Clicks Don’t Build Loyalty: Why Performance Marketing Isn’t Enough

Performance marketing can fuel growth. However, it won’t build your brand.

If your strategy is all about ads, attribution, and acquisition, here’s the uncomfortable truth: You’re renting attention, not earning loyalty.

Clicks are easy. Connection is what lasts.

And in 2025, connection starts—and often ends—with your digital customer experience (CX).

The Performance Plateau: Why Growth Stalls

Let’s be clear: performance marketing works. Paid ads, conversion tracking, and A/B testing are musts for scaling.

But they’re not a strategy for staying power. In fact, ad spend is on the decline.

[Source]

Too many brands hit a wall. Here’s why:

1. Ad costs rise.
2. Attention shifts.
3. Algorithms change.

When that happens, your “growth” machine breaks. Because without substance, performance marketing has no staying power.

Performance marketing is the fuel. Your digital customer experience (CX) is the engine.

The Loyalty Blind Spot Most Brands Miss

Brands obsess over ROAS (return on ad spend) but ignore what really drives growth over time:

1. Retention.
2. Referrals.
3. Reputation.

Here’s what your customers actually want:

• “This brand gets me.”
• “They show up fast.”
• “Their brand’s customer experience make it easy to stay loyal.”

As we say at B Squared Media: Likes are vanity. Loyalty is strategy.

Digital CX: The Secret Weapon Performance Marketing Can’t Replace

Digital customer experience is where real brand-building happens. Period.

It’s how your team:

• Responds to a frustrated DM.
• Handles a “Where’s my order?” comment.
• Follows up when things go wrong.

[Source]

What’s more, social media has become a significant channel for customer complaints, with a large percentage of consumers expecting fast responses.

Roughly half of social media users expect a response to their complaint within three hours. Furthermore, 59% of customers favor brands that respond to their complaints on social media, according to Statista.

Based on this, we’ve helped brands:

• Save six-figure deals with one thoughtful tweet.
• Turn complaints into upsells.
• Flip angry customers into raving fans.

Because conversations build trust. And trust builds revenue. 

By the way, THAT’S performance. If you ask me. (And you should!)

Redefining ROI for the Performance-Obsessed

If you’re only tracking CTRs and conversions, you’re missing the full picture.

Here’s what modern marketing leaders should track:

1. Return on Conversation (ROC): Are convos turning into revenue, reviews, or retention?
2. Response Time: Are you replying fast when it matters most?
3. Sentiment: Are you leaving customers better than you found them?

Additionally, these things can be found in strategies wrapped around:

1. Social care.
2. Community.
3. Digital CX.

These can no longer be thought of as “soft skills.” Or “nice to haves.” They’re strategic growth levers!!

This is performance marketing.

Bottom Line: Performance Marketing Isn’t Enough

You can’t performance-market your way into a relationship. Uh, and if you’re done this, IMMEDIATELY EMAIL ME FOR YOUR PRIZE.

You can buy the click. But trust? Trust is earned! Furthermore, it happens slowly; comment by comment, convo by convo.

If you want lasting growth, invest in what scales trust. Invest in digital customer experience!

Need a CX strategy that plays nice with performance marketing? We build scalable, retention-driven digital CX strategies that boost ROAS and loyalty.

📩 [Let’s talk.]

FAQs About Performance Marketing

1. What is performance marketing? Performance marketing is a results-driven approach that focuses on measurable outcomes—like clicks, conversions, and return on ad spend (ROAS). It includes tactics like paid search, social ads, affiliate marketing, and influencer campaigns.

2. Why isn’t performance marketing enough on its own? Because it buys attention, but it doesn’t build trust. Without a strong digital customer experience (CX), brands struggle with retention, reputation, and repeat revenue. Performance marketing might get you seen—but CX keeps you chosen.

3. How can I make performance marketing more effective? Pair it with digital CX. Track Return on Conversation (ROC), reduce response times, and build social care into your funnel. When customers feel seen and supported, they’re more likely to convert and come back.

4. What metrics matter beyond ROAS? Start tracking retention rate, referral volume, CSAT, FCR (First Contact Resolution), and sentiment analysis. These show whether your marketing is creating loyal customers—not just one-time buyers.

5. How does digital CX improve performance marketing results? Digital CX fills the gaps your ads can’t. It catches pre-sale questions in the DMs, turns post-sale friction into loyalty, and drives advocacy that performance marketing can’t fake.

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Brooke B. Sellas

Brooke B. Sellas is an award-winning Customer Marketing Strategist and the CEO & Founder of B Squared Media. Her book, Conversations That Connect has been recognized nationally and is required reading for a Customer Experience class at NSU. Brooke's influence in digital marketing is not just about her accomplishments but also about her unwavering commitment to elevating the industry standard of digital customer experience and customer marketing.

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