In today’s hyper-connected world, always-on CRM Marketing has become a key strategy for brands looking to build long-lasting relationships with their customers. Unlike traditional campaigns, which have a start and end date, always-on marketing is continuous, aiming to engage with audiences at every stage of the customer journey, 24/7. However, while the benefits of maintaining ongoing, personalised communication with customers are clear, measuring the effectiveness of these programs can be quite challenging.

In the UK, where consumer expectations are high and competition is fierce across every sector, brands are increasingly adopting this perpetual marketing approach. Yet, many businesses still struggle to accurately measure the impact of their efforts. So, why is this the case? Let’s break it down.

1. The Complexity of Long-Term Engagement Metrics

In a traditional marketing campaign, measuring success is relatively straightforward: track the immediate response to an offer or promotion, such as sales, click-through rates, or leads generated. But in always-on marketing, the goal isn’t just short-term conversion; it’s about building a relationship over time, which means tracking the right metrics is much more complex.

Metrics like lifetime customer value (LCV), customer retention, and engagement rates over extended periods are crucial, but these numbers often don’t show instant results. Unlike a flash sale that can be directly correlated to a sales spike, the long-term value of an ongoing relationship is harder to quantify, especially when many of the touchpoints involve more subtle interactions—like social media engagement, email open rates, or customer service queries.

For instance, a customer who has received a personalised email from a brand and has clicked through to browse products may not immediately make a purchase. But over time, as they continue to receive relevant content, the chance of conversion increases. Pinpointing when and how this nurturing process directly translates into sales or brand loyalty requires robust tracking systems and a deep understanding of the customer journey, which can vary significantly between individuals.

2. Attribution Challenges: Multichannel Touchpoints

Always-on marketing typically spans multiple channels—social media, email, website content, and even offline touchpoints like in-store interactions. When a customer engages with a brand through various touchpoints, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly which channel or interaction contributed most to a conversion.

In the UK market, where omnichannel shopping is becoming increasingly common, the path to purchase often involves switching between devices and platforms. A customer may see a brand ad on Instagram, then browse its website later on a desktop, and finally make a purchase through an app on their mobile phone. Measuring which touchpoint had the most significant influence on the final decision can become a complex puzzle, especially when different channels are often using different tracking mechanisms.

Effective attribution modelling becomes critical in these situations, yet even sophisticated models like multi-touch attribution (MTA) or data-driven attribution (DDA) aren’t always perfect, particularly for long-term relationship-building efforts. Moreover, privacy concerns and data protection regulations like GDPR add another layer of complexity, limiting how much data can be collected and tracked.

3. The Need for Personalisation vs. Privacy Concerns

Personalisation is at the heart of always-on marketing—tailoring messages and offers to individual customers based on their behaviours, preferences, and purchase history. However, the balance between personalisation and privacy is increasingly difficult to strike, especially in the UK, where consumer concerns around data privacy are high.

With more stringent regulations like GDPR in place, marketers must be extra cautious about collecting, storing, and using customer data. While personalisation can enhance customer experience, it also complicates measurement. Brands need to ensure that they are collecting data in a compliant way and using it responsibly. With growing demand for transparency in how personal data is used, marketers are under more pressure to provide clear insights on the effectiveness of personalised marketing without violating consumer privacy.

This tension between delivering a personalised experience and staying within privacy regulations makes it harder for marketers to access the data they need to measure success accurately. The result is often a reliance on aggregate data or proxy metrics (like customer sentiment or brand awareness), which don’t always provide a clear picture of ROI.

4. Long-Term vs. Short-Term ROI: A Matter of Patience

One of the most significant challenges in measuring always-on marketing programs is the issue of long-term versus short-term ROI. Traditional campaigns often measure their success based on short-term gains—such as a specific sales target achieved within a month. In contrast, always-on strategies aim to drive long-term loyalty and engagement, which might not always show immediate results.

In the UK, where the market is mature and saturated, building loyalty can take time. It’s difficult to assess the return on investment from a relationship that’s still in the early stages of development. For example, a customer might engage with your brand over several months before making a purchase, and the actual transaction may not occur during the same period as the engagement.

This delayed ROI means that brands need to take a more holistic approach to measurement. Customer lifetime value (CLV), brand equity, and net promoter score (NPS) are all key indicators of long-term success. However, these metrics are more subjective and harder to track accurately compared to traditional performance metrics like sales or leads.

5. The Human Element: Qualitative Feedback

While data is essential, qualitative feedback is often just as valuable in measuring the success of always-on programs. This could come in the form of customer surveys, reviews, or social media conversations. These insights provide a deeper understanding of how customers feel about a brand, which can be challenging to capture with numbers alone.

In the UK, consumers are increasingly vocal about their experiences with brands, especially on platforms like Twitter or Trustpilot. Listening to these conversations can offer a more nuanced view of brand health, but again, this data is not as easily quantifiable as other metrics. Plus, gathering and interpreting this type of feedback requires a level of expertise and investment in sentiment analysis tools, which can add to the complexity of measurement.

Conclusion: Evolving Measurement Approaches

While always-on CRM Marketing programs offer tremendous potential to build customer loyalty and brand advocacy, measuring their success remains a difficult task. Brands need to think beyond traditional metrics and embrace a more nuanced approach to tracking customer engagement. This means investing in sophisticated analytics, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data, and recognising that the true impact of relationship marketing may not always be immediate or easily measurable.

For UK brands, the key is to continuously adapt their measurement strategies, embracing new technologies and methodologies that can better track long-term customer engagement. In a competitive and privacy-conscious market, those that can successfully navigate these measurement challenges will be the ones who build the most meaningful and lasting relationships with their customers.