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.
- 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.”
- Create the Same Custom Field in ZMA – Ensure consistency by replicating the field type in Zoho Marketing Automation.
- 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.

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
Profile Image Showing Incorrectly in Zoho Mail
Hi everyone, I’m facing a serious issue with Zoho Mail. The profile image showing for my email address is incorrect — it’s not my image. When I send an email to my Gmail account, it displays someone else’s image. This looks very suspicious and can make
I need access to my old email
I need access to my old email bromzeman@zoho.com to verify it for forwarding. I can’t access the inbox to get the confirmation code. Please assist with recovery or forwarding. as you might already know, they made alot of the email addresses to have that
Set Defaults for Email Groups
Is there a way to set defaults for all of the groups that I establish as a moderator? For example, I want every group I establish to have the following settings: 1. Moderator is <user> 2. User is <user>, <user> 3. Notifications for new group turned
LOGS FOR RECEIVED MAIL ( READ DATE & TIME)
In Zoho mail we can extract the read logs of received mails so that we can see when we have read the mail and at what time & we have read it.
Domain verification probem
Hello, i use a domain from Namecheap with hosting from Cinfu when i try to verify my domain on zoho i get "TXT Verification failure" i even tried the HTML verification and the code appears but also giving me the verification failure error.
Switching to Cloudflare email routing from Zoho Mail
Hello, I'm currently working on migrating from Zoho Mail to Cloudflare's email routing solution. This requires changing MX and TXT records for our custom domain - when we do this, will our users still be able to log into their accounts and access an archived
Un Subscription Button
How can i Add the Un Subscription Button in Zoho mail
Documents unable view and need to downlad
I can't view .doc files in Zoho mail unless I download them, but I can view PDF files without downloading.
we encountered a problem while sending your email. please try again later.
Adding and removing people from groups
We're having problems adding people to a group. Apparently Zoho has one email address and will not recognize a different email address.
MAIL SEARCH IS NOT WORKING
THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN BUGGING ME SINCE MORNING, PLEASE RESOLVE THIS AT THE EARLIEST
URL Parameter on Help Center SIgn in link
Is it possible to add a url parameter to the sign in link on the Help Center?
migrating from HelpScout
I am attempting to import a conversation file from helpscout into desk and am receiving size errors. What is the current file size restriction. Does anyone have any tips for a successful migration?
Layout Rules Don't Apply To Blueprints
Hi Zoho the conditional layout rules for fields and making fields required don't work well with with Blueprints if those same fields are called DURING a Blueprint. Example. I have field A that is used in layout rule. If value of field A is "1" it is supposed to show and make required field B. If the value to field A is "2" it is supposed to show and make required field C. Now I have a Blueprint that says when last stage moves to "Closed," during the transition, the agent must fill out field A. Now
Article Name Sorting in Zoho Desk Knowledge Base (agent / admin side)
Dear Zoho Desk Support, We are writing to request an enhancement to the Knowledge Base management feature within Zoho Desk. Currently, there is no option to sort articles by their name, which significantly hinders efficient article management, especially
How to parse JSON data with SQL in Zoho Analytics?
Hi all, I have a column with JSON data. I want to show this column in a chart, but it is very messy, and no JSON parsing function is supported on Zoho Analytics. data example: {"id": 5, "status": "false", "date": "15/10/22"} what I want to do in SQL is
Add an Equation Field (Or update the Formula Field)
Hi, I would like to be able to have one field as a Text Field with QR Code, and then have multiple Equation/Formula Fields that then take parts of that fields data with LEFT, MID, RIGHT, REGEX, etc. Thanks Dan
How to parse column having JSON data using SQL?
We have a daily sync from a PostgreSQL database that brings data into Zoho Analytics. Some of the columns store raw JSON data. We need to build SQL queries on top to parse data from JSON and store them in discrete columns. There is no option for "Data
Enable report button based on the current user role
Greetings i have a report that contains action buttons, i want these buttons to appear as enabled only when the current logged in user has a certain role, for example only CEO role users will be able to use this button. but when setting the conditions
500 Internal Error In Mail API
I'm getting 500 Internal Error when using mail API. I'm getting this error for this one account, it works fine for other Account IDs which I have in my system.
Zoho Sign Document upload to the Attachment section of the Zoho CRM Deals record
Hi, Is there a script I can use to attach a document once signed in the Deals record attachment section? I know that the fiels are uploaded in the Zoho Sign Document module but our client wants it in the attachment section. They are using the "Send with
Zoho live chat widget in React Js
I am trying to test Zoho live chat widget code in react js, below is the sample code void(0)} onClick={()=>window.$zoho.salesiq.floatwindow.visible("show")}>LIVE CHAT
window.$zoho = window.$zoho || {};window.$zoho.salesiq = window.$zoho.salesiq
Are there any plans to add Triggers for Subform edits?
By The Grace of G-D. Hi, How are you? Can you tell me if you have any plans to support subform edit as a workflow trigger? And what about have them trigger an "onChange" client script?
Zoho commerce
i am facing issue with order summary emails.i am getting 1 continuous email for order received yesterday and today.ideally 1 email should be received for a particular date ie for 02/08 i should received 1 email from 12.01am till 11.59pm but it is being
Feature Request: Improve Category Page Sorting for "Out of Stock" Products
Hi there, I'm writing to request a new feature that I believe would significantly improve the user experience in my online store. Currently, on category pages, products are sorted by popularity. However, when a popular product goes "Out of Stock," it
POSTMAN - There was an error in evaluating the Pre-request Script:Error: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'json')
I am beginning the journey to learn how to use the API for Zoho Sign. I am getting the following error when I try to use postman. To walk you through how I am getting this error... I wanted to start with a simple GET and expand my learning from there.
How do i integrate shipstation with zoho inventory
Wanting to set up my own delivery driver in ship station so we can get real time tracking of where the package is but then i want it to automatically update zoho inventory packages/shipments how can i do this
Invalid value passed for salesorder_id
Hi, I am using sales return API, details are given below: API: https://inventory.zoho.com/api/v1/salesreturns?organization_id=700571811 Post Json Data: { "salesreturn_number": "", "date": "2020-11-12", "reason": "Testing from API", "line_items": [ { "item_id":
Create Invoice and Invoice Items from Sales Order via API
Currently, when creating an Invoice associated with a Sales Order via the API, it appears that I must manually include all of the items (line_items) even though they are already part of the Sales Order. My question is this: is it possible to raise an Invoice via the API based on all of the information associated with a Sales Order--such as the items? In other words, do I always have to manually include the items (line_items) when raising an Invoice via the API when the Invoice is associated with
Outlook 2013 Calendar Syncs but "Related To" Field in Zoho is blank
Outlook 2013 Calendar Syncs but Related To Field in Zoho is blank I expect the "Realted To" field to be populated with the calendar participants
Export a Course
Is it possible to export a course from Zoho Learn to a SCORM file?
Add and Remove Agents from Departments and Groups in Zoho One
Hi Zoho Flow Team, We hope you're doing well. Currently, Zoho Flow provides an action to add an agent to a group in zoho one, but there is no action to remove an agent from a group or a department. Another action that we find missing is the option to
Consumer Financing
Does Zoho currently have a payment gateway (such as Stripe, Square, etc) which offers financing for customers? So, let's say the estimate we give the customer is greater than what they can afford at the time, but we can sell the service now, letting them
Intégration de la gestion des Passkeys dans Zoho Vault
Zoho Vault est depuis plus d’une décennie une solution fiable pour les entreprises : pour la gestion, le partage et le stockage des mots de passe. En 2018, nous avons fait un pas en avant en proposant la connexion unique (SSO). Nous sommes fiers de franchir
Scan & Fill with double quote key/value pairs
Hi, An old Ticket moved to a Topic/Idea: I love the idea of the new Scan & Fill as it nearly covers my previous request for a QR Scanner to read a multi-part QR Code. My QR Codes are hard-coded as below: {"key1":"value1","key2":"value2","key3":"value3"}
Analytics SQL Queries should allow # as comment
# and // are very common for commenting in SQL. Not sure why analytics only allows /* and */ for commenting. Especially when # grays the line as if it's being commented out. This should be added for sure.
SalesIQ Operator Activity Reports in Zoho Analytics
I'm busy building a dashboard in Zoho Analytics and I want to include SalesIQ stats in the dashboard, but I'm unable to get the statistics mentioned in the attached image. Any idea where I can get the stats for Operator Activity?
No longer can indent
Hey there! Is it just me or were we used to be allowed to used tab or indent when writing. It’s not working right now, has this always been the case?
Free webinar alert! Seamless Transition with Lossless Migration: Zoho One + Zoho Mail
Hello Zoho Mail Community! 🚀 Attention IT Admins and Email Administrators! Are you planning to migrate your organization's email to Zoho Mail within the Zoho One ecosystem? 📧 Join our exclusive webinar, Seamless Transition with Lossless Migration: Zoho
Add Resource to Export
The Export Data feature does not include a column for the Resource field. Without this column, Zoho Bookings cannot be used by any business for resource-based services or event types e.g. room bookings, equipment bookings. It seems to be an oversight,
Next Page