According to the scientific principle known as Occam’s Razor, the simplest solution is usually the right solution. This is true not only in science, but in business as well. It is the nature of business to constantly search for the easiest available solution to a problem or need. For most advertisers and marketers, effective multi-channel marketing requires a delicate balance of direct marketing, customer relationship management and advertising.

To create a cohesive and efficient multi-channel marketing and CRM strategy, marketers and advertisers need solutions that can be fully integrated. Integration allows companies to streamline CRM and marketing, maintaining a consistent message, resulting in more effective campaigns and higher ROI.

Email is one of the most dynamic and sought-after marketing and communications channel available. However, many marketers and advertisers tend to keep it in a silo, as a separate entity apart from the rest of their marketing and CRM strategies. As email continues to grow and evolve, email marketers are discovering that an email campaign which is fully integrated into their existing systems and strategies is far more effective than a standalone campaign.

In fact, the 2005 JupiterResearch Email Marketing Buyer’s Guide recommends that marketers look for solutions that easily integrate with other key applications and accommodate a variety of scenarios out-of-the-box in order to reduce costs.

Customer relationship management is one of the most crucial elements of effective marketing. Marketers must establish and maintain positive relationships with their customers in order to get the most ROI out of their CRM strategy. They can do so by knowing as much about their customers as possible and ensuring that all messaging and communication is as relevant and correct as possible. Integration allows marketers and advertisers to communicate seamlessly with customers through all channels, improving customer communications by delivering the appropriate message to the right customer at the right time.

There are many solutions available for CRM, and an email solution which easily integrates with them streamlines the entire process, delivering a holistic view of the customers. It also helps companies efficiently use email for customer retention, because the integration of the two channels circumvents spam concerns related to email. Finally, marketers can gain even more insight into their campaign performance by taking advantage of the reporting capabilities of an email solution that is perfectly in sync with the entire marketing strategy.

Equally important to both CRM and the overall marketing strategy is to maintain consistent messaging and brand image in every aspect of the campaign in every channel. It is widely agreed upon in advertising that customers learn to associate brands with elements such as logo and messaging, and that effective campaigns rely heavily upon that recognition. Thus it follows that email campaigns must abide by that same standard in order to be the most effective. An integrated solution streamlines that process as well, making it easy for marketers and advertisers to be consistent in every channel of their multi-channel strategies, ensuring brand recognition and maximum ROI.

Integrating email with existing strategies also significantly reduces the drain of in-house IT resources. An integrated solution allows marketers to deliver powerful one-to-one messages without IT involvement. Elements such as design layouts and HTML can easily be created and imported without involving an HTML designer every time. Also, the aforementioned Jupiter report stated that 69 percent of marketers said reporting was the most important basic email marketing feature they look for in email applications. Using an integrated email solution enables marketers to easily develop custom reports to satisfy the needs of any department, including or excluding data based upon those needs, without involving the IT department.

Working with external data through APIs and open standards like SOAP is a must for effective integration. ESPs have generally been good at importing lists, however it will become increasingly important to be able to move data back and forth between CRM applications and email marketing solutions to deliver seamless campaign management and reporting. In addition, integration with third party vendors including RSPs (reputation service providers) and MTAs (message transfer agents) will be mandatory to deliver the best performing email campaigns.

It’s no secret that marketing and CRM are evolving along with their accompanying technologies, and it’s becoming ever clearer that integration is the wave of the future. Email is known as “the killer app” for a good reason—it’s quick, efficient, scalable and effective. Email solutions that are easily integrated into existing multi-channel marketing strategies are even more so, as they serve to streamline those strategies, making the process easier on the marketer, the IT department and the user.

An integrated email solution also maximizes relevance and brand recognition and, therefore, maximizes ROI. As you evaluate email solutions for use as part of your multi-channel marketing and CRM strategies, remember Occam’s razor: the simplest solution (the integrated solution) is usually the right solution.

Joshua Baer is CEO at SKYLIST as well as Co-chairing the ESPC Technology Committee. SKYLIST