Lifecycle Marketing Beyond Email: SMS, CRM, and Revenue Events

Lifecycle marketing has long relied on email as its primary channel. Yet, as customer expectations evolve and competition intensifies, marketers must expand their approach. This post explores how integrating SMS, CRM systems, and revenue events into your lifecycle marketing strategy can create a stronger omnichannel lifecycle experience. You will learn practical ways to connect these tools, improve customer engagement, and drive measurable revenue growth.

Why Lifecycle Marketing Needs More Than Email

Email remains a powerful channel for nurturing customers, but it no longer stands alone. Consumers expect timely, relevant messages across multiple touchpoints. Relying solely on email risks missing opportunities to engage customers where they spend their time.

SMS offers immediacy and high open rates. CRM platforms provide a centralized view of customer data and interactions. Revenue events track key moments that influence buying decisions. Together, these elements build a lifecycle marketing strategy that adapts to customer behavior and preferences.

Understanding the Omnichannel Lifecycle

An omnichannel lifecycle means delivering consistent, personalized experiences across all channels. Customers might receive an SMS reminder about a cart abandonment, an email with a product recommendation, and a follow-up call from sales—all coordinated through CRM data. This strategy mirrors principles discussed in Developing Multi-Platform Solutions to Meet Your Audience Wherever They Are, which emphasizes the importance of reaching customers across platforms to maximize engagement and conversions.

This approach requires:

• Unified customer profiles that combine data from email, SMS, website, and offline interactions.

• Real-time data syncing between marketing tools and CRM.

• Event tracking to capture revenue-related actions like purchases, upgrades, or renewals.

  
  

By connecting these dots, marketers can send the right message at the right time, increasing conversion rates and customer loyalty.

How SMS CRM Integration Enhances Lifecycle Marketing

Integrating SMS with your CRM system unlocks powerful capabilities:

• Personalized messaging: Use CRM data to tailor SMS content based on customer preferences, purchase history, or lifecycle stage.

• Automated workflows: Trigger SMS messages from CRM events such as abandoned carts, subscription renewals, or special promotions.

• Two-way communication: Allow customers to respond to SMS for support or feedback, with replies logged in the CRM for follow-up.

• Performance tracking: Monitor SMS open rates, click-throughs, and conversions alongside email and other channels in your CRM dashboard.

  
  

For example, an ecommerce brand can send an SMS alert when a product is back in stock, using CRM data to target customers who showed interest but didn’t buy. This timely message can boost sales and improve customer satisfaction.

Revenue Events and Their Role in Lifecycle Marketing

Revenue events are specific customer actions that directly impact your bottom line. Examples include:

• First purchase

• Subscription renewal

• Upsell or cross-sell

• Cart abandonment recovery

• Customer churn

  
  

Tracking these events helps marketers understand which campaigns drive revenue and where to focus efforts. When revenue events are integrated into your CRM and marketing automation, you can:

• Trigger targeted campaigns based on event occurrence

• Attribute revenue to specific marketing touchpoints

• Identify high-value customers for personalized offers

  
  

For instance, a subscription service might send an SMS reminder before renewal, triggered by a revenue event in the CRM. This proactive outreach reduces churn and increases lifetime value.

Practical Steps to Build a Strong Lifecycle Marketing Strategy

1. Audit your current channels and tools

   Identify gaps in your lifecycle marketing. Are you only using email? Do you have a CRM that tracks customer interactions? What revenue events are you currently monitoring?

   
   

2. Choose the right SMS platform with CRM integration

   Look for SMS providers that seamlessly connect with your CRM. This reduces manual work and ensures data consistency.

   
   

3. Strengthen your email automation capabilities

   Email remains a critical pillar of lifecycle marketing, but its effectiveness depends on segmentation, behavioral triggers, and workflow design. Platforms like Moosend enable businesses to build highly targeted campaigns using advanced audience segmentation, automated journeys, and event-based triggers. This allows marketers to align email with SMS and CRM activities rather than treating it as a standalone channel.

   
   

4. Define key revenue events to track

   Map out the customer journey and pinpoint actions that affect revenue. Set up tracking and triggers in your CRM and marketing automation tools.

   
   

5. Create omnichannel workflows

   Design campaigns that combine email, SMS, and CRM data. For example, send an email first, then an SMS reminder if there is no response.

   
   

6. Test and measure results

   Use CRM dashboards to analyze campaign performance. Track metrics like conversion rates, revenue per campaign, and customer retention.

   
   

7. Refine based on insights

   Adjust messaging, timing, and channel mix based on data. Continuously optimize your lifecycle marketing strategy.

   
   

How HubSpot Supports Lifecycle Marketing Beyond Email

HubSpot offers tools that help lifecycle marketing teams, ecommerce marketers, and RevOps leaders manage omnichannel campaigns effectively:

• CRM with unified customer profiles

HubSpot’s CRM collects data from email, SMS, website, and sales interactions, giving a complete view of each customer.

• Marketing automation workflows

Automate SMS and email campaigns triggered by revenue events such as purchases or renewals.

• Revenue event tracking

Track deals and revenue milestones directly in HubSpot to measure campaign ROI.

• Reporting and analytics

Visualize performance across channels to identify what drives revenue and where to improve.

Using HubSpot can simplify SMS CRM integration and help teams build a cohesive lifecycle marketing strategy.

Common Questions About Lifecycle Marketing Beyond Email

How does SMS improve customer engagement compared to email?

SMS messages have higher open rates, often above 90%, and are read within minutes. This immediacy makes SMS ideal for time-sensitive offers, reminders, and alerts, complementing email’s longer-form content.

What are revenue events in marketing?

Revenue events are customer actions that directly impact sales, such as purchases, renewals, or cart abandonments. Tracking these events helps marketers target campaigns and measure revenue impact.

Can I use CRM data to personalize SMS messages?

Yes. Integrating SMS with CRM allows you to use customer data like name, purchase history, and preferences to send highly personalized SMS messages, improving relevance and response rates.

Summary

Expanding your lifecycle marketing strategy beyond email to include SMS, CRM integration, and revenue event tracking creates a more connected and effective omnichannel lifecycle. This approach helps marketers deliver timely, personalized messages that drive engagement and revenue. For example, understanding how your website feeds customer data into your CRM — as outlined in From Website to CRM: Strategic Data Flows Between Wix and HubSpot — ensures you capture key touchpoints that power smarter customer journeys.

By following practical steps and leveraging tools like HubSpot, teams can build workflows that respond to customer behavior and measure success clearly — turning your website into a strategic source of lifecycle data alongside email, SMS, and revenue events.