How to optimize the 5 touchpoints of the customer journey for your customers and improve the shopping experience.
Do you know the customer journey touchpoints of your customers? Do you know exactly what your customers are looking for and how you can help them? Do you know the different channels your potential consumers are on?
The more familiar you are with your customers' journey from the first search to the purchase of the product, the greater the chance of addressing your customers at exactly the right time, in the right language, and in the right places. More and more purchases have been taking place online since the last two years , which offers the great advantage of being able to address your target group cross-media on several media at the same time!
In our guide article "Customer Journey: Improve Touchpoints and Optimize Conversion" we give you helpful tips on how to make digital touchpoints more attractive for your customers, improve the relationship with your customers, and thus reduce the bounce rate!
A customer's journey from the first acquaintance with your brand and products to the purchase and post-purchase service is intertwined and intertwined. Unfortunately, it does not always run in a straight line and rarely does a consumer strike directly after the first perception of your offers. On average, it takes up to 5 to 7 times to contact the brand until a purchase is concluded.
"By definition, the customer journey is the experience a customer has with your brand: from getting to know your offers, to the purchase and the post-purchase process, such as customer service, customer offers and an exchange. It's more about how a customer feels about the brand after each interaction than just the transaction."
Just like in real life, the relationship with your customers needs to be nurtured and nurtured. This means that the more precisely you go into the customer journey phases and specifically analyze and optimize each customer touch point (point of contact with the company), the better prospects perceive your brand!
"Make it as easy as possible for your customers to navigate the customer touchpoints of the website, the online store, and the content. This strengthens loyalty and simplifies the buying process for the consumer."
With the large number of offers nowadays, a customer can already leave the shop at only one contact point and look around at the competition. To avoid this, we will introduce you to the most important customer journey touchpoints and show you what you should definitely pay attention to!
The customer journey and its touchpoints are extremely important for marketing and sales. The closer you look at the individual points of contact where customers contact you, the faster you can fix any errors and streamline the buying process.
1) The first contact
2) Research
3) Purchase
With the first contact, the customer perceives your brand for the first time. This can be done through offline and online media, such as directly placed contact points, such as advertisements on TV, radio or social media, or through indirect recommendations (not influenced by you) from family and friends.
If interested, the potential customer now starts his research to find out more about the brand, the quality of the products and the satisfaction of previous customers. Your website, the social media presence, as well as customer voices, e.g. at Trusted Shops, serve this purpose.
Buying is all about the Grand Finale! Once the customer has decided on a product, the purchase is the last step. But here, too, there are a few points to consider. The search function of the website and the navigation should make it easy for the customer to filter out the right product and complete his purchase. Then it's all about how you stay in touch with the customer. Because even with a conversion, it is important to strengthen the customer relationship.
1. Perception
In phase 1, the customer notices you for the first time and becomes aware of your products, offers or services. This can be done through ads on Google or social media, in magazines, on TV, radio or the website . In order to optimize this customer touchpoint, it is important to analyze how your customers find you most often and how satisfied they are with the first perception of the brand.
2. Consider
The customer knows your brand and is interested in your products. He considers a purchase, researches and deals with your offers. Customer touchpoints that remind the customer of the brand, such as Social media posts, advertisements, e-mail offers, etc. To optimize this touchpoint, it's important to recognize where your potential consumers stay connected after the initial contact with you.
3. Decision
The prospective customer is about to complete the purchase and now becomes a customer! Especially here it is crucial to optimize thebuying process, e.g. through Guided Selling and an optimal search function. Also, multiple payment options, transparency of final costs and an easy check-out make it easy for the customer to click on the "Buy" button. After all, you don't want to scare away your potential customers at the last minute with hidden costs, a complicated ordering process or a website that is difficult to navigate!
4. Use
The customer now uses the product or service and gains initial experience about its functionality and usability. If a problem arises, customer service and the fast processing of inquiries, via chat, e-mail or telephone, are particularly important at this point in the customer journey in order to strengthen customer loyalty. The customer service helps to ensure that the customer remains loyal to you even with small problems.
5. LoyaltyIn order to continue to strengthen loyalty to your customers, particularly small gifts are suitable at this Customer Touch Point, such as a flyer with a discount code as an attachment to the first invoice, offers via e-mail for existing customers, free information via blog or newsletter, a member area for the Inner Circle, or targeted surveys to better respond to customer needs.
In addition, if customers remain loyal to you, they will quickly become ambassadors of the brand, talk positively about your products with friends and acquaintances, and thus advertise you for free!
As you can see, there are many points where you can start to optimize the contact points. Examples in online marketing are:
One of the most important moments of the customer journey is the purchase process, because it is precisely here that shopping cart abandonments of up to 50% often occur! To avoid this, a digital buying advisor is an excellent tool to respond specifically to the needs of customers. For complex online shops where customers quickly feel left alone, personalized online advice offers the perfect solution. Especially with a wealth of offers where it is difficult to decide, or with little information about the products, it can quickly lead to a purchase cancellation.
It doesn't have to be this way. Our Neocom Guided Selling Tool helps to ensure that your customers are personally accompanied from the first contact on the website to the conclusion of the purchase. Through clever questions from the digital consultant, illustrated with graphics, the consumer is quickly guided to the right product and informed about all important details. This allows him to easily make a buying decision and complete his shopping with a positive feeling. Digital advice on sales through AI helps to improve customer journey touchpoints and optimize conversion.
Did we get your attention? Download our case story on the successful use of Guided Selling at fahrrad.de or arrange a free demo with us.
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