Can multiple touchpoints boost engagement?

In a world of technologic-savvy customers, businesses all over the world are looking for new and innovative ways to connect with their audiences. For large multinational organisations that have the infrastructure, resources, teams and budgets, this is less of a challenge as they can dominate online and offline.

For the vast majority of small/medium-sized businesses, connecting with customers across multiple channels can be challenging. The long term benefits for a business of engaging with their customers across their website, review sites and social media are enormous as they help solidify the business/client relationship.

However, even though most business owners recognise the need to offer their customers a great customer experience or journey, many businesses are simply unsure how to achieve this. In this week's blog, we wanted to highlight and discuss how any type of business can boost customer engagement by having multiple touchpoints.

What is a touchpoint?
A customer touchpoint can be defined as any point of contact between a business and a customer such as via the website, social media, email or even a call. In essence, the customer touchpoint is any activity that engages both the customer and the business together.

Increasingly, business owners are understanding that in order to compete, especially online, they need to be accessible to their customers across a variety of channels and mediums. Simply having a website or social media profiles are not enough to boost engagement, a business needs to be proactive to engage their customers via specific touchpoints.

Why are they important?
Touchpoints play a really important role in the customer journey as they give businesses the opportunity to connect with their customers. Whether a business is selling a physical product or an intangible service, customer touchpoints help the business establish a relationship and convert a prospect into a client.

Generally, most customers do not make impulse purchases, unless the product or service is a low-priced item. Therefore, giving customers multiple opportunities to engage with the business can help nurture customers through the sales process and ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.

Research has shown that there is a high level of correlation between customer engagement and conversion rates. The more engaged a customer is, not only can you increase your conversion rates but you can also benefit from a long term, loyal customer.

How to build touchpoints into a marketing strategy
Customer touchpoints may seem complicated or confusing, however, they are actually quite straightforward to set up once you have done the right planning.

Firstly, a business should consider all the online mediums that they are using such as their website, social media accounts, search engines, review sites, emails, blogs etc. In addition, a business should also identify their offline channels such as in-store, flyers, posters, billboards etc. This helps the business owner pinpoint specific touchpoints for the different mediums being used as well as highlight additional channels/touchpoints they can incorporate into the mix.

Once the various mediums have been considered, it is important that small/medium-sized businesses evaluate how to engage their customers on that particular platform. For example, if we consider a business’s website, some common examples of a touchpoint could be a chat widget to initiate a conversation with a customer. An alternative touchpoint could be a strong call to action (CTA) with an enquiry form that prompts the customer to engage with the business.

If we look at an offline scenario, such as when a customer physically visits a store, a business can still have touchpoints to engage the customer. For instance, if we select a restaurant, they could engage a customer at the point of payment by asking the customer to leave a review or testimonial if they enjoyed their meal.

The key with touchpoints is to make sure they provide value to the customer and enhance their experience as opposed to becoming an annoyance or barrier. Incorporating multiple customer touchpoints can ensure that businesses are targeting customers at every level and maximising their nurturing campaigns.

Joining up touchpoints is also something that many businesses are actively considering. For example, once someone engages with a piece of content such as opening an email or clicking on a link, the business should try to reach out to that customer on a 1-2-1 basis. This could be something as simple as sending a text message to book a call or even being proactive and contacting the customer directly.

In an age where customers are being targeted by all types of businesses, personalising the customer experience via touchpoints can be a great way for a business to differentiate itself from its competitors and really stand out.

Reacting to the data
While it is great to have multiple touchpoints that span different platforms and channels, it is important to constantly monitor the data and optimise the customer experience. For instance, to be successful long term, it is imperative that the touchpoints are constantly refined to make sure the core message is getting through to the end customer.

Marketing and in particular customer touchpoints are an iterative process that need to be built upon over time. With customer engagement habits shifting regularly, businesses that constantly evaluate their ideal client journey will be the ones that maintain the longest relationship with their clients.

Summary
As we have seen throughout this week's blog, having multiple touchpoints can be a recipe for success as it helps businesses boost the level of engagement they achieve with their clients. By targeting and connecting with customers across their website, social media and via search engines, businesses can ensure they are maximising their nurturing process.

Here at iOB Business, we are passionate about helping people just like you launch their own Digital Agency so they can work with local businesses to improve their online presence. To find out more about starting your own Digital Agency, please feel free to attend our new webinar series held every 2 weeks when we discuss various aspects of becoming a digital entrepreneur.

Until next time, take care.