Scale-up series: What are your brand ‘touchpoints’?
As a digital brand experience agency, we work with many clients from different sectors and markets, however, notice terms are used interchangeably, and wrong in some circumstances. So, over a series of articles, we wanted to clarify how we see the meaning of industry terms, starting with brand touchpoints.
Firstly, let’s be clear, brand touchpoints are simply just all the various points of contact between a brand and its customers, where the customer can form an impression of the company, charity, or the organisation. These can be physical, digital, or experiential.
Touchpoints can include physical interactions with the product (if you have physical products) such as the packaging, point-of-sale, posters, leaflets, magazine, pitch decks or anything else that exists in the real world.
However, in the digital and experiential touchpoints could be good or bad interactions with the brand's website or social media, customer services agents, aggressive sales teams, long and rambling newsletters, and many others.
It’s important to acknowledge, each touchpoint provides an opportunity for the brand to create a positive or negative impression and build a relationship with its potential customers – so the importance should not be underestimated.
By carefully managing and optimising its touchpoints, a brand can create a consistent and positive brand experience across all channels, increase customer loyalty, and differentiate itself from its competitors.
Examples of brand touchpoints to think about:
· Product packaging and design: the appearance and functionality of the product itself, and how it is presented to the customer. Does it look cheap and tacky, or high quality?
· Advertising and marketing materials: the messaging, tone of voice, and visuals used to communicate your values, features, and benefits to customers. Are they right, or too similar to your competitors?
· Website and online presence: the brand's website, social media channels, and other digital touchpoints where customers can interact with the brand without a sales team hassling them.
· In-store experience: the atmosphere and customer service provided by the brand in its physical locations. Do all aspects of it reinforce the perception you want your brand to reflect?
· Customer service: the interactions customers have with the brand's customer service team, either in person, over the phone, or through digital channels.
Summary
It’s important to remember that all brand touchpoints are various interactions between a brand and its customers, where the customer can form an impression of you – so ensure it’s a consistent and positive experience across all channels.
