As a business owner you've likely heard the phrase "customer touchpoints" thrown around a bit in the sales and marketing space. But what exactly are customer touchpoints? How do they impact your sales funnel? And where do they fit into your marketing strategy? Understanding touchpoints, the way they work, and the different types that exist can massively impact the way you approach your marketing and the ease with which your business makes sales.
Today's blog touches (pun intended) on four key facts you need to know about customer touchpoints and what they mean for your business marketing.
But first,
What are customer touchpoints?
A customer touchpoint is a specific point of contact between your business and your customers.
For example, your website itself is not a touchpoint, but a client visiting your website is. Seeing your shop is not a touchpoint, but coming inside and taking a look around is. A social media profile is not a touchpoint, but the moment when someone comments or likes a post is.
1. Customer touchpoints exist in both the real world, and the digital world
Online or digital customer touchpoints include things like email campaigns you send, comments on social media posts, blog reads, and DM's.
Offline or real world touchpoints include things like visits to your shop, conversations with previous clients about your business, and attending an event you're hosting.
What does this mean for you & your marketing strategy?
When developing your marketing strategy and analysing your customer journey (two tasks that should always go hand-in-hand IMHO) you always want to consider how your business is represented in both the digital AND the real world. Often we can get so caught up just thinking about our social media and email presence, that we forget about what happens in the moments when we actually connect with our customers in real life.
Due to the profound ability for in-person interactions to very quickly spark emotional connections, real world touchpoints can be the most impactful and memorable types of touchpoints there are.
Make a brainstorm of all of the ways online and offline that your customers connect with you. For the ways you can control, ensure your brand is represented in an aligned way. Remember that your brand is represented not just in your signage and logos. It goes right down to the way your staff greet clients, and the way your space looks when people enter.
2. Some customer touchpoints you can control, others you can't
Touchpoints you can control include things within your direct realm of influence - things like paid ads, email campaigns, events you host, etc. The ones you can't control are those moments where someone interacts with your business, but you're not the one driving the narrative. This includes things like comment threads on social media, word of mouth, reviews and ratings. Uncontrollable touchpoints come from your customers and other stakeholders, and while you may be able to influence them by knocking their socks off with your insane products and services, ultimately what these people say about your business is out of your hands.
What does this mean for you & your marketing strategy?
When it comes to making a sale, statistics suggest it takes an average of eight touchpoints for someone to go from cold to sold. With that in mind, even just being aware that there are touchpoints you can't control is important because any given sales journey can include a mix of controlled and uncontrolled touchpoints.
As a business owner, your number one goal is to ensure the touchpoints you can't control are positive. Giving your clients an epic customer experience, resolving issues effectively, and selling products and services that deliver on their promise is key to cracking this. People talking the good talk about your biz IS a marketing tactic.
3. Touchpoints are not linear
Think about the way you behave when you're online. One minute you're scrolling the gram, the next you're checking an email, then clicking through to a website, then sending a message. Your customers interactions with your business are much the same. It's not uncommon for a client to be talking about you with a friend, then to jump on socials and check you out, follow your link in bio to your website, then do a Google search, and then go back to their conversation - you get the idea! And sometimes they'll go through a process like this multiple times before actually making contact with you.
What does this mean for you & your marketing strategy?
This is where consistency within your brand is EVERYTHING. You want to ensure that across the entire spiderweb of touchpoints, your brand voice, look and feel remains the same. When someone goes from your socials to your website, to your DM's for example, you want it to feel seamless. When your brand vibe is the same and strongly evident across the board, all of yours platforms work together to enhances the connection the client is creating towards you, creating trust and instilling confidence.
Conducting an audit of all of your business spaces is an awesome way to stay on top of this one. Imagine you're the client moving from your website to your socials to your shop front. Take note of anything that looks or feel misaligned or off brand and work to rectify it as first port of call.
4. Touchpoints exist at all stages of the sales process
Customers interact with your business before, during and after they buy from you or engage your services. While the number of interactions at each phase may vary, there's likely to be at least one at each stage. For example, before buying you from you they might see your ads, read a few reviews and visit your website. During the sale they might be on a video or phone call with you, or receive an email promotion that entices them to finally make the purchase. After the sale they might receive a "Thank You' email or a special promo card from you.
What does this mean for you & your marketing strategy?
In terms of ROI, retaining a repeat client is 6x cheaper than acquiring a new one. So, giving some love to touchpoints at every stage of the sales process is key to making the clients you already have, want to stick around for more.
When you're developing your marketing strategy, it can help to brainstorm all of the touchpoints a client may experience at each phase of their journey. Make sure there are no gaps in the journey, and that all touchpoints showcase your business in a way that's going to enhance the relationship. For the before, share really valuable content that shows your potential client you understand their woes and have the skills to make them disappear. For the after, perhaps include a hand-written card and discount code with each order, or send an email with a personal note about why you loved working with them.
So there you have it folks, four facts about customer touchpoints and how you can use them to impact your marketing! If you'd love a helping hand getting your touchpoints connected and firing, check out my marketing strategy services.
