what are the touchpoints and their importance in UX

The teams of marketing of any brand should know what the customer journey of its consumers, that is to say this journey that occurs from the moment a person detects his own need until he becomes a customer. In this process, it is important to include and detect so-called touchpoints or touchpoints. In other words, the times when the company is going to guide and accompany customers on this journey, well, they won’t be doing it alone.

The term touchpoints can be confusing in some companies, as it is sometimes even confused with sales or communication channels. If this happens in your business, in this article we’ll help you understand what these touchpoints are, why they’re important to your business, and which are the most common.

What are touchpoints or touchpoints?

Touchpoints refer to all those moments when the customer and the brand get in touch, leading the first to make a purchasing decision or to take on a certain impression or image. For this reason touchpoints or touchpoints are essential in the process of building a brand.

Touchpoints not only occur at a specific point in the customer journey, but also last throughout the processeven when the customer is already loyal.

Differences between touchpoints and channels

It is important not to confuse touchpoints with communication and sales channels such as social media, email or telephone, although they are closely related. While these are means of interaction, touchpoints are where brands connect with customers, and they can do so through these means.

To put it another way, the channels will be where these touchpoints or touchpoints take place.

In order for you to better understand the two concepts and their difference, we will show you an example: when a customer asks a question via social networks and the brand answers, the channel will be the social network and the contact point of the interaction that occurred between the person and company.

The Benefits of Using Touchpoints

As you may have already seen, establishing your business touchpoints is a very important part of your marketing and communications strategy. But how exactly can we your brand will benefit from correctly establishing these touchpoints? Mainly, we find five advantages.

Reputation

How you interact with your customers at these touchpoints will be crucial. An adequate and complete answer which, if necessary, solves the problem raised by the customer, will contribute to improve your brand image and, ultimately, to increase your notoriety.

Differentiation

Touchpoints are a great resource you can use to stand out from the crowd. There is currently a lot of competition no matter what market you are in. Take advantage of the opportunities these touchpoints give you to deliver attention that makes your brand stand out from others.

Profitability

From an economic point of view, it is more expensive to attract a new customer than to keep or retain them. Touchpoints will help you for both purposes, also increasing conversions and, therefore, the profitability of your business.

client experience

That your audience and your customers find answers and receive adequate attention will make their experience in the various communication and sales channels very satisfying.

Personalization

most customers expects businesses to provide immediate, proactive and personalized attention at every touchpoint. That’s why more and more marketing is personalized to give each user what they really want. Touchpoints give you the ability to generate a unique experience for each one.

The most common touchpoints in any customer journey

Now that we have seen the importance of touchpoints and their most notable benefits, now is the time for you to find out how to put these touchpoints into practice to add them to your marketing strategy.

There are many common touchpoints across most businesses, but we encourage you to research and design your own, both early in the customer journey and in the middle and final stages. Do not forget that, when the person already becomes a customer, it is also essential to guarantee their loyalty.

Below we show you some of the most common.

Points of contact before purchase

In the first phase of the customer journey, users have just detected their own need and are looking for companies like yours that can meet it.

It is at this stage that, through channels such as the social networks or search engines, your investigation will begin. Therefore, your presence is very important in both places in order to give clear and simple information about everything your products or services can offer.

In social networks, the public can leave public and private messages. A good strategy for creating your touchpoints should establish the way and style to respond to both, because you shouldn’t miss that first contact opportunity.

On the other hand, in search engines, people usually search for information on a specific topic and leave their doubts in brand blogs. Don’t forget to respond through these channels as well, because although social media is the main contact window, this is also important.

Points of contact during purchase

Although we have focused on virtual touchpoints, we must not forget that these touchpoints can also be established in the physical world. Telephone customer service or in-store personal service they are at the forefront of providing customers with an efficient and personalized interaction.

Points of contact to build loyalty

Upselling strategies (persuasion to acquire additional services) by sending exclusive offers are another way to generate another touchpoint in the final phase of the customer journey. Carry out satisfaction surveys or offer the possibility of subscribing they are also excellent resources.