Good ideas don't always come with a ton of lead time. For marketers, that can mean changing tactics and shifting gears quickly. Here's a quick example of how that can happen with the right tools and Dynamics CRM.

When the PowerObjects team was participating in a recent CRMUG event, the idea bubbled up to use CRM and PowerPack add-ons to showcase a marketing game to demonstrate lead nurturing and demand generation. After all, what better way to connect with a CRM audience than to use Dynamics CRM to engage and entertain?

With only a few hours to make this idea come to life, the answer was clear: connecting PowerPack add-ons—specifically PowerEmail, PowerWebTraffic, PowerSMS, PowerScore, PowerWebForm and PowerSocial—was the best way. Since each PowerPack Add-on literally takes minutes to download and install, the building blocks were in place in no time.

With the technology in place, it was time to build the game itself.

In order to win fabulous prizes (sweatshirts, t-shirts, and other goodies) participants had to score. And how did they score? Well, that part was easy.

During CEO Dean Jones' keynote speech at this CRMUG event, the audience had the chance to send a text to the number presented.

This got the game started, and those that entered then could rack up points by taking some simple steps:

• Visit a certain webpage (tracked via PowerWebTraffic)? Points!
• Respond to a Tweet with a certain hashtag (that had been pre-scheduled via PowerSocial)? Points!
• Open and click through an email (Autoresponder generated and tracked via PowerEmail)? You guessed it, Points!
• Stay on a web page for over 2 minutes, respond to a text, fill out a web form? Points, points and more points!

The scoring rules of the game were all set up with PowerScore in CRM:

You get the idea, right? All these different interactions were configured, triggered and measured using CRM and PowerPack add-ons, in real time. Each interaction could trigger a score change, another piece of communication, or both using workflows:

It was all about providing the steps and directions to the players on their smartphones. And it didn't take weeks or months and huge investments to pull it off—this approach used the CRM technology already at hand.

Over 85,000 PowerPack subscribers are using these kinds of techniques to build out marketing strategies that are scalable and measureable, since the interactions leads and contacts are having on social media, web pages, web forms, text messages and emails are all captured as leads are converted and opportunities are won. When you come up with your next big bright marketing idea—keep the PowerPack add-ons in mind for a simple and cost-effective way to make it happen.

PowerPack and CRM for the win!

Happy CRM'ing!