Every time your visitor has an interaction of any kind with your company, it leaves an impression. Any time a customer comes in contact with your brand, this is called a touchpoint. Some of these touchpoints are things under your control: your social media message, your ads and marketing efforts, and your customer service before, during, and after the sale. Many of these touchpoints can be tracked and evaluated in your CRM, and those results can be shared with your entire team for evaluation.
Four places these touchpoints occur that you can control on many levels are in your media interactions. Here is a look at those vital touchpoints, what they look like, and what you can do to master them.
Paid Media
There are a couple of kinds of paid media, and they are both vital customer touchpoints. In order to be effective, they should be evaluated on a regular basis. Here is how they work.
Partnerships
These are businesses you partner with to increase brand awareness both on your part and theirs. The key is to understand if their website and brand messaging will not only resonate with your target audience but will also not turn them off. An in depth look at their blog, social media, and even their partnerships and sponsorships can tell you a lot about what their core values are in comparison to yours.
At the same time, you need to be open to them doing the same to you and your business. The partnership should build both of your brands and increase your brand awareness and conversions. Promoting another business through a preferred partnership shows a lot of trust on your part, and they should be able to trust you to do the same, and treat their customers with respect, dignity, and value.
Sponsorships
There has been a lot of talk lately about those who sponsor specific television shows. Where you place your ads makes a huge difference, and event sponsorships, radio, print, television, and even web ads are customer touch points. If that media contains things that could potentially turn off your audience, you need to evaluate that relationship and the value you are getting from it.
Earned Media
Earned media includes ratings, reviews, testimonials, journalism mentions, and influencers. These are all customer touchpoints.
The key to these is that to some extent, they are out of your control. A journalist may mention your brand in passing as part of another overall article. A customer may get angry and leave a negative review before you have a chance to correct the situation. You can reach out to influencers, but how they respond is up to them.
This means that these touchpoints are essential. You need to provide the same level of great service all the time no matter what. Use reputation management software to solicit and gather reviews, and to intercept poor ones before they become public. Correct the customer’s issue right away, and make sure they are satisfied.
Reach out to influencers carefully. These are busy people who need to understand and properly advocate for your brand, and if they are not a fit or seem reluctant, leave them alone. There is nothing more devastating than an influencer dissing your product or recommending that of your competition over yours.
Mastering earned media is essential to your business and marketing success.
Owned Media
Your website, your newsletter, and your mobile apps, the media you own, are all customer touchpoints. These are especially vital.
Think of it this way, If you are getting significant organic traffic to your site, but conversion rates are low, you have an issue with what is on your landing pages, a part of your owned media. If you send out a newsletter to 6,000 subscribers, and have an open rate of just 2%, you may be sending newsletters too often, or ones that get marked as junk or spam by email filters, or newsletters that don’t contain anything of value to your customers.
The key with owned media is that all of it, top to bottom, is under your control. If you are having issues, the simple truth is you need to get better. Refine messages, revamp landing pages, and revise newsletter content to be more valuable.
Make sure your website is excellent as well. Filled with great content, optimized for mobile, and easy to navigate. Try to find the best WordPress gallery plugins compared to the original. Try to find one that is built for mobile responsiveness because the standard gallery can limit your site’s potential on mobile platforms. They just act funny sometimes.
Shared Media
Shared media is essentially your social media accounts. Make sure that both your branding and message are consistent with your other platforms. For instance, your profile picture should be your company logo, the same logo users will find almost anywhere they see your brand.
Review your social media strategy and be careful. Know what is trending in your brand area and use automation wisely. More than one brand has been caught by having posts automated, only to find their timing terrible because of a current event that makes it seem offensive. Whoopsy.
Social media can be one of your greatest assets, or a huge liability, depending on how you use it and how much you pay attention to it, but it is a customer touchpoint you must master for your business to do well. If you customers are more visually based, try instagram marketing or youtube marketing. If their looking for long-form blog posts, consider creating a Medium in addition to your on-page blog.
Every time a customer comes in contact with your brand, whether through word of mouth, an ad, or a Tweet, it is a touchpoint. The more you do to ensure that these are positive interactions, the better off your brand will be.