Touch points in marketing terms refer to any certain point of contact or interaction between a business or brand and its customers. This includes any form of communication, from online to face-to-face. Essentially, a touch point is any point of contact a customer has with your brand – from the first advertisement or digital impression to post-purchase support. In today’s digitalised world, most communication between brands and customers happens entirely online and through various mediums. However, traditional sources of customer communication – like customer hotlines and stores – still exist.
In simple terms, a touch point is anything that a customer interacts with to find out more about your company, purchase something from you, or get customer service. Depending on the type of business and its sales process, companies will have a different array of touch points. In fact, a customer journey can be broken down into a series of touch points. It’s important to remember that although customer interaction typically happens in a linear manner – users interact with a site, purchase something, and then leave – businesses should anticipate and provide for non-linear interactions instead.
When it comes to touch points, businesses should focus on creating the best customer experience. As such, customer touch points should be optimised for customer convenience, engagement, and satisfaction. Here are some of the most common touch points and tips on how to optimise them:
Social media: social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook provide an ideal platform for customers to interact and engage with a brand. Optimising a social media presence allows businesses to build trust, create relevance, and increase loyalty.
Website: the website is typically the first place customers encounter a brand. Having a functional, user-friendly website is key to ensuring a great user experience.
Email marketing: businesses can use email campaigns to keep customers up-to-date with company news and events and promotional offers.
Customer service: customer service is key to ensuring a good customer experience. It’s important that customers have a straightforward and quick way to get in touch when they have an issue or require support.
Reviews/testimonials: reviews and testimonials are invaluable resources as they provide independent feedback on a product/service and can be used to build trust and loyalty with customers.
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Blogs: blogs are an effective way to keep customers updated about the latest news and developments.
Advertising: advertising provides an effective way to reach out to potential customers and convey a message about the company or product.
Events: events like exhibitions and trade shows are great for engaging with potential and existing customers, and for networking with other businesses.
Telemarketing: telemarketing provides an ideal way for businesses to reach out to potential customers and to build relationships with existing customers.
It’s important to remember that all of these touch points are interrelated. Customers typically engage with the different touch points in different ways and at different times, and the goal is to provide a consistent experience across all them. As such, businesses should focus on taking a holistic approach to their customer experience management strategy, mapping out customer journeys and focusing on how their touch points perform together, rather than in isolation.
Businesses should also strive to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) and analyse data related to their touch points in order to identify improvement opportunities and increase customer satisfaction. This process helps businesses track and measure customer behaviour across various touch points and identify areas in which they can make improvements. Common KPIs used to measure customer touch points include customer satisfaction scores, click-through rates and abandonment rates.
Optimising touch points and managing the customer experience is essential for maintaining loyalty and keeping customers coming back for more. By consistently striving to provide the best customer experience, businesses can ensure that customers stay with them and continue to purchase their products and services.