People don’t purchase after their first interaction with your software. One of the biggest challenges for any B2B startup is capturing people’s attention long enough to land them as customers of your platform.
People buy when you create a delightful customer journey that takes multiple touchpoints and empathy. I have seen too many B2B startups fall into the trap of thinking that if they aren’t converting on the bottom of the funnel content or forms, their marketing is ineffective. This leads to them prematurely pulling the plug on creating a process that nurtures and grows an audience of ideal customers before the strategy can create traction.
I have referenced this multiple times in my blog about omnichannel marketing, but I think it’s important to state again. According to research by Google, a user interacts with 900+ Digital touchpoints before they make a purchase. While this is a B2C example, I would argue that in B2B cases, our buyers have a similar experience.
Building the right customer journey with various touchpoints can often be complex and challenging, but it is essential to success. In this blog, I am going to outline how to use different types of digital marketing touchpoints to create your customer journey:
What are touchpoints? Why are they so important?
First off, let’s define touchpoints. Touchpoints are any interaction your customer has with your brand/business. Some examples include:
- Blog posts
- Webinars
- Events
- Downloadable content (e.g., PDF, book, guide)
- Customer feedback
- Newsletters
- Sponsorships
- Case studies
- Social media
- Trials
- Demos
- Purchase
- Referrals
You can control some of these touchpoints, but not all of them (e.g., word of mouth or referrals). Each interaction can lead a potential customer a step down the funnel to becoming a customer. On the flip side, any interaction can also lead to them exiting the funnel. See why this is so important?
The sweet spot is creating positive touchpoints that move your customer closer to purchasing. For example, if a user lands on your site from a fun and engaging social post, but your company doesn’t encourage them to take another step, there is a good chance you will never see them again.
It’s essential that marketing leaders think through each touchpoint and how it could lead the customer to the next phase of the customer journey. Keep in mind that every touchpoint is an opportunity to create another one until eventually, you’ve created a customer or a repeat customer (touchpoints don’t end once someone becomes a customer).
Here are some quick stats that validate why having numerous touchpoints is vital for your startup:
- According to Rankpay’s 20219 SEO vs. PPC Showdown, 94% of searchers go right by search ads and onto organic results.
- According to Wordstream, 41% of paid clicks go only to the top three ads on the page.
- According to the New York Times, there are ad blockers on 600M+ devices worldwide.
You cannot create a digital ad that pushes directly to a demo. It won’t work. You need to build a robust marketing touchpoint map to bring users through your funnel.
How to improve and increase your touchpoints
Map out your Customer Journey
Start by assessing the types of touchpoints you have and where you are lacking. Create a map of your ideal customer journey and break it down into smaller steps and categorize them. This is the chance to go back to the drawing board and think through the right way to create quality touchpoints with your audience.
By mapping your customer journey, you get to visualize your marketing from a customer’s point of view and figure out what is missing. Something I should note, no two B2B companies will have the same customer journey. This is entirely dependent on your ICP and the industry you serve.
At the start of their journey, your customer’s first touchpoint might be contacting you through your website or an ad. Let’s say they’ve downloaded a guide from a Facebook ad, and they’ve handed over their email. This is your company’s chance to act on that first touchpoint and be intentional. What additional value could you provide them? What should that interaction look like?
Unfortunately, a lot of startups will follow up with a sales email. It’s logical but might not be the right approach. It’s more strategic to take a closer look at the asset the customer engaged with and why they’re accessing it in the first place.
- What made them visit our website?
- What ad were they engaging with?
- What problem are they trying to solve?
- What other pages/blogs did they interact with when they were on the website?
- Have they engaged with the site before?
Focus on providing value and not selling. If you notice that people are dropping off, you may be thinking too narrow in your touchpoints. It’s time to make some changes, expand where necessary and identify ways to improve.
Create high-level personalization
Have you ever heard the saying, “the hardest things are the most rewarding”? The same is true with marketing touchpoints. Great touchpoints that get results are built with personalization in mind. Yes, it’s more challenging, but it’s worth it.
Personalization makes customers feel heard and helps in strengthening the relationship. Start by asking more direct, empathetic questions to discover your ideal customer’s problems and create content around solving them.
Bringing in customers is a team sport
B2B customer journeys are very complicated, and people drop in and out of the funnel all the time for various reasons. If there is one thing you should take away from this blog is that customer journeys are challenging to build alone and if they work effectively, can often go unnoticed. It is vital to win, lose, and learn together as a sales and marketing team. Good luck and happy mapping!
