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What Sales and Marketing Alignment Looks Like When Systems Are Connected 


Most sales and marketing teams agree on one thing: alignment matters. It shows up in revenue conversations, pipeline reviews, and post-mortems when deals stall.  And yet, alignment is still one of the hardest things to get right.  Not because teams are unwilling to collaborate, but because they are trying to align across systems that were never designed to share context. Marketing sees engagement, while sales sees records. CRM holds data; marketing automation holds activity. Everyone is working hard, just not from the same picture.  When those systems are connected, alignment stops being an abstract […]

One Source of Truth: The Case for a Native Marketing Automation Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 


Marketing and sales can only move fast when they’re working from the same information. When your marketing automation platform (MAP) and Dynamics CRM operate as two separate systems, activity gets duplicated, data falls out of sync, and teams end up working with different versions of the truth. Even with custom APIs or middleware in place, maintaining sync becomes an ongoing project. A native integration eliminates that problem at the source.  Native connectivity means marketing activity, scoring, and engagement flow into Dynamics automatically. No manual exports. No data stitching. No chasing down missing fields. And when the CRM is the single […]

Planning Your 2026 Email Strategy: Lessons from This Year’s Wins and Misses  


The smartest 2026 email strategies start with an honest look at 2025. This year brought real shifts in how audiences engage. Gmail, Microsoft and Yahoo tightened authentication requirements. Inbox filters became more aggressive. AI content flooded the market. And engagement patterns changed more than many teams expected.   If you want stronger results next year, don’t start with a wish list. Start with the truth about what actually worked and what didn’t. This guide will help you focus on the signals that matter, so your 2026 plan is grounded in real performance, not assumptions.   Start by Measuring […]

Microsoft Tightens Email Authentication: How to Stay Deliverable


Microsoft has tightened its deliverability rules, and many marketers are already seeing the impact. Emails that once reached Outlook and Hotmail inboxes are now getting rejected for a single authentication failure, even when other checks pass. For brands that rely on email, this shift affects visibility and overall campaign performance.  At emfluence, we view deliverability as a core part of every email strategy. Strong authentication protects your domain and helps your messages reach the inbox. With Microsoft raising the bar, now is the right time to review your setup and […]

What’s New: Smarter Search, Cleaner Imports, and More


This month’s platform updates focus on making everyday tasks faster and more intuitive. From quicker list cleansing after imports to deeper search capabilities in Messages, expanded PDF reporting, early AI-powered contact summaries, and new tools to support your workflow, here’s a look at what rolled out this month, driven directly by user feedback List Cleanse After Import SY Asks: Can you make it easier to run a list cleanse after an import? On the Import History page, you’ll see the option to run a list cleanse only on imports that […]

 

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