There is a strong likelihood that your Sales and Marketing departments run on dozens, if not hundreds, of software systems. In fact, according to the latest data from Netskope, the average Marketing department at an enterprise-level company uses more than 120 Cloud services.

While some of the leading software tools share integrations, many industry-specific tools don’t have the APIs and integrations needed to share data across an entire Marketing stack. For example, your Marketing Automation tool might believe a lead is at the top of the Sales funnel when, in actuality, they’ve already purchased. However, the customer is still receiving prospecting emails because the CRM didn’t share this information with the Email Marketing software.

Welcome syncing tools into the fray.

Syncing tools ensure accurate and up-to-date data is shared across a Marketing stack, irrespective of how the information is stored in each tool’s database. Syncing tools can connect Cloud software with other Cloud software, as well as Cloud to on-premise systems without the need to code in-house solutions.

Many syncing tools can also be set up to have either one-way or two-way (known as bi-directional) sync, so data can flow freely across all systems or be tightly controlled if needed. If you work in an industry that regularly handles protected information, such as credit card numbers or healthcare information, this is especially helpful.

While I’ve addressed a few examples of why syncing is so essential, let’s take a look at three use cases in greater depth:

#1 Fewer Data Silos

Outside of backing up on-premise data, there’s not a good reason to maintain two separate versions of the same or similar customer data. Not only is managing this data a disaster, but essential data can be easily lost or deleted and keeping tabs on which data is the most up-to-date is difficult.

Syncing the 120 previously mentioned Marketing tools back to one central CRM unifies contact information, communication, buying histories and other lead data across platforms. Deep integrations across tools create a single source of truth for Sales and Marketing teams.

#2 Improved Lead Nurturing

Marketing teams have been hearing for years that buyers are two-thirds of the way through their decision process before they engage with Sales teams; buyers are making their purchasing decisions based on information and content found on your website. These findings are what makes engagement tracking so vital, but according to data from Salesforce, only 46% of Sales reps say they have the insights needed to understand buying propensity.

By integrating your Marketing Automation tools, your CMS and your CRM, you’ll instantly be able to provide deeper insights into customer interactions. Instead of a fragmented view of your buyers, you’ll be able to see their interactions more holistically, which helps you understand and analyze customer behaviors so your Sales team can then tailor the conversation to meet their needs.

#3 More Accurate Reporting

Reports aren’t beneficial if the underlying data is missing or inaccurate. By connecting your Marketing Automation system and your CRM, you can access a much more comprehensive view of your campaign analytics.

Synced data makes tying closes back to specific campaigns and touchpoints more accurate. With this data, executive teams have better insights into which campaigns were effective and which Marketing channels have the highest return on investment.

Syncing data across Marketing channels is vital. However, many Marketing teams choose not to sync data because applications in their Marketing stack do not have APIs or integrations with other applications.

Some Marketing teams may manually export and import customer data; however, this inefficient workflow often gets skipped during busy times of the year, and maintaining up-to-date data becomes a “nice to have” and not the “must-have” that it should be.

Using a syncing tool helps Sales and Marketing teams work together and can unlock newfound revenue sources from the data you already own.

Read more: Synchronization Is Key to Maximizing Marketing Data ROI