For those who aspire to master the art of selling through digital media (or any other medium, really), one of the first tasks is to know the previous steps of each potential client before making a purchase.
It is what we usually understand as the customer journey touchpoints. It is one of the most important bases of current Marketing.
And in the digital world we live in, these touchpoints can be many (or rather, many): blog content, advertisements in the most diverse media, sponsored links on Google, receiving a Newsletter… the list of options is endless.
Next, we dive headfirst into the world of Digital Marketing to introduce you to one of the essential concepts to take the sales of any business to the next level: Customer Journey touchpoints.
What are Customer Journey Touchpoints?
As we advanced a few lines ago, the Customer Journey touchpoints are those means by which the buyers contact the different companies throughout their purchase processes.
Knowing these media is, therefore, essential for any company that wants to bet on omnichannel and maximize its customer acquisition using all the channels they regularly use.
Take into account the large number of digital media that are commonly used by consumers in their day-to-day: search engines such as Google to locate the most diverse information, social networks -such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter- to interact with other people, web pages of the most varied contents to be informed, or the email to receive contents that are of interest to you.
These touchpoints may vary significantly throughout the different stages that all of us, as consumers, go through deciding where and how we buy what we need.
That is, from the initial phase in which we recognize a need that needs a solution ( Awareness ), going through the stage in which we contemplate the different existing options ( Consideration ) to the phase in which we decide where we will buy ( Decision ) and if the result has been satisfactory, the stage in which we recommend it to our acquaintances ( Delight ).
Why is it Important to Identify Customer Journey Touchpoints?
Regardless of the size of the business -it does not matter if it is a large multinational or a recently created startup-, knowing the Customer Journey touchpoints has been shown to increase revenues between 10-15% while reducing costs by 15 -20%, according to data published by the consulting firm McKinsey.
In addition, being present in one way or another in the media that our potential clients frequent can bring other not insignificant benefits for any company.
Improve retention: Having answers to consumer questions in suitable media (Blogs, social networks, etc.) has positively impacted consumers’ perception of the brands they regularly consume.
Increases sales: Knowing exactly the touchpoints or points of contact with our potential customers (and developing a plan to be present at them) represents an essential help in their purchase decision process. This will ultimately translate into an increase in conversion rate.
Generates customer loyalty: Companies that are active in the different touchpoints manage to build relationships of trust with their consumers, another critical point to getting loyal customers.
An Example Of Customer Journey Touchpoints
Below, we will present an example of the possible touch points or points of contact with our potential clients.
To do this, suppose we have a platform through which parents can find a caregiver for their young children.
Furthermore, given that we are very active on social networks, we carry out online advertising campaigns in various media. We have good content on our website; we can define (or map) the following sequence of touchpoints with our potential customers.
Awareness Phase
Posts on Facebook: Parents often search for information about childcare on social networks. Since we frequently share information of interest on this topic, here is the first touchpoint to reach our potential customers.
Blog content: Besides searching for information on social networks, parents search directly on Google. Since we have excellent blog content and appear at the top of the results, we have a second touchpoint here to reach more potential customers.
Consideration Phase
Website: Parents looking for caregivers for their children will want to check who we are, what experience we have in child care, etc. You will want to see all this by visiting our website, one of the most critical touchpoints in the sales process.
Comparators: Many parents will not be satisfied with visiting our website but will want to check how good our services are by consulting third-party pages. For example, a web portal comparing services for fathers and mothers. That will be another touchpoint that we will have to contemplate.
Decision Phase
Live chat: People interested in using our platform usually express it by raising their questions through the discussion we have integrated into it. The conversation is, therefore, another touchpoint in the purchase decision process of our potential customers.
Finally, it is essential to note that identifying a list of touchpoints does not mean that all our potential customers will follow the same behavior pattern. But at least we will have a model flow to know in which media we should propose positioning actions.