk e-mail |
| • | Quick campaign |
| • | Full campaign |
Note
You can send bulk e-mail from both the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web application and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Microsoft Office Outlook. In the Web application, you use the Send Direct E-Mail button, and in Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook you use the Mail Merge menu item (under More Actions) with Microsoft Word. However, Microsoft Dynamics CRM does not save the body of bulk e-mail messages sent using the Mail Merge feature.
The following table lists some of the differences between each of the three e-mail communication methods.
|
| Bulk E-Mail | Quick Campaign | Full Campaign |
Templates | Yes | No | No |
Response Tracking | Yes (as an activity) | Yes (as a campaign response) | Yes (as a campaign response) |
Unsubscribe Request Tracking | No | Yes | Yes |
Return on Investment Tracking | No | No | Yes1 |
Automatically Send E-Mail Messages | Yes | Yes (with update KB 911520). | Yes (with update KB 911520). |
Use Marketing Lists for Recipient Selection | No | No | Yes |
Important
Your system administrator must install a special update to enable your organization to send e-mail messages automatically from quick campaigns, instead of sending them manually through activities. Whether to install this update is a business decision that depends on how your organization wants to handle quick campaign e-mail messages – either manually or automatically. For more information about how to obtain and install this update, see KB 911520 on the Microsoft Support Web site. Note that this update is now part of Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.
Three sample scenarios
Based on the differences between these three e-mail communication methods, here are sample scenarios that may help you choose between these methods:
| • | Bulk Mail: Your organization’s marketing team sends out a newsletter to existing customers at the end of each month. The newsletter uses a specific template stored in the Settings area (when using direct e-mail in the Web application) or in the Microsoft Word template library (for Mail Merge). Detailed response tracking and reporting are unnecessary, and you don’t need to use marketing lists to refine or filter the complete list of your customers. |
| • | Quick Campaign: Your organization’s sales team wants to send out a last-minute 50% off sale notice to a group of leads they’ve discovered using the Advanced Find feature. Response tracking is necessary, but detailed reporting is not required. As a one-time campaign, it isn’t necessary to save the group of leads as a marketing list for future reuse. |
| • | Full Campaign: Your organization is launching a new product six months from now. The marketing campaign will include many types of activities – telesales and events as well as e-mail. You may have purchased a targeted marketing list to use in your campaign. Careful tracking and reporting is crucial to measure the campaign’s progress. It is also important to customize each activity to a specific audience and save those groups of accounts, leads, or contacts as marketing lists for future reuse. |
