Every business today needs to have engagement touchpoints in place with customer satisfaction in mind to ensure continued success. It starts by offering an amazing product and service, but if you are not interacting with your customer along the way, you won’t be able to improve and sustain it for the long-term.
Read this guide to learn all about customer touchpoints and how your business can put them to good use.
What Are Customer Touchpoints?
Customer engagement touchpoints are any points of contact or encounters between a business and its customer. It could be through an email enquiry, a visit to your website, a conversation with your customer service team or even reading reviews about the business.
Customer touchpoints engage clients in multiple ways throughout their buying cycle. They can be instigated directly by a business or can come from third-party websites, advertisements and social media.
Why Are Customer Touchpoints So Important?
Each time a customer ‘touches’ your business, they are getting influenced by it. Understanding what your customers are seeking at each of these touchpoints, and how you can give them what they want will ensure that they proceed to the next step.
Customer touchpoints help marketers and researchers understand and develop a customised plan according to different demographics of their customer base. You will be able to set up different levels of measurement to track how well each touchpoint is doing in terms of engagement and look for areas to improve.
Examples Of Customer Touchpoints And How To Make The Best Use Of Them
Social Media
54% of customers use social media to research products and brands before making a purchase. Social media enables you to reach thousands of customers across every corner of the world and it is a crucial touchpoint for businesses today. Use it to boost your brand reputation, engage customers through relevant content and build relationships.
Online Ads
Paid digital ads are a great way to get noticed right when your customer is actively looking. Online ads will appear on their search results page, across third-party webpages and on social media. Your customer is already looking for something, targeting them through ads is an effective touchpoint.
Web Content
Publish engaging, relevant and shareable content that your customer wants to read and interact with. This is an effective way to establish yourself as an authority on a subject and instigate a customer to reach out to you. Providing your customer with valuable information pushes them onward in their buying journey.
Reviews
93% of customers say that online reviews significantly impact their purchase decisions and nearly all consumers research products online before buying them. New customers are more likely to trust their peers and other ‘real’ consumers than take your word for it, so this is an important touchpoint to look into.
Take control of your reviews and ratings by featuring them on your website. Reply to all feedback, especially the negative ones. This shows customers that you care about their feelings and that you’re willing to touch base with them on any issue.
Point Of Sale
This is the last leg of touchpoints before your customer goes through with a purchase. You need to ensure that any concerns the customer has at this point are taken care off and resolved diligently. Emphasis on positive impacts this transaction will have on the customer and assure them that you will be there even after they go through with it.
Training your sales representative to close the deal at this final step is crucial for your business.
Emails
Just because you managed to go through with a successful transaction at the point of sale, does not mean your job is done. You need to establish customer engagement touchpoints post- purchase.
The majority of customers today say that emails are their preferred method of communication with brands. This is your chance to thank them for their business and open doors to upsell and cross-sell by nudging them towards their next purchase. Personalise your emails so they feel like they know you and your team and not just your brand name.
Take your time to fully understand, analyse and revamp upon each of these customer touchpoint areas to provide an all-round positive experience for your customer.
A Consistent Message Is Crucial
The key point to remember when interacting with your customer at each touchpoint is to keep a consistent identity across all areas of your business. Whether it’s in marketing or sales, promotion or finance, your brand image and identity should be the same and be authentic throughout.
Your customers should know exactly who they are interacting with and what they can expect, regardless of which touchpoint they are using. Set a goal and communicate it effectively to fully strengthen your brand.
