Marketing Genius from Maple Creative

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Marketing tips, observations & philosophy, plus a few rants and random musings - from those who practice, preach and teach marketing, research, advertising, public relations and business strategy.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Touchpoints

Tag! You've just been touched by our brand. The Marketing Genius blog is one of many touchpoints for Maple Creative. And hey- we are thrilled that you're here!

A touchpoint is any interaction that you audience has with your brand. Each touchpoint is an opportunity. It can be a great, positive experience. Conversely a touchpoint can be disappointing or harmful, serving to detract from your brand and its perceived value.

Sure, your Web site is a touchpoint. And quite obviously, your office (or store) is a touchpoint, too. Sales reps are touchpoints, no doubt.

Following are a few other touchpoints that are easy to overlook:

Invoices and billing statements - Are these confusing and intricate? are they consistent with your brand identity? do they say, "Thank you"?

Voicemail greeting - Is it dull, plain and void of emotion? or is it unique and energetic?

Sponsorship presence and community outreach - Are these helping you to touch potential clients in the right venues and at the right time?

Former employees - What are these folks saying about your company and its leadership?

Vendors and suppliers - Are you perceived as paying your bills on time? Deemed to be fair, ethical and of solid integrity? Vendors talk ... and they have tremendous reach.

Tech support line or help desk - Do these represent your business well? Do they consistently fulfill the front-end promises that you are making ... or do they tend to disappoint?


Touchpoints can work for you--or against you. The case for most businesses is that some touchpoints are winning customers, while others are turning people off. It's rarely all or none.

Take an hour or two and map all of the touchpoints for your business. Evaluate each and every one on the list. Be sure to put yourself in the customer's (or prospect's) shoes. Better yet--get some external (i.e., real live customer) feedback on each touchpoint. Figure out which touchpoints need some TLC. Then, apply the leader's touch to fix or reinvent.

You may even find that you are lacking some touchpoints. For example, one client of ours felt that they weren't converting enough sales opportunities. They believed they need to add a couple helpful marketing touchpoints on the pre-sale side of things. The goal was to warm up the prospects, so that they are more informed and more inclined to do business, prior to the first sales contact. We helped them create those additional, informative touchpoints and the success rate grew! That's the Midas touch that good marketing can deliver.

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Promotional Products said...

Skip,

I love the reminder that you give each of us. I sometimes forget that billing and invoices are actually part of what someone thinks of our company. In some strange way I separate the "after the fact" business from the "go get a sale" side of our work. Great reminder.

12:48 PM

 
Blogger Creative Promotional Ideas said...

This post is congruent with current market trends. Especially with the advent of e-business, people are starting to bring lightheartedness to professionalism. The simple act of saying "Thank you" in an invoice or some other personal touch goes a long way.

7:50 AM

 
Blogger Skip Lineberg said...

Dear promotional-

Thanks for joining the conversation. Very kind of you to take the time to read and share your thoughts!

Skip

1:12 PM

 
Blogger Skip Lineberg said...

Dear mugs-

Glad our post "touched" you in a positive way! Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation.

Skip

1:13 PM

 
Blogger Skip Lineberg said...

Dear mugs-

Glad our post "touched" you in a positive way! Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation.

Skip

1:13 PM

 

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