Marketer's Space: Leveraging CRM Data for Dynamic Content and Personalized Campaigns

Marketer's Space: Leveraging CRM Data for Dynamic Content and Personalized Campaigns


Hello Marketers!
Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space! We’re excited to continue our series on the many advantages of integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho Marketing Automation (ZMA). This series is designed to help you unlock the full potential of your CRM data and show you how it can enhance your marketing efforts. In the past weeks, we’ve looked at how to create targeted lists and segments using CRM data. We also discussed how you can set marketing goals and measure ROI effectively by utilizing the insights from your CRM.
This week, we’ll look at how you can use the CRM data directly in your marketing campaigns. Whether it’s crafting highly personalized email or SMS campaigns, or creating engaging WhatsApp messages, we’ll explore how Zoho CRM data works hand-in-hand with ZMA to transform your multi-channel campaigns into meaningful, personalized conversations with your audience.

Using CRM Data Across Multi-Channel Campaigns


You can seamlessly use CRM data within your campaign content to create highly personalized communications across channels. For instance, you can bring CRM data into your Email, SMS, and WhatsApp campaigns. In email campaigns, you can personalize the subject line and pre-header text by including the CRM Lead Owner’s Name and CRM Lead Owner’s Email. For SMS campaigns, you can personalize the message content using relevant CRM data to make it more engaging. Similarly, in WhatsApp campaigns, you have the flexibility to customize both the header text and the message content to ensure each communication feels tailored to your audience.

Maximizing Personalization with Custom Fields and CRM Integration

When integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho Marketing Automation (ZMA), you’re not just syncing standard contact data—you can also create and sync custom fields to bring in more tailored customer information. These custom fields allow you to structure your data effectively and use it within Dynamic Content and Merge Tags to personalize campaigns without creating multiple versions. Let’s see how you can set up and use custom fields for better targeting.
  1. Create a Custom Field in Zoho CRM – Define a field that stores relevant customer information, such as Customer Type with values like “High Profile” or “Important Customer.”
  2. Create the Same Custom Field in ZMA – Ensure consistency by replicating the field type in Zoho Marketing Automation.
  3. Map the Fields During Sync – When setting up the sync between CRM and ZMA, match the CRM custom field with the corresponding ZMA field to ensure seamless data transfer.
Now, this mapped data can be used in your campaigns through Dynamic Content and Merge Tags.

What is Dynamic Content?

Dynamic Content, available in the email template builder, allows you to create a single campaign that adapts to different audience segments based on the conditions you specify.
Idea
This feature supports various content types, including text, images, text with images, and even buttons, dynamically changing them for each recipient.
When integrated with Zoho CRM, you can use Account Tags like Industry, Rating, Account Type, Account Name, Annual Revenue, Number of Employees, SIC Code, Website, and Account Owner to tailor your campaigns. Apart from these tags, you also have custom fields synced from Zoho CRM under Predefined Tags, allowing you to further personalize your messages.
Let’s say you want to personalize your email content based on the Industry tag. For contacts in the “Technology” industry, you could display the message: “Explore our latest tools designed for tech innovators.” And for contacts in the “Healthcare” industry, the email could say: “Discover solutions tailored for healthcare professionals.”
Similarly, you could tailor visuals, CTAs, or even button text based on a custom field tag. For instance, you can create a custom field in Zoho CRM to track membership status and sync it with Zoho Marketing Automation. During a sale, you can use Dynamic Content to show an exclusive banner for members with a message like:
“Members get exclusive deals—shop now!”
Additionally, you can add a CTA button, so members see:
“Browse Member-Only Discounts”, redirecting them to the exclusive sale section.
Meanwhile, non-members would see the standard sale content, ensuring a seamless yet personalized experience for every recipient.
By leveraging dynamic content with CRM tags, you ensure every recipient gets a message that feels personal and relevant, driving better engagement and response rates.

What are Merge Tags?

Merge Tags are a powerful feature available in the campaign text editor that directly pulls data from Zoho CRM and replaces it as text in your content. These tags ensure seamless personalization by dynamically adding CRM details to your campaigns.
These are the types of merge tags that are pulled from CRM:

1. Account Tags:
  • Industry
  • Rating
  • Account Type
  • Account Name
  • Annual Revenue
  • Number of Employees
  • SIC Code
  • Website
  • Account Owner
2. CRM Merge Tags:
  • CRM Lead Owner Email
  • CRM Lead Owner Role
  • CRM Lead Owner Street
  • CRM Lead Owner City
  • CRM Lead Owner State
  • CRM Lead Owner Country
  • CRM Lead Owner Zip
  • CRM Lead Owner Phone
  • CRM Lead Owner Fax
  • CRM Lead Owner Mobile
  • CRM Lead ID
  • CRM Account ID
3. Lead Merge Tags:
Custom fields synced from Zoho CRM can also be used as Merge Tags. These are listed under “Lead Merge Tags”, allowing you to include additional personalized details that are unique to your CRM setup. This makes it easy to insert customized data directly into your content, ensuring a highly personalized experience for every recipient.

Suppose you are creating an email campaign and want to include the CRM lead owner’s name in the greeting. You can use the tag $[CRM:CONTACTOWNER]$ in your email content.
Content in Editor:
Hello $[CRM:CONTACTOWNER]$,
We noticed you’re interested in exploring solutions for your business in the $[AF:ACCOUNT_TYPE||]$ sector. Our team has tailored options just for you!
Content Seen by Recipient:
Hello John,
We noticed you’re interested in exploring solutions for your business in the Technology sector. Our team has tailored options just for you!
Let’s say you want an entire sentence to be different for each customer based on past interactions. Instead of sending a generic message, you can create a custom field in Zoho CRM with the Text Area field type, which supports values of up to 2,000 characters. The sales team can manually update this field with a personalized message or any important update from their last conversation with the customer. During the sync with Zoho Marketing Automation, create a custom field with the same Text Area field type in ZMA and map it to the corresponding CRM field. This custom field can now be inserted as a Merge Tag in your campaign content. 
Content in Editor:
“Hi [First Name],
We’re excited about your journey with us. $[CRM:PERSONALIZED_MESSAGE]$ Let us know if you need any help along the way.”
Content seen by recipient:
For one customer, the email might read:
“Hi Alex,
We’re excited about your journey with us. Your premium subscription is now active, and you can explore all the advanced features. Let us know if you need any help along the way.”
For another, it could be:
“Hi Sarah,
We’re excited about your journey with us. Our team has scheduled your product demo for Tuesday and will share the meeting link soon. Let us know if you need any help along the way.”
This allows marketers and sales teams to collaborate seamlessly, ensuring that every email feels personal, relevant, and directly tied to past conversations—without manually drafting individual messages for each contact.
This level of personalization ensures each recipient feels directly addressed, improving the overall impact and engagement of your campaigns.

Why Marketers Should Integrate Zoho CRM with ZMA

Integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho Marketing Automation is a game-changer for marketers looking to enhance their campaigns and maximize their ROI. Zoho CRM is a treasure trove of customer insights, from basic details like names and contact information to advanced metrics such as deal statuses and account types. By integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho Marketing Automation, you can leverage this data to create highly personalized and relevant campaigns across email, SMS, and WhatsApp. The integration also streamlines workflows, ensuring that your marketing and sales teams are always on the same page.

Stay tuned as we continue this series, where we’ll uncover more benefits of integrating Zoho CRM with ZMA. Until then, happy marketing!

Regards,
Pearlin Nitika
User Education | Zoho Marketing Automation

    • Recent Topics

    • Zoho Developer Community Hackathon 2025 is LIVE!

      Hey developers! It’s that time of the year again — the Zoho Developer Community Hackathon 2025 is officially open for registrations! If you’ve been waiting for a chance to stretch your skills, try something new, or finally bring that idea to life, this

    • Zoho Books | Product updates | September 2025

      Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From PayNow payment method to applying journal credits to invoices and bills in other locations, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. Integrate

    • Contact data removes Account data when creating a quote

      Hi, Our customer has address fields in their quote layout which should be the address of the Account. They prefill the information, adding the account name - the address data is populated as per what is in the account - great. However when they then add

    • filter broke my data

      I uploaded a file recently from Sheets and it has top 2 rows frozen, with table headers in second row and each one is filterable. somehow my first 2 columns became unfiltered and no matter what I do I cannot reapply the filter?? also didn't realize they

    • Zoho Workdrive for Office, "vsto runtime not found"

      Hi all, I have been trying to get ZohoWorkdrive_MS-addin_1.4.exe installed, but I keep getting the error "VSTO Runtime Not Found!" - even though I have installed it ... Anyone else hear had problems with the MS addin?  FYI, I am using O365 on A Dell laptop running Win 10 Home - fully patched and up-to-date.  I have tried compatibility modes and running explicitly as Administrator - the usual steps. Any advice would be appreciated.

    • Add "Fetch Composite Item" Action for Inventory

      I want to make a Flow that uses information returned in the GET call for Composite Items, and it's not currently available in Zoho Flow. Please consider adding this functionality.

    • Inactive Items - Make Less Prominent by Default

      Currently, when one marks an Item as "Inactive", it really doesn't do much of anything to hide it or get it out of the way. Search and reporting within Finance should, by default, hide inactive Items from standard reports, searches, etc. If one specifically

    • This domain is not allowed to add. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

      I am trying to setup the free version of Zoho Mail. When I tried to add my domain, theselfreunion.com I got the error message that is the subject of this Topic. I've read your other community forum topics, and this is NOT a free domain. So what is the

    • Can no longer export as pdf

      In NOTEBOOK I am no longer able to export notes to pdfs as I used to be able to. When I hit that command it asks where I want to send it, but no matter what I chose there is no pdf attachment that shows up in order to send. Nothing happens.

    • Emails are going to notification folder and not in inbox

      emails are going to notification folder and not into inbox

    • How can I prevent the Zoho Vault extension from automatically logging me out?

      Hi, I want the Zoho Vault Chrome extension to never log out. How can I do this? It only allows me to log out for 1 week, and the same applies to the Android app.

    • Zoho CRM App - Links

      Hi  Is there are plan for making Custom Links available in the Zoho CRM Android App? I can't see them being added? Thanks Gene

    • Templates

      Trying to sort out / get rid of unwanted invoice templates, the error msgs are not at all helpful. Surely it's easy to amend the error msg by including a list of the names of the customers / vendors that use it, denying deletion or making it inactive

    • Contacts limit in basic vs standard - what counts? Are customers contacts?

      I’ve been using books for a number years for my small business. I only ever work with 20 clients at any given time. I do purchase services from a number of vendors to run my business, so there are some comtacts there too. I used to use the basic package,

    • Finding missing records

      I have a challenge and I am not really sure where to start with it. I can't find any similar threads on here, can anyone help: I have two forms, FormA and FormB. Both forms have records that contain a field called Job_Number. What I am trying to achieve

    • Read webpage - MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP

      I have the following VBA script, put together from various sources (mainly zoho forum/help/support, so it once worked, I guess): private Sub GetListOfSheets() Dim url As String Dim xmlhttp As Object Dim parameters As String Dim html As String range("B1").value

    • Addin Support in Zoho Sheet

      Is there any addin support available in zoho sheet as like google marketplace to enhance productivity by connecting with other apps, providing AI data analysis, streamlining business processes, and more?

    • Prevent Unapproved Quotes from Exporting to Zoho CRM Finance Module

      Is it possible to prevent unapproved quotes in Zoho Books from being exported from Zoho Finance module inside Zoho CRM?

    • ZOHO BOOKS - RECEIVING MORE ITEMS THAN ORDERED

      Hello, When trying to enter a vendor's bill that contains items with bigger quantity than ordered in the PO (it happens quite often) - The system would not let us save the bill and show this error: "Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered." 

    • Updates for Zoho Campaigns: Merge tag, footer, and autoresponder migration

      Hello everyone, We'd like to inform you of some upcoming changes with regard to Zoho Campaigns. We understand that change can be difficult, but we're dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition while keeping you all informed and engaged throughout the process.

    • Process between CRM and Campaigns to ensure double opt-in contacts?

      I would like to ask for a few clarifications to ensure we fully comply with best practices and legal requirements: According to the documentation (Zoho Campaigns CRM sync – Default option), the best and recommended way to sync contacts is by using the

    • What's New in Zoho Inventory | August – October 2025

      Hello customers, The last quarter has been incredibly productive! We've released a powerful slate of new features and enhancements in Zoho Inventory designed to give you better control, greater efficiency, and expanded functionality across your inventory

    • Search not working!

      I have items in my notebook tagged but when I search for a tag nothing comes up! Any fix for this?

    • Let's Talk Recruit: Meet Zia, your all-in-one AI assistant (Part-2)

      Welcome back to Let’s Talk Recruit series. In Part 1, we introduced Zia and how AI is reshaping the way recruiters work. This time, we’re taking a closer look at how far Zia has come and how each update continues to simplify your everyday tasks. When

    • Zoho Developer - Feature Request Platform

      Zoho Developer is one of the most underatted platform in zoho ecosystem, however, it may just be what zoho needs to welcome more people to use Zoho Services. The more developers you have creating zoho creator applications and zoho extensions the more

    • Last/Previous month in relative date filter

      In the relative date filter, what is the difference between "Last 2 months" and "Previous 2 months"? So, if we are on 25-July, then is my understanding correct of the following: Last 2 months :=:      25-May~24 July Previous 2 months :=:     01-May~30-June Thanks.

    • Tags get removed from notes on mobile

      I don't know why this keeps happening even after all these app updates but if you log out and log back into the app or you reinstall it, all the tags you assigned to your notes get taken off, but if you go on the desktop version the tags are still there.

    • Show Zoom Link in Recipient's Calendar

      We set up meetings within a record, selecting the "Make this an online meeting".  We use Zoom. Most of the recipients go to their calendar (usually Gmail or Outlook, corporate) to join the Zoom meeting, but there is no Zoom link in the calendar. Can this

    • How to fetch custom fields for time entries in Zoho Project API v3

      In the previous Zoho Projects REST API, we were able to retrieve custom field details for time entries, including picklist options, using the endpoint: GET /restapi/portal/[PORTAL_ID]/timesheetcustomfields In the new Zoho Projects API v3, we tried using

    • VAT rates - exempt and out of scope

      Good Evening, UK based company here. I am a bit confused in respect of setting up VAT rates for exempt goods and services; at present I am simply leaving the VAT rate blank in the transactions in order to prevent any VAT appearing in the VAT return. When

    • Zoho is blocking emails I subscribe to from one sender

      About 4 months ago I stopped receiving newsletters that I subscribe to from @thedispatch.com. They tell me that zoho's server is blocking them. I've added them to my contacts list, but they're not even reaching my inbox. I don't know how to troubleshoot

    • Introducing Lead Capture: Empower exhibitors to capture leads effortlessly

      Events provide a great opportunity for exhibitors to generate awareness and engage with potential customers. Efficiently distributing attendee information to exhibitors through a seamless and secure way is of paramount importance. Introducing Lead Capture

    • Work Order Creation Issue

      Dear Team, I would like to inquire about the daily limit for Work Order creation in Zoho FSM. Yesterday (02/05/2025) at around 6:30 PM GST, I attempted to create a Work Order, but I have been unable to do so since then. Please find the attached image

    • Accessing shared mailboxes through Trident (Windows)

      Hi, I have a created a couple of shared mailboxes. The mailboxes are showing up on the browser based Zoho workplace, but I cannot seem to figure out how to access my shared inboxes through Trident (Windows). Am I missing something or is this feature not

    • URGENT: ChatGPT Extension Failing With “gpt-3 Access Error” (Priority Support)

      Appreciate support reviewing this urgently. I am a Priority Support member and need immediate clarification on a recurring issue involving the ChatGPT extensions inside Zoho Desk. Both extensions — including the version created and published by Zoho —

    • Server error when trying to Data > Sort > Custom Sort

      Been using Data > Sort > Custom Sort for a while, now it has suddenly stopped working. When selecting the same data range and trying to execute, I get "Sorry! There was a problem saving your last edit. Please try again."

    • Zoho Desk iOS update: Custom buttons, follow/ unfollow option on tickets

      Hello everyone! In the most recent Zoho Desk iOS app update, we have brought in support to access the custom buttons configured on web app(desk.zoho.com). Using custom buttons you can seamlessly execute predefined actions directly from their mobile devices,

    • Zoho pdf suit

      Pl. design products with following feature: 1. Please add all features given in Ilovepdf website to work on pdf files. It is mandatory to use pdf in court work. 2. Courts have prescribed New Times Roman, pl. add this font as well 3. Indexing, signature

    • Zoho Not Working

      Today Zoho not wokring

    • Dynamically autofill fields with URL parameters

      I have a zoho form embedded in my organization's WP website. Our users find their account with a search tool, and then can select to open this page with the embedded form. The URL of the page holds the parameter that I need, but I cannot figure out how

    • Next Page