The 5 Touchpoint Ecommerce Digital Marketing Plan

More often than not, by the time your customers are ready to take a chance on your product, they’ve already come in contact with you several times, in pre-purchase interactions called touchpoints. In our experience with e-commerce marketing services, the most successful businesses are the ones who are aware of all their online touchpoints, and have several strategies in their arsenal to target each one. 

Having an omnichannel universe of digital marketing tactics allows you to create a seamless and flexible experience for customers at all stages of their buying process. Where are your customers most commonly interacting with you online before buying? What do you want their entire digital journey to look like? As a top Pittsburgh digital marketing agency, we can offer a few suggestions.

5 Touchpoints to Use in Your Digital Marketing Strategy 

Knowing Where Your Customers Are: The Bread and Butter of E-Commerce Marketing Services

When it comes to e-commerce marketing services, the ways prospective customers can interact with you are as unlimited as the Internet itself. Prospects can find out about you, explore your brand, and buy from your store all from the comfort of their own homes. 

Of course, everyone’s online journey to you could look a little bit different. The trick is knowing some of the most common ways people are finding you, and then targeting your marketing strategies to those areas. These are 5 of the most common online touchpoints you’ll want to hit with your marketing strategy: 

1.Social Media

Social media has a wealth of touchpoint possibilities. And, considering that in 2020 the average person had 8.6 social media accounts, having a presence on several different platforms is the best way to create multiple avenues that all lead to you. Consider some of the opportunities: 

• A post on your Instagram about the sneakers you’re selling might catch the attention of a shoe-loving prospect who clicks through to your store. 
• A prospect sees and engages with your Facebook ad, signaling to you that they might be interested in receiving more ads in the future. 
• After following you for a while, a prospect asks a question in response to your Twitter post, and your reply directs them to your website where they sign up for your email list.

2. Email 

Of all the digital marketing tactics, email consistently boasts the highest ROI out of all of them. The touchpoints you create over email are some of the most powerful ones you can have. And there are so many options to choose from: 

• After joining your email list, a prospect might receive an automated welcome email that introduces them to your brand, showcases your products, and leads them to follow your Instagram page.
• A previous customer might be intrigued by a product upgrade announced in your company newsletter, and click to your website to read more about it.
• Someone who recently abandoned their cart might get an email reminding them of the purchase they forgot about and offering free shipping on that order.

3. Google

What’s the first thing you do when you have a problem? Google it. Your customers are no different. One of the most common ways people find you online is by looking for a solution to a problem they have. There are lots of different ways you can make sure that your solution is the first one they find:

• A hungry family who’s new to the area Googles where to find the best Indian takeout near them. Because of your recent local SEO efforts, they find your website first, and browse your online menu. 
• Your product appears on the “Top Ten” list of an influencer you work with. After Googling that article, an interested prospect finds your website and looks into product reviews and comparisons.
• Your paid Google ad catches the attention of a customer, who clicks through to your website.

4. Website 

Your website is the touchpoint where you can say the most about yourself, and so once a prospect is there, you have a lot of chances to keep their interest and attention: 

• On your site, a customer is offered a chance to chat live with a customer service representative where they get their questions answered. 
• During the holidays, a prospect reads your blog post about the best gifts to get their family members, and they join your email list to learn more. 
• Impressed by your photo gallery, a prospect clicks to your Instagram page to see more.

5. Your Online Store 

Your actual store is a touchpoint too. When a prospect is there, they still aren’t necessarily ready to buy yet. Your marketing strategies need to continue until the very end. Here are some examples of how that works: 

• While browsing through your online store, a prospect notices a discount and finally decides to pull the trigger on that purchase
• After adding a product to their cart, a customer sees that it’s commonly purchased with another product, and clicks to that page to read more about it. 
• A prospect who originally wasn’t sure is impressed by the product description, and moves it to their short list of options. 

Ultimately, potential customers are coming from all over the Internet. Whether it’s through social media, email, Google, your website, or your online store, there are unlimited ways for the user journey to start. But it’s important to remember that each touchpoint is only one part of that entire journey. Beyond targeting individual touchpoints, the next level when it comes to e-commerce marketing services is making sure all those touchpoints work together. 

The Journey is More Than the Sum of its Touchpoints

The Importance of Keeping E-Commerce Marketing Strategies Focused on the Entire Journey 

Focus on how each touchpoint works together to create an entire user journey.

Notice how all the touchpoints in the scenarios above all naturally lead to future interactions? A newsletter might lead to an Instagram follow which might lead to a purchase. Or a Twitter conversation might lead to your website which might lead to your newsletter, which might lead to...etc.

When marketing your business, it’s important to consider how to craft the best Facebook ad or write an interesting product description. But that’s only part of the equation when it comes to e-commerce marketing services. In fact, it’s rare that you’ll make a sale after just one touchpoint. In fact, depending on your industry, it could take an average of 8 touchpoints to even get a prospect interested enough to start seriously considering your product.   

You don’t want to abandon your customers after just one touchpoint. Your blog post could bring them to tears, but if there’s nowhere to grow from there, your relationship is over before it even starts. If there’s no clear and intuitive path to the next touchpoint, it’s not going to happen. 

It takes a lot of thought, but considering the cumulative total of experiences your prospects have with you will ensure the best outcome both for you and for them. By crafting multiple different opportunities to interact with and learn about you, you’ll be making it as easy as possible for your prospects to know whether or not they want to become your customers. 

When a prospect interacts with your brand online that interaction will not be their last. That’s why it’s important to use a varied cocktail of e-commerce marketing services that work together to make the entire journey to a purchase easy, intuitive, and fun. If you want some help stocking your digital arsenal of strategies, feel free to get in touch with Responsival. We’d love to lend a hand.