CRM for marketing: what is Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys?

Atteli May 21, 2025

Marketing tools must keep up with reality – and ideally stay one step ahead. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights addresses the needs of marketers who want to create engaging, automated, real-time campaigns based on the freshest CRM data.

We often hear questions from our clients about Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys: How does it actually work? What’s new? What can it really do?

This article answers the most common questions and walks you through how to unlock the full potential of Customer Insights -Journeys.

What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights?

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is a suite of Microsoft applications made up of two core components:

In this article, we’ll focus exclusively on the Journeys application.

One database, many possibilities

How do web forms connect with the CRM database? Are data stored as contacts or leads?

Forms created in Customer Insights-Journeys automatically save data into CRM. Depending on your setup, they can create Leads, Contacts, or both. For example, a lead is usually generated with each form submission, and if a matching contact already exists, you can decide whether to update it or create a new one.

Since Journeys works directly with CRM records, there’s no need to import spreadsheets or build segments manually. Target groups are based on live behavioral and profile data – email opens, clicks, form submissions, event participation – which makes segmentation dynamic and campaigns more precise.

What sets Journeys apart is its native CRM integration. All data about contacts, companies, and leads lives in one system, so you’re always using real-time data without extra syncs or integrations.

How customizable and flexible is the system?

Can you add custom fields to forms and use them in marketing campaigns?

Absolutely. You can fully customize forms in a drag-and-drop editor using standard or custom fields. These custom fields don’t affect your underlying CRM data but are useful for one-time data collection – like asking about dietary preferences for a conference.

These forms can be embedded into any page (e.g., blog posts), and submitted data goes straight to CRM as leads, contacts, or both. You can trigger follow-up campaigns, route leads to sales, or segment audiences – all based on form responses.

You can add fields like industry, inquiry topic, age, or product interest. Forms are visually customizable, support branded elements, and store full submission histories and statuses. This makes it easy to track each form interaction from start to finish.

The true power of Journeys is in building complete communication flows. You can set up journeys from registration to reminders and post-event follow-ups. Rules can be based on participation – not just registration – using check-ins via webinar links or QR scans.

Journeys isn’t just an email tool. You can incorporate SMS or push notifications from your web app by integrating your SMS provider. This enables unified, multi-channel messaging.

Boost engagement with multilingual personalization

Can you run campaigns in multiple languages?

Yes. Global organizations can fully localize campaigns – emails, forms, and content – for each language. Consent preferences can also be managed separately per market.

You can tailor not just the content, but also the tone and cultural nuance of each message. Journeys automatically assigns the correct language template based on contact preferences, saving your team from manually managing different versions.

Why does it matter? Messaging in a customer’s native language boosts engagement and perceived value. Plus, you can segment by language or region—making campaigns more targeted, personal, and effective.

Flexible contact management

How many contacts can the system handle? What if our database grows quickly?

The base license of Customer Insights-Journeys includes up to 10,000 interactive people (contacts engaged in any way). That’s usually enough for small and mid-size businesses.

If your list grows, you can easily purchase additional contact volumes without changing the system or migrating data.

The platform is built to scale – not just for contact volume, but also for data sources, communication channels, and simultaneous campaigns. It handles high complexity, pulling data from sources like CRM, social media, and online forms.

Also, if a contact has no interactions in 12 months, they no longer count toward your limit. This keeps licensing efficient as you grow.

What does licensing look like?

Cost is one of the first topics clients raise when evaluating Dynamics 365 Customer Insights-Journeys. If your organization already uses Dynamics 365 Sales (with at least 10 licenses), you can add the marketing module at a significantly lower cost than purchasing a standalone solution.

Customer Insights is licensed at the tenant level – you don’t need per-user licenses. You can install it across multiple environments and assign security roles to as many users as you need.

Keep in mind: licensing is just part of the cost. You’ll also need to budget for implementation, training, and integration.

Visit Microsoft’s official site for up-to-date licensing details

Take the next step with Customer Insights-Journeys

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights-Journeys is a powerful, user-friendly platform that helps modern marketing teams automate campaigns, manage consents, and run events. It shares a database with CRM – so your team works with the most accurate data, not outdated lists.

Its features help boost engagement and campaign performance, while its flexible licensing model grows with your business.Whether you’re just starting or scaling up, Journeys helps you modernize marketing – without switching platforms or overhauling your tech stack.

If you’re ready to take the next step, see what CRM can do for your marketing.

You’ll see results sooner than you think.

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