Relationship marketing, unlike direct marketing, is about cultivating a customer (in the case of B2B, this could mean many different audiences inside one company) over the long-term, and ultimately driving loyalty. Customers’ attitudes change in a positive direction; they become satisfied with the brand; they ultimately perceive the brand to be high-quality, caring, etc. and will stay a customer for life. At least, that’s the idea. The problem with relationship marketing is that you can’t try too hard. The dangers of spamming, coming across false or fake, engaging in only one-way communication, or being too pushy have sunk many well intentioned relationship marketers. Measuring relationship marketing can be a good way to get a handle on how to do relationship marketing right. I’ve seen a lot of companies troll around for best practices and never truly understand what impact they’re making on customers until they start truly tracking spend, engagement and resultant attitudes.…