How to improve your CRM in 2026: Lessons from our Director of CRM

Mike Dallin-Gist
Jan 21
4 min read

Smiling woman in a black top stands in an office with geometric patterns on glass walls. Warm lights and people working in the background.

After a full year at The Content Emporium, our Director of CRM, Emily Gwilliam, shares her tips for shaping up and clearing out the inbox clutter.

From building customer journeys to forming a high-performing CRM team, she’s spent the past year proving that great CRM is as much about people as it is data.

We caught up with her and asked her to reflect on her time at TCE so far, the assumptions she’s challenged, and why a human filter matters more than ever.

You’ve just hit your one-year mark at TCE (congrats!). What’s been the biggest learning so far?

The biggest learning for me has been how much impact CRM can have when it’s really aligned with the wider business for our clients. When we’re all working together for large campaigns, whether that's social, web or design – CRM can really help shape a customer experience and journey from start to finish.

What’s one assumption about CRM you’ve had to challenge in the past year?

That CRM is just email. It’s complex and it is built on data and insights around customer behaviour. We can’t just put together an email, ‘send to all’, and hope for the best. It’s about taking a step back, looking at the journeys, and working out what makes the most sense, at the right time and in the right place for customers.

What’s one small change that most brands could make that would have a massive impact on their CRM?

I think considering why you are sending something out is a really important step that is too often missed.

A lot of brands send emails based on the calendar, so it’s a particular day, or it’s the planned weekly or monthly send, not because anything actually changed for the customer. If they stepped back and worked out ‘what looks different about this customer?’ then they could use this to create more meaningful experiences.

What does ‘good CRM’ actually look like to you in practice right now?

Good CRM, for me, is when it feels helpful rather than noticeable. Customers get the right message at the right time, and nothing feels forced or irrelevant.

That means well-designed customer journeys, smart use of data and copy that sounds like a real person wrote it. Good CRM is also all about evolution, so as a CRM team we’re always testing, learning and optimising and making sure we change it up if it’s not quite working.

As CRM platforms become more sophisticated, what skills matter most inside a high-performing CRM team?

As tech becomes more savvy and AI becomes more popular in CRM and marketing as a whole, we feel it’s important to remain authentic and personable.

What really matters in a high-performing team like ours is less about the tech itself and more about how we use it together. My role as Director of CRM is to set the strategy but the real strength comes from the team combining strong execution, creative thinking, and good judgment.

Looking ahead to year two, what are you most excited to build on at TCE?

I think my first year has been around understanding the data more for our clients and experimenting with tests, segmentation and behavioural strategies.

In year two I want to use these learnings to really build and focus on similar campaigns and make them even better. Putting the focus into the data and utilising it to make every guest experience amazing for our clients.

What’s been your biggest achievement this year?

For me it’s building the new CRM team. As a new team at TCE, and email remaining a top priority for our clients, we knew we had to get the best people, and we’ve done just that.

Amy, our CRM executive, has built over 1.5k emails since starting last March and monitors and tests brand and campaign emails. Jos and Chris, our CRM copywriters, create and write copy that tells a story for our customers, from brand-led offers to multi-channel campaigns. Ruby, our Campaigns Manager is the glue that holds all the campaigns together.

Each part of Team CRM has a vital role in our client work and I couldn’t do it without them!

Any predictions for where CRM is headed next?

I think, like most predictions for 2026, AI is going to be a big one. I think it will be really useful in processes – removing friction, optimising timings, helping with data and insights and managing the complexities that take a vast amount of time. Rather than replacing the decision-making it will help free up time for strategy and creativity.

I also think copy and tone will matter more across the customer journey. As AI increasingly becomes more popular, the brands that feel authentic and human (and have their marketing written by talented copywriters and editors) will stand out. These are the brands that will become more trusted and drive long term value.