Your brand touchpoints are everywhere.

But what ARE touchpoints exactly? They’re every interaction you have with your audience and your customers.

SO THEY MATTER. A LOT.

Because “if you’re not branding yourself, then others are doing it for you.”
Which means that if you don’t understand what your brand’s personality is, or what kind of vibe you want to put out into the world and control that, then your audience will make up their own minds, based on the bits and pieces of what they see of you.

You don’t want that.

Touchpoints drive your customer experience. They can make or break that relationship. They can turn a ho-hum audience into a raving fan, or they can leave a bad taste in your customer’s mouth – it’s up to YOU what happens.

So what can a touchpoint be? Just about anything.

It’s your business name, it’s your tagline. It’s your written tone of voice and the words you choose. It’s your website content, and it’s what you include in your ebook (as well as what you leave out).

It’s how you write your emails to your clients, it’s your newsletter to your list, it’s the slides you use in your presentations when you’re giving a webinar.

Of course the visuals are really important – your brand colours,  your fonts, your image choices – they all combine to add personality and meaning to your brand. And it’s the other little graphic touches like pattern and texture, and the icons and avatars you use.

It’s the layout on your website – how easy is it for them to navigate and find what they want? How easy is it to purchase from you? And even – what’s your 404 error page like?

It’s what you include in your advertising. It’s your posts for social media – their layout and the words you use. It’s the emojis you use.

It’s your business card’s layout – and even how it feels in your hand (thick, beautifully textured, or thin and cheap?). It’s your letterhead and your invoicing. If you hand-write things, how neat is your handwriting?

Physical products too. It’s how you package those products for when it arrives at your client’s home. For instance – I received some goods in the post once with the seller’s name and email address scribbled on a piece of paper. Needless to say, I chucked it in the bin and never bought anything from them again – and I wouldn’t remember who they were in any case. But I still remember the experience and how that made me feel.

Or even if you sell food, it’s not just about taste and smell – what does it look like on the plate? How does it feel in the mouth? And even sound can be involved – does it have a satisfying crunch if it’s crispy, or a delectable slurp like a strand of spaghetti?

And if you do real-life events like trade shows or markets, what’s your setup like? Does it look complete and well-thought-out, or does it look like a jumble sale?

And now, getting direct and personal…

How do you shake hands, and what does that say about you and your brand? How do you stand – tall and straight, or are you a sloucher? Think about sound – what’s your speaking voice like when you’re on the phone, or when you’re doing a Zoom call, or even talking to a person in the same room? If you’re giving a webinar, it’s how you introduce and finish your videos, and it’s how you introduce yourself on a podcast.

Do you have any kind of autoresponders on your email or your Facebook messaging and what do you say there? I’m all for out-of-office replies if they’re done well, but they easily become very impersonal.

Sounds like a lot… but you KNOW I’ve hardly even started…

…and I bet YOU can think of a dozen more touchpoints for your own business. These are just a few – so think very carefully about all that stuff when you go about your business day.

YOU have the power to control it; YOU have the power to give your audience a very clear picture of what it’s like to work with you, and how you can make them feel.
So use it consciously, and use it wisely.