Marketer's Space: Streamline marketing and sales by integrating ZMA's Planner with Zoho CRM

Marketer's Space: Streamline marketing and sales by integrating ZMA's Planner with Zoho CRM


In a competitive market, clear goal-setting and seamless campaign execution are crucial for marketing and sales alignment. When integrated with Zoho CRM, Zoho Marketing Automation's Planner enables marketers to create, manage, and measure campaigns effectively with comprehensive reporting and goal tracking.
This post covers how to use ZMA's Planner to manage campaigns, track budgets, and view activities by stages via the Kanban board. You'll also learn to track ROI with reports, set goals, and view contacts segmented by CRM insights in the Contacts tab.

Adding activities to ZMA's Planner online and offline

ZMA's Planner bridges the gap between digital and traditional marketing campaigns by enabling you to add and manage activities across multiple channels.

Digital activities

You can associate existing email campaigns or create new ones within the Planner. For instance, a marketer can configure an email campaign promoting a new product and track its engagement metrics. Similarly, they can add, configure, and directly monitor SMS campaigns.

Offline activities

Add activities like trade shows, events, or print ads to give marketers the flexibility to manage all campaigns in one place, including generating shareable short URLs and downloadable QR codes for use in physical stores.

Let's look at an example to see how adding activities to Planner works.

Let's say you're a marketer planning a product launch campaign targeting sales qualified leads (SQLs). Using ZMA's Planner, you create an email campaign and configure it directly, as well as track link clicks and email engagement metrics to gauge interest levels. One of your sales executives uses the Planner's contact filters to identify SQLs who have interacted with your campaign and then personalizes follow-ups to close deals faster.

Tracking progress with the Kanban board

The Planner's Kanban board visualizes campaign progress under stages like the following:
  • Ideating
  • Yet to start
  • In progress
  • Scheduled
  • Completed

You can also add custom stages to suit your campaign needs.


Why is this valuable to marketing and sales teams?

This segmentation ensures that campaigns are on schedule, providing clarity for both marketing and sales teams. For example, if a campaign is “In Progress,” the sales team knows when to prepare for lead engagement.

The Budget tab: Monitoring campaign finances

The Budget tab is vital for tracking the following:
  • Total budget
  • Total expense
  • Acquired leads
  • Cost per acquisition

It also provides insights through views that cover budget split, expense split, budget versus expenses, and detailed breakdowns of how budgets and expenses are distributed.

Setting goals with CRM data

ZMA's Planner enables you to define goals using metrics like the following:
  • MQL to SQL conversion rat
  • Count of SQLs, MQLs, and raw leads generated
  • Lead count by stage
  • Average lead score and location
  • Count of leads that have moved up a stage
  • Email engagement and leads engaged via Planner
  • Website visits by source, referral URL, location, and type (new or returning)
  • Organic and social website visit count
  • Website engagement metrics, including page views and visit types
It also includes CRM-related goal metrics like the following:
  • Leads closed (won or lost)
  • SQL to Closed Won conversion rate
You can also drill down into categories and set numerical targets for granular tracking. These insights provide a comprehensive view of marketing performance and help align efforts with sales goals.

Let's say you've set a goal to achieve 100 closed-won deals in Q4. Using the Planner, you track your count of closed-won leads and align your marketing activities to support this target. With CRM data integrated, you can ensure your campaigns focus on high-quality leads and help both marketing and sales teams stay aligned and meet their shared goals effectively.

The Reports tab: Actionable insights for ROI

The Reports tab consolidates key metrics, such as the following:
  • Existing leads reached and leads engaged (also shows how many contacts have achieved your plan's primary goal.)
  • Revenue and deals stats: Revenue generated and deals closed won
  • Expense and ROI stats: Campaign expense, ROI, and Channel-Wise ROI.
  • Website and location stats: Consolidated views of website visits by region.
For example, let's say you review reports to evaluate the success of your campaigns. For example, the Channel-Wise ROI report helps you identify which marketing channels delivered the highest returns and therefore serves as a guide for your future budget allocations.

Contact engagement with ZMA's Planner

The Contacts tab shows engagement at every level:
  • Leads reached
  • Leads engaged
  • Contacts closed with won deals
You can also create a contact segment within the Planner by selecting the "Segment Filter" icon.

Let's say your sales executive uses the Contacts tab to filter for “leads engaged” and focuses on SQLs who've interacted with the campaigns. This enables them to prioritize warm leads and boost conversion rates.

The integration with Zoho CRM enhances the Planner by providing valuable insights that enable marketers to set precise goals and track performance effectively. It bridges the gap between marketing and sales, ensuring both teams are aligned and focused on shared objectives. With access to detailed metrics, marketers can craft more impactful campaigns while the sales team benefits from higher-quality leads and actionable insights that help close deals efficiently.

Stay tuned for more posts on ZMA's Zoho CRM integration. Until then, happy marketing!

Regards,
Pearlin Nitika
User Education | Zoho Marketing Automation

    • Recent Topics

    • Bulk upload images and specifications to products

      Hi, Many users have asked this over the years and I am also asking the same. Is there any way in which we can bulk upload product (variant) images and product specifications. The current way to upload/select image for every variant is too cumbersome.

    • Workflows fail silently in Zoho CRM and there is no native way to know

      Workflow automation is honestly one of the biggest reasons my clients choose Zoho. But there is one problem I keep running into across almost every implementation. When a workflow fails, nobody finds out. Email alerts hit daily limits and just stop. Custom

    • Is there a way to update bounce domain after verification process has started

      Hi Zeptomail Team, I've created a domain and we did not update the bounce domain to our custom record... the validation has already started and I am now unable to update the bounce domain. Is there any way to get this updated on the backend without deleting

    • Pre-orders at Zoho Commerce

      We plan to have regular producs that are avaliable for purchase now and we plan to have products that will be avaliable in 2-4 weeks. How we can take the pre-orders for these products? We need to take the money for the product now, but the delivery will

    • How to Customize the Member Portal Login Page?

      Hi everyone, I am currently using the default member portal login page for Zoho Commerce, but I feel it looks quite plain and doesn’t align well with my brand's style. I would like to make it more visually appealing, possibly by: Adding custom colors

    • Picklist values out-of-date in Campaigns

      Hi I use a CRM (Global) picklist set of values for my field "Connection Strength" (see screenshot 1). . I use Campaigns to follow-up and change the Connection Strength value depending on their stage. The picklist values that appear in the dropdown for

    • Refering cell from other sheet

      Hi, If we want to refer any cell in the same sheet its very easy, like suppose if I want to refer cell A2  in P7 I just need to type =A2 in P7, similarly how can I refer a cell present in different sheet ( I mean refer cell A2 from Sheet1 into Sheet2) Thanks

    • How to keep track of bags, cans, drums of inventory?

      We buy and sell products that are packaged in bags 🛍️, cans🥫, drums🛢️, etc. with batch numbers. When we get a shipment of one of the products, how do we track we received (say) 10 cans each of 5L of a product and maybe we received 10 cans of another

    • Global/Overall Reports & Dashboards in Zoho Sprints

      Hi, Do we have an option to refer Global Level Reports & Dashboards in Zoho Sprints? We could see that we have Project specific Reports & Dashboards inside every Project. However, for a management level we want Reports & Dashboards visibility at a Global

    • Important Update: New Fields Addition in Zoho Sprints Integration

      We'd like to inform you of an upcoming update to the 'Timesheets' module in the Zoho Sprints integration from June 3, 2026. To enhance time tracking and reporting accuracy for the Zoho Sprints integration, three new fields - Log Type, Meeting ID, Release

    • Custom Buttons & Links Now Supported in Portals

      We’ve just made portals in Zoho Recruit more powerful and customizable than ever! You can now bring the power of Custom Buttons and Links to your Candidate, Client, Vendor, and Custom Portals, enabling portal users to take direct action without recruiter

    • Packaged Weight And Dimensions

      Hello, we have item weight and dimensions, please add packaged weight and dimensions. Thank you

    • Nome do Agente não aparece nas conversas do whatsapp para o nosso cliente

      Nome do Agente não aparece nas conversas do whatsapp para o nosso cliente! Isso é ruim pois so,os em 5 agentes e o cliente fica sem saber com quem ele está falando, pois tentei procurar configurações que pudessem ter esta opção, mas até então não encontrei.

    • Marketing Plus : quatre ans à réinventer la simplicité des opérations marketing

      Pourquoi et comment ? Il y a exactement quatre ans, nous avons démarré simplement, avec une seule vision: unifier et simplifier les opérations marketing pour les équipes marketing de tous les secteurs. Chez Zoho, nous proposons des outils dédiés à chaque

    • hide resolution from help centre

      to my surprise, i just found out that the resolution text is public in the helpcenter, even if 'notify customer' is off. is there a workaround to that? how do others deal with this? How zoho support does this and I don't think its used by Zoho in the first place. the resolution is meant to be private, not public

    • Zoho Desk - Event Calendar View

      Hi Desk team, Are there any plans to introduce a calendar or timeline view for Events in Zoho Desk? It would be very helpful if we could see Events visually in a calendar and/or timeline. This is very helpful when desk side support activities need to

    • Pasting Images in Zoho Desk ignores cursor location

      My team has reported an issue which started recently where when we paste an image into a new or existing reply or comment, the pasted image seems to ignore the current cursor location instead paste itself at the last character present in the reply/comment,

    • Enrich your contact and company details automatically using the Data Enrichment topping

      Greetings, I hope you're all doing well. We're happy to announce the latest topping we've added to Bigin: The Data Enrichment topping, powered by WebAmigo. This topping helps you automatically enhance your contact and company records in Bigin. By leveraging

    • Financial manger

      why is transaction locking for zoho I Can't closing period

    • API usage

      My application has bad implementation and code that is resulting in very high API usage. This is my first time experiencing something like this. Does anyone know how I can troubleshoot and fix this?

    • Disabled page

      Hello, When I try to to run Inventory Valuation Summary and FIFO Cost Lot Tracking reports, I get This page is disabled error. I tried everything in settings, cant find the settings to enable. Help me.

    • Setting defaults for "Find and Merge Duplicate for..."

      To remove some of the extreme tedium from Zoho's poorly implemented merge function, I would like to set defaults.  Currently I am defaulted to match "ANY" when I would never do that, so I always have to click "ALL". Then it makes me click on several totally irrelevant drop boxes to turn off phone, mobile and other useless match criteria. Is there a way I can set: Match to default as "ALL" Firstname to default to "IS" Lastname to default to "IS" every other match field default to "-NONE-" This will

    • Linux agent 2026_M05 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.6.5.3 Release date: 28 April, 2026 Major Enhancement: Quick Support feature release. Security improvements and enhancement to in session features.

    • Automated Sales Order Fulfillment Based on Inventory Availability (Allocation / Commitment Modes)

      Hi everyone, I recently reached out to Zoho Inventory support regarding a workflow challenge and wanted to share both the issue and their response here for visibility. Zoho confirmed: “Zoho Inventory does not currently support automatic notifications

    • Linux agent 2026_M04 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.6.5.2 Release date: 30 April, 2026 Code refactoring and improvements to function efficiently in minimal hardware environments.

    • Simple Totals on all pages?

      Hi there. I'm surprised this isn't implemented yet (since most other software has this by default). Can you display a simple total at the bottom of all invoice lists? ie: I click in SALES tab, select INVOICES and on that page please show us a simple total? Yes, I realize I can go the long way around and generate reports and select my date options and select the type of invoices etc...but honestly that shouldn't be necessary when just viewing a list of unpaid invoices and how much total is outstanding.

    • Linux agent 2026_M03 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.6.5.1 Release date: 27 February, 2026 Bug fixes and performance improvements for optimised session experience.

    • Linux agent 2026_M02 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.6.5.0 Release date: 26 February, 2026 Major enhancement: File Manager feature release Issue fixing of idle session timing interfering with backend activities.

    • Linux agent 2026_M01 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.6.4.8 Release date: 13 February, 2026 Optimised the unattended agent uninstallation process to properly cleanup residual files and complete uninstallation process. Fixed issues with CTRL+ALT+DEL command not functioning properly in some

    • Using API for multiple organizations

      I am busy building an app to load data from a retailer into Zoho Books. We are planning on selling the app to multiple organizations that use this retailer. Is there a way to get a single oauth app to access multiple organizations? From what I can find

    • MacOS agent 2026_M04 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.120.0 Release date: 23 April, 2026 Retry mechanism for end users to enable Accessibility and Screen Share permissions to successfully join remote sessions. Agent stickiness on multiple desktops to avoid confusion. Improvements to audio

    • MacOS agent 2026_M03 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.117.0 Release date: 02 March, 2026 Bug fixes and performance improvements for optimised session experience.

    • MacOS agent 2026_M02 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.116.0 Release date: 23 February, 2026 Major enhancement: File Manager feature release Minor enhancement: Improved peer to peer connectivity across various network conditions. Minor enhancement: Improvements to Elevate to Admin mode

    • MacOS agent 2026_M01 release notes

      Agent Version: 3.111.0 Release date: 11 February, 2026 Major Enhancement: Quick Support feature release. Upgrades to monitoring protocols for analysing performance. Issue fixing of idle session timing interfering with backend activities.

    • Account Unblock Request

      Dear Sir/Madam, I hope you are doing well. I noticed that my account has been blocked for violation of the usage policy which I believe comes from it being associated with sending spam. I have since then removed the old keys which were compromised in

    • Kaizen #242 Enabling In-Context Order Creation from Deals Using SlyteUI

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another interesting Kaizen post. Today’s spotlight is on SlyteUI, the new UI builder designed to create powerful, intuitive user interfaces in minutes. Built for speed and simplicity, SlyteUI empowers teams to deliver high-impact

    • Auto-sync field of lookup value

      This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.

    • CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more

      Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),

    • Can't access google from toppings menu

      So... When I click the manage button in toppings, nothing happens. it won't let me access the settings.

    • Best sales insights for target accounts?

      Question for all the sales power-users out there: I would like to gain insights from Zoho CRM for a rotating list of target accounts. Each Outside Salesperson has 5 target accounts, and they can change these targets quarterly with management approval.

    • Next Page