What are Customer Touchpoints?

Customer touchpoints are all the places that people come into contact with your business and are super important because according to expert marketers, customer needs between 7-13 ‘touches’ before they will consider buying. This means that individuals need to consume 7-13 different pieces of content in order to feel secure enough to buy from you.

Each business will vary in how many customer touchpoints it has one thing remains key – your customer touchpoints need to take your customers on a journey and lead them from one piece of content to the next.

Some of the biggest challenges and mistakes I see my clients making in their business are:

• They don’t have enough customer touchpoints in their business. They are focussing on one kind of touchpoint only (usually a social media platform such as Instagram).
• Some of the touchpoints they DO have are being left untouched, aren’t relevant or are inconsistent – remember that blog that you haven’t updated in 12 months?
• The touchpoints don’t always lead anywhere and so when someone lands there, their journey stops. Your touchpoint should always aim to provide a next step!

If you’d like to make sure your content is connecting the dots for your followers and leading them on a journey that’s more likely to end in conversion then below I’m sharing three steps to creating a customer touchpoint strategy for maximum impact.

Step one: Identify them!

There are various touchpoints across your business – think of all the places people might come into contact with your content or brand – social media, email, blog, website, podcast, marketing, referrals, content shares.

Each of these touchpoints of interaction has the power to enable someone to form, change or reinforce their opinion of you and your brand. Put yourself in your visitors shoes. If this was the first time someone came into contact with your content, would it make them want to consume, and find out more about you and your brand?

So the first step is to conduct a customer touchpoint audit and ask yourself:

• Where are people coming into contact with and consuming my content?
• Are my touchpoints consistent in brand voice, message and visuals?
• What first impression are these touchpoints making?
• Are all of them relevant and up to date?

Step two: Understand them! 

Understanding your customers and how they interact with your content is vital in improving the value that you share, building customer relationships and gaining repeat business.

Customer touchpoints help you to understand your customers and how they interact with your content. The key to improving interactions with your customer is to understand where they take place after all!

Ask yourself:

• Are some of your customer touchpoints more effective than others?
• Where do you get the most traffic and traction in your business?
• What type of content does your audience love to see and engage with?
• If any of your customer touchpoints aren’t performing or converting why? Are they up to date? Are they needed? Do you enjoy being there and creating content for that touchpoint?

Step three: Connect them!

One of the keys to a successful content marketing strategy is to connect the dots with your content and use your content as an organic funnel for your business.

To do this you need to consider where each touchpoint is leading. It doesn’t always have to be to a sale but it should lead them somewhere! This can be through your call to actions, or by ensuring you are cross promoting or upselling through your content.

For example if you have a blog you could add a content upgrade such as a free download that explores the topic further. This would allow you to capture your visitors email address and you can go on to nurture them through an email sequence providing more customer touchpoints and content for them to consume.

You may signpost your reader to further blogs on this topic or to your Facebook Group. In there you may deliver free mini trainings allowing your lead to learn more about your and again consume further content and develop their trust in you, your brand and your expertise. This may lead to a discovery call or provide the opportunity to start a conversation in the DMs.

Ask yourself:

• If your prospect is ready to consume MORE content right away, do they have access to it? Can they find it easily?
• Are you providing the next step at every turn?
• Where will the next piece of content lead them?

Top Tips for Improving your Customer Touchpoints Strategy

Begin by auditing your touchpoints and then prioritize your list. Identify which are most likely to influence decisions to buy and prioritize these first.

When you have your list go through each and identify any dead ends that need addressing. Does your customer journey stop anywhere? Are you able to re-direct your customer? If not, can you create something to continue that journey into a funnel?

If you are feeling overwhelmed with how much you have to so, start with the low hanging fruit and address the gaps that can be easily improved! This will help you feel like you are making progress and moving forward.

Archive content that is out of date or no longer relevant/aligned to what you do. If you have a blog but it is very out of date and you aren’t going to update it, unpublish it. Are you trying to be on all social media platforms but only intermittently showing up on one? Consider if that touchpoint is KEY to your business.

Commit to improvement and make your customer touchpoints a part of your standard operating procedures. Schedule time to address them and any new content that you produce moving forward, consider where they are going to fit in and what could be pointed towards this and vice versa.

Work on identifying the best mix of touchpoints for YOUR business and leverage them! Remember, one size doesn’t fit all. Create a plan that fits with your vision and goals. Don’t be afraid to seek support or outsource!

Ready to get serious about making your content work for you?

If you’d like support really getting to grips with your customer touchpoints and to create a powerful content marketing strategy that will help you organically convert visitors into clients then why not book one of my amazing 90-minute content strategy calls?

In this 90 minute 1:1 call, we’ll dive deep into some key areas of your content and work together to help you gain a better understanding of how to create valuable, intentional content that will turn visitors into clients

You’ll get a recording of our call as well as my summary notes and key action points so you leave knowing exactly what steps to take to move forward.

There calls are PERFECT if you are feeling a little lost in your content, you’re struggling to come up with ideas for posts or you just can’t quite connect the dots in your business.

I can’t wait to support you in mastering your content marketing strategy and for you to reap the benefits!