Mapping customer touchpoints is critical for building a consistent and smooth experience for your customers. For Australian direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, this means understanding every interaction - from the first ad they see to the moment they receive your product. Why does this matter? Because disjointed experiences - like confusing checkout processes or unexpected shipping fees - can cost you customers in a highly competitive market.
Here’s how to get started:
Set clear goals: Focus on specific issues like cart abandonment or retention.
Segment your audience: Start with high-value groups like new or repeat customers.
Identify key touchpoints: Map all interactions, including social media, emails, website, and delivery.
Organise by journey stages: Awareness, consideration, conversion, retention, and advocacy.
Prioritise improvements: Focus on high-impact areas like checkout or product pages.
Use data: Validate insights with analytics, surveys, and customer feedback.
Test and refine: Regularly review and adjust to meet evolving customer needs.
Start small by mapping one segment or product line and focus on fixing one major friction point. This simple approach can help you guide customers through a better journey, reduce drop-offs, and boost loyalty.
Winning On Customer Experience - CX/DTC Best Practices - Signifyd FLOW Summit 2021
Setting Goals and Scope for Customer Touchpoint Mapping
Before diving into the mapping process, it’s essential to establish clear objectives and boundaries. Without well-defined goals, you risk creating visually appealing diagrams that lack actionable insights. Think of it like planning a trip: you need a clear destination to map the best route. This step is crucial for shaping your direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy, preparing the foundation for segmentation and data-driven approaches in later stages.
The most effective mapping projects tackle specific business challenges rather than vaguely aiming to "enhance customer experience." For instance, if you notice a spike in cart abandonment rates or rising customer acquisition costs paired with stagnant retention, these issues can give your mapping efforts focus and urgency.
Setting Clear Goals for Touchpoint Mapping
Your mapping goals should tie directly to measurable outcomes. For example, if you’re seeing a sharp drop-off at key stages of the customer journey, prioritising conversion optimisation can help identify and eliminate friction points.
Another common goal is improving customer retention. This involves analysing post-purchase interactions - like emails, onboarding processes, and customer service touchpoints - to encourage repeat purchases.
Mapping can also highlight which touchpoints deliver the best return on investment (ROI). By reviewing the performance of different channels, you can pinpoint those that not only create awareness but also drive conversions.
Operational improvements are another focus, especially for Australian brands. If you’re fielding a high volume of customer queries, it may reveal confusion earlier in the journey. Mapping these experiences can help identify where clearer communication or streamlined processes could reduce the need for support.
Lastly, maintaining consistent branding across all channels is non-negotiable. When customers encounter conflicting messages on social media, your website, or email campaigns, mapping can expose these inconsistencies and guide the creation of unified messaging strategies.
Choosing Specific Customer Segments to Focus On
Trying to map the entire customer base at once can dilute your insights. Instead, focus on segments that align with your business priorities and where data quality is strongest. Often, it’s best to start with segments that offer high value or significant room for improvement.
For many DTC brands, new customer acquisition is a logical starting point. These customers, who lack prior interactions with your brand, tend to follow a more predictable journey - from initial brand exposure to their first purchase.
Repeat customers, on the other hand, may engage differently. They often skip the early research phases and interact with unique touchpoints compared to first-time buyers. Mapping this group separately can uncover opportunities to refine loyalty programs and retention strategies.
Geography is another important factor, particularly for Australian brands. Customers in different cities or between metropolitan and regional areas may encounter your brand through distinct channels or face unique delivery challenges. Acknowledging these differences allows you to tailor your touchpoint strategies effectively.
Device-based segmentation is also valuable. Mobile users often experience a different journey compared to desktop users. If you spot significant differences in engagement or conversion between platforms, your mapping should address these unique behaviours.
Lastly, value-based segmentation ensures that your most profitable customer groups receive focused attention. By prioritising customers with higher average spends, you can direct optimisation efforts where they’ll make the biggest impact. From here, you can develop detailed customer personas to turn these insights into actionable strategies.
Setting Success Metrics and Expected Results
For touchpoint mapping to be effective, it must be tied to measurable outcomes that connect directly to business results. Vague metrics won’t provide the guidance or proof of ROI you need.
Take conversion rates, for example. If your email-to-purchase conversion rate is underperforming, mapping can help identify areas for improvement, leading to gradual gains in effectiveness.
Customer lifetime value is another key indicator of success. Enhanced retention, higher order values, and more frequent purchases all contribute to increasing lifetime value across the customer journey.
Metrics like cost per acquisition across different touchpoint combinations can also inform resource allocation. By comparing the performance of various channel sequences, you can identify the most effective ones and adjust your budget accordingly.
Time-based metrics are equally important, capturing elements of the customer journey that traditional conversion tracking might miss. For instance, reducing the time it takes a customer to move from awareness to purchase, or extending engagement periods, can indicate success.
Mapping can also refine channel attribution. Understanding the role each touchpoint plays in a customer’s decision-making process leads to smarter marketing resource allocation.
It’s important to set realistic timelines for achieving results. While some improvements might be noticeable quickly, larger business outcomes often take longer to materialise. Planning your measurement schedule accordingly ensures you’re basing decisions on sufficient data.
Finally, don’t overlook qualitative measures. Customer feedback, recurring themes in support enquiries, and insights from user testing provide valuable context that raw numbers can’t capture. Combining these qualitative insights with quantitative data gives you a more complete picture of your customer journey.
Creating Customer Personas and Understanding Purchase Behaviours
Once you've set clear goals and defined your customer segments, the next step is creating detailed customer personas. For Australian DTC shoppers, these personas are essential for mapping out interactions that genuinely align with their needs and behaviours.
But effective personas go beyond surface-level details like age or income. They delve into the nuances of Australian shopping habits, preferences, and decision-making styles. By doing this, you can turn your touchpoint mapping into a practical guide for meaningful customer engagement.
Building Customer Personas for Australian Markets
Australian DTC customers are shaped by regional, economic, and cultural factors. For instance, urban shoppers often expect fast delivery, while regional customers appreciate transparent shipping fees and timelines. Regional shoppers may also place larger orders to offset delivery costs.
Income levels vary significantly between metropolitan and regional areas, influencing purchasing power and priorities. City dwellers may have more disposable income, while customers in smaller communities might focus on affordability and practicality.
Technology adoption also plays a role. Younger, tech-savvy urban customers may embrace features like augmented reality or social commerce, while older or regional shoppers often prefer simpler, user-friendly online experiences with clear navigation and detailed product descriptions.
Cultural values heavily influence buying choices in Australia. Many consumers prefer to support local businesses, value eco-friendly practices, and expect honest communication. Incorporating these values into your personas ensures your touchpoints resonate with your audience.
Some example personas might include:
The Busy Professional, who looks for time-saving solutions and convenience.
The Conscious Consumer, who prioritises sustainability and ethical practices.
The Regional Family, who values thoughtful purchases and excellent customer service.
These personas should then be refined using real shopping behaviour insights.
Understanding How Australians Shop DTC Brands
Shopping behaviour for DTC brands in Australia often differs from traditional retail. For one, Australians tend to research extensively before making a purchase. This is partly due to the inability to physically inspect products and a cultural inclination toward careful decision-making.
Price comparison is common, and transparent pricing is a must. Many shoppers avoid hidden fees, so clear and competitive pricing is essential throughout the customer journey.
Reviews and social proof are highly influential. Australian shoppers often look for feedback from fellow locals who have used the product, making customer reviews a key touchpoint.
When it comes to payments, credit cards remain popular, but buy-now-pay-later services like Afterpay and Zip are widely used, especially among younger shoppers. These options can influence both the timing and size of purchases, making them crucial to consider in your touchpoint strategy.
Delivery expectations have shifted dramatically since COVID-19. Free shipping thresholds often encourage customers to add more to their carts, while express delivery is a common expectation in cities. Regional customers, on the other hand, value reliable tracking and clear communication about delays.
Mobile shopping is on the rise, though desktops are still preferred for higher-value purchases. Many consumers browse on their phones during downtime but complete transactions on a desktop at home. This cross-device behaviour creates multiple opportunities for touchpoint optimisation.
Seasonal shopping trends are also significant, with peaks during events like Click Frenzy, Black Friday, and post-Christmas sales. Additionally, Australians often shop in line with the academic year, summer holidays, and the financial year cycle.
These behaviours provide a foundation for validating and refining your customer personas.
Using Data to Validate Your Customer Personas
To ensure your personas are accurate, validate them with data from multiple sources:
Analytics data: Tools like Google Analytics reveal customer paths, from the pages they visit to where they drop off. This helps highlight key touchpoints.
Customer surveys: Short, targeted surveys can uncover motivations, barriers, and influential touchpoints. For example, post-purchase surveys can reveal why customers chose your brand or what nearly stopped them from buying.
Customer service feedback: Recurring questions or complaints can identify friction points in the customer journey or areas where additional touchpoints might help.
Social media insights: Comments and messages offer clues about customer concerns, language preferences, and interests. Focus on the platforms your audience uses most.
Sales data: Patterns like seasonal trends, repeat purchases, and average order values help refine your understanding of customer behaviours. Insights into customer lifetime value can guide prioritisation of personas.
A/B testing: Past campaign results can show what resonates with different customer segments, from email subject lines to promotional offers.
Heat mapping and session recordings: These tools reveal how customers navigate your website, highlighting usability issues or opportunities for improvement.
By combining these sources, you can validate and refine your personas. For instance, if analytics show high mobile traffic but low conversions, customer feedback might point to usability problems. Or, if surveys suggest price sensitivity but sales data shows a preference for premium products, it could indicate that perceived value outweighs cost concerns.
Regular updates are essential to keep your personas relevant. Periodic reviews and deep dives into key metrics can help you adapt to evolving customer behaviours and identify new segments that may require fresh strategies. This ensures your touchpoint mapping remains effective over time.
Finding and Organising Key Customer Touchpoints
With your personas and behavioural insights in hand, the next step is to identify every interaction your customers have with your brand. This process ensures no opportunity to engage, convert, or retain customers is overlooked.
It’s all about being thorough while staying organised. Many DTC brands uncover touchpoints they didn’t even know existed or realise they’re spending too much on low-impact interactions. A structured approach gives you a clear view of where to focus your efforts for maximum return.
Listing All Digital and Physical Touchpoints
Start by auditing every possible customer interaction. While digital touchpoints dominate for most DTC brands, don’t ignore the physical aspects that still shape customer experiences.
Social media touchpoints go beyond your posts. Think about organic content, paid ads, influencer collaborations, user-generated posts, customer comments, direct messages, and even mentions in other users’ content. Each platform - Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn - offers unique opportunities for interaction.
Website interactions include everything from the homepage and product pages to search functionality, checkout processes, and even error pages. Pop-ups, live chat, product recommendations, and email capture forms also play a role in shaping customer perceptions.
Email marketing covers welcome sequences, promotions, abandoned cart reminders, post-purchase follow-ups, newsletters, and transactional emails like order confirmations. SMS campaigns, while similar, create distinct engagement patterns and should be tracked separately.
Paid advertising spans Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram ads, retargeting campaigns, display ads, and sponsored content. Each format and placement creates a different customer experience and influences decisions uniquely.
Customer service interactions happen across live chat, email, phone, social media messages, help centre articles, FAQs, and return processes. These touchpoints are often critical moments when customers need help or have concerns.
Physical touchpoints include packaging design, unboxing experiences, product inserts, return packaging, and printed materials. Face-to-face interactions at trade shows, pop-up events, or retail partnerships also leave lasting impressions.
Third-party touchpoints include review sites like ProductReview.com.au, affiliate partnerships, comparison shopping engines, PR coverage, podcast mentions, and collaborations with other brands. While you don’t control these directly, they significantly influence how customers view your brand.
By creating a comprehensive list of touchpoints, you often uncover forgotten interactions or identify gaps in your customer experience strategy. Once listed, the next step is to organise these touchpoints into the customer journey.
Organising Touchpoints by Customer Journey Stages
After identifying all touchpoints, map them to the stages of your customer journey. This helps you understand how customers move from awareness to advocacy.
Awareness stage touchpoints introduce customers to your brand. These include social media ads, Google search results, influencer mentions, PR coverage, and word-of-mouth referrals. Content marketing also plays a role here.
Consideration stage touchpoints help customers weigh their options. Product pages, reviews, email nurture sequences, and retargeting ads are key here. Live chat also often supports customers with specific pre-purchase questions.
Conversion stage touchpoints directly impact purchasing decisions. The checkout process, payment options, shipping details, promotional codes, and trust signals like security badges all influence conversion rates. Abandoned cart emails and limited-time offers also play a role.
Retention stage touchpoints focus on keeping customers satisfied and encouraging repeat purchases. These include order confirmations, shipping updates, the unboxing experience, product performance, and follow-up communications. Loyalty programs and exclusive offers also fit this stage.
Advocacy stage touchpoints encourage customers to promote your brand. Review request emails, referral programs, social media engagement, and user-generated content campaigns can turn happy customers into advocates.
Some touchpoints span multiple stages. For example, customer service interactions might happen during consideration (pre-purchase questions), conversion (payment issues), or retention (returns or complaints). These multi-stage touchpoints require tailored approaches depending on the timing.
Organising touchpoints this way reveals where you might be under-investing or over-complicating the customer experience.
Rating Touchpoints by Impact, Cost, and Measurability
Not all touchpoints are created equal. A systematic rating system helps you prioritise efforts and allocate resources effectively.
Impact assessment evaluates how much each touchpoint influences customer behaviour. High-impact touchpoints directly drive awareness, consideration, conversion, retention, or advocacy. For instance, product page design often has a strong impact on conversion, while social media bio links might have a more indirect role.
Cost evaluation considers both direct costs and resource requirements. Paid ads have clear expenses, but don’t overlook time spent on content creation, customer service training, or website updates. Some touchpoints demand ongoing management, while others can be optimised and left to perform.
Measurability looks at how easily you can track and optimise each touchpoint. Metrics like email open rates, ad click-through rates, and website conversions provide clear data. Harder-to-measure touchpoints, like word-of-mouth referrals or brand perception, may require surveys or indirect tracking methods.
Score each touchpoint on a scale of 1-5 for impact, cost, and measurability. This approach highlights high-priority touchpoints - those with significant impact, reasonable costs, and strong measurability. It also flags areas where resources might be better allocated.
Regularly revisit and reassess your touchpoints. What works today may lose effectiveness as customer preferences shift or new platforms emerge. Keeping your strategy flexible ensures you stay aligned with both business goals and evolving customer behaviours.
Creating a Complete DTC Customer Journey Map
Once you’ve organised your touchpoints, the next step is to create a visual map of your customer journey. This map illustrates how customers interact with your brand at every stage, transforming scattered touchpoints into a clear and connected story. A well-designed journey map not only highlights the flow of customer experiences but also uncovers areas for improvement and growth.
Drawing the Customer Journey from Start to Finish
The goal here is to capture the full customer experience - from their first interaction with your brand to becoming loyal advocates. Start by outlining the main path most customers take, and then layer in alternate routes or detours they might encounter.
Awareness stage: This is where customers first discover your brand. For example, they might see a Facebook ad, visit your Instagram page, and then browse your website to explore product categories.
Consideration stage: At this point, customers dig deeper. They compare products, read reviews, sign up for email offers, check out competitors, engage with your social media, or ask questions via live chat.
Conversion stage: This is where the purchase happens. Customers navigate checkout, choose shipping options, and complete payment. This stage also includes order confirmation emails and payment notifications.
Retention stage: After the purchase, retention begins with updates on delivery, a memorable unboxing experience, and the customer’s first use of the product. Follow-up emails, loyalty programme invites, and tailored recommendations help maintain their interest.
Advocacy stage: Satisfied customers become advocates by leaving reviews, sharing their experiences on social media, or referring friends through a referral programme.
Map these stages in a timeline that shows how customers move between touchpoints. Be sure to include loops, as customers often revisit earlier stages - for example, returning to consideration after making a purchase or moving back to awareness before buying again.
Once you’ve mapped the journey, align each stage with your customers’ goals and the challenges they face.
Finding Customer Goals and Problems at Each Stage
Understanding what customers aim to achieve - and the obstacles they encounter - at every stage is key to aligning your touchpoints with their needs.
Awareness: Customers are trying to understand your brand’s value. They may feel overwhelmed by too much information or unclear messaging.
Consideration: They’re looking for detailed information, reviews, and price comparisons but may worry about product quality or trustworthiness.
Conversion: Customers want a smooth and secure checkout experience. Complicated forms, hidden fees, or unclear pricing can quickly derail them.
Retention: They expect fast delivery and a product that works as promised. Delays or difficulty accessing support can erode trust.
Advocacy: Customers want to share their positive experiences and benefit from referral rewards. However, they might struggle to find the right channels for feedback or referrals.
Document these goals and challenges alongside each touchpoint in your journey map. This will give you a clear view of how well your current touchpoints meet customer expectations - and where changes are needed.
Finding Critical Decision-Making Moments
Some moments in the customer journey carry more weight than others. These can determine whether a customer continues their journey or walks away. Let’s break down these pivotal moments:
First impressions: Customers form opinions within seconds. A slow-loading website, confusing messaging, or poor design can turn them off immediately.
Trust-building: During the consideration stage, customers assess your credibility. They look for reviews, clear return policies, and secure payment options. If trust signals are missing, they may hesitate to move forward.
Commitment: This happens at checkout. Unexpected fees, complex forms, or payment errors can lead to cart abandonment.
Delivery: This is the customer’s first physical interaction with your brand. Late deliveries, damaged packaging, or unmet expectations can overshadow earlier positive experiences.
Support: When customers need help, they expect quick and effective solutions. Slow responses or unhelpful service can turn a neutral experience into a negative one.
Surprise and delight: These moments go beyond expectations - like including a small sample, a handwritten note, or proactively solving a problem. These touches create lasting impressions.
Pinpoint these moments in your journey map and evaluate how well your touchpoints perform during these critical interactions. For areas that fall short, consider adding resources or monitoring to ensure they meet customer expectations.
With a complete journey map in hand, you’ll have a clear narrative of how customers interact with your brand. This map not only highlights areas for improvement but also sets the stage for refining and testing your most impactful touchpoints.
Testing, Ranking, and Improving Your Touchpoints
Take a closer look at how each touchpoint performs and pinpoint areas for improvement through testing, prioritisation, and consistent refinement.
Testing Touchpoints for Performance and Issues
To truly understand how your touchpoints are performing, you'll need a mix of hard data and real customer feedback. Start by collecting baseline metrics for each touchpoint, then dig into the details to uncover any underlying issues.
Use tools like analytics platforms, customer surveys, and usability tests to identify problem areas. For example:
Website analytics can highlight where users drop off, how long they stay on key pages, and which paths lead to conversions.
Email marketing platforms offer insights into open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe trends.
Social media tools reveal engagement levels and audience growth.
Payment processors can pinpoint where transactions fail or are abandoned.
Customer feedback adds the "why" behind the numbers. Post-purchase surveys might reveal if the checkout process felt secure or confusing. Exit-intent surveys can explain why visitors leave without buying. Customer service interactions often uncover recurring pain points, while social media comments and reviews provide unfiltered opinions on specific experiences.
For refining specific elements, A/B testing is invaluable. Experiment with different email subject lines, product page layouts, checkout flows, or ad formats. Run these tests long enough to gather reliable data.
Keep track of key metrics and issues in a central tool. Once you've gathered sufficient data, focus on the touchpoints that have the biggest impact on revenue and customer experience.
Focusing on High-Impact Touchpoints First
Using your customer journey map as a guide, prioritise improvements that directly influence purchasing decisions. Allocate resources to areas that promise the greatest return, balancing potential impact with the effort required.
Target revenue-driving areas. Enhancing product pages, checkout flows, and email campaigns often delivers faster results.
Think about customer volume. A small tweak to a touchpoint visited by thousands daily can have a bigger impact than perfecting something used by only a few. High-traffic areas like your homepage or main product categories should take precedence.
Weigh effort versus complexity. Some changes, like a new homepage design, might need extensive resources, while others, like updating an email template, are quicker wins. Strike a balance between tackling big-impact projects and achieving smaller, immediate improvements.
A simple prioritisation matrix can help. Plot potential changes based on their impact and the effort required. Start with high-impact, low-effort tasks to build momentum, then move on to more complex but equally impactful projects. Leave low-impact changes for later.
Align your focus with business goals. For example, if retaining customers is a priority, enhance post-purchase touchpoints like delivery updates, onboarding emails, and loyalty programmes. If acquisition is the goal, focus on awareness and consideration stages, such as social media ads and website optimisation.
Setting Up Systems for Continuous Improvement
Improving touchpoints isn't a one-off task - it’s an ongoing effort. Set up systems to regularly review, track, and refine your touchpoints to keep pace with customer expectations and business growth.
Monthly audits help catch issues early. Check key metrics, monitor for sudden drops or slow declines, and ensure links, forms, and automated emails are functioning properly.
Quarterly strategy reviews let you reassess priorities. Customer behaviours change, competitors emerge, and your offerings evolve. Use these reviews to shift focus to touchpoints that align with your current goals.
Customer feedback loops ensure you're always listening. Automate surveys after key interactions like purchases or support calls. Keep an eye on social media mentions and review sites for unsolicited feedback. Make it easy for customers to report issues or suggest improvements through website widgets or dedicated email channels.
Performance dashboards simplify trend tracking and team communication. Build dashboards that combine performance indicators (like conversion rates) with health checks (like page load times). Update these weekly and share them with your team to keep everyone aligned.
Collaboration is key. Marketing, customer service, and operations teams each bring unique insights. Marketing might flag inconsistent messaging, while customer service can highlight recurring complaints tied to specific touchpoints.
For Australian DTC brands, leveraging data-driven insights is critical for making smart decisions about where to invest time and resources. Companies like Uncommon Insights specialise in helping FMCG and eCommerce businesses craft practical strategies that deliver tangible growth.
Conclusion: Key Takeaways and Next Steps
Mapping DTC customer touchpoints goes beyond creating visual diagrams - it’s about truly understanding your customers' experiences and using those insights to drive revenue growth. This process calls for thoughtful planning, data-driven decisions, and continuous adjustments to ensure impactful results.
To turn these strategies into action, start small. Focus on a specific customer segment or product line to gather insights and set clear, measurable goals, such as improving conversion rates or cutting acquisition costs. Keeping the scope manageable not only avoids overwhelm but also ensures your efforts lead to tangible outcomes.
When tailoring your approach for Australian consumers, consider local shopping preferences. For instance, many Australians favour payment options like Afterpay, expect fast delivery, and respond to seasonal trends. Use actual data from analytics, customer surveys, and support interactions to shape these personas, avoiding assumptions that could lead you astray.
Once you’ve established a strong foundation, prioritise refining high-impact touchpoints. Concentrate on areas like product pages, checkout processes, and email campaigns - these are often the quickest to show results and can have a significant effect on your bottom line. Smaller, less critical touchpoints can be addressed later once these core areas are optimised.
Continuous testing and improvement are non-negotiable. Customer expectations shift, competitors adapt, and your business evolves. Implement a system of monthly audits to catch potential issues early, conduct quarterly reviews to reassess priorities, and establish feedback loops to stay in tune with your customers. Performance dashboards can help track progress, ensuring your team stays focused on what’s working and what needs adjustment.
For Australian DTC brands aiming to take their touchpoint optimisation to the next level, working with specialists can provide the expertise and frameworks needed for measurable growth. Uncommon Insights offers tailored strategies for FMCG and eCommerce businesses, combining detailed growth audits with actionable customer alignment plans to turn touchpoint mapping into a profitable strategy.
Ready to get started? Pick one customer segment, map their journey across key touchpoints, gather meaningful metrics, and address one major friction point. This small but focused step can build momentum and showcase the value of systematic touchpoint optimisation to your entire team.
FAQs
How can customer personas help improve touchpoint mapping for my DTC brand?
Customer personas play a crucial role in understanding and improving how your DTC brand connects with its audience. By crafting detailed profiles of your ideal customers, you gain valuable insights into their behaviours, preferences, and needs. This understanding makes it easier to pinpoint key interactions and refine them to boost engagement and loyalty.
When you use personas, you’re able to customise touchpoints to align with the specific traits of each customer segment. This approach creates a more personalised and meaningful experience for your audience. The result? Stronger customer connections and a solid foundation for your brand’s long-term success.
What mistakes should Australian DTC brands avoid when mapping customer touchpoints?
When it comes to mapping customer touchpoints, Australian DTC brands should steer clear of a few key missteps. One of the biggest mistakes? Diving in without a clear objective or failing to define your target audience properly. Without these guiding principles, the entire process can feel aimless and fail to deliver meaningful results.
Another frequent error is relying on incomplete or fragmented data. This can leave you with an unclear picture of the full customer journey. Make sure you’re not overlooking pre-funnel interactions, like social media engagement or word-of-mouth recommendations, which play a significant role in how Australians discover and connect with brands.
Lastly, don’t fall into the trap of prioritising customer acquisition at the expense of retention. A well-rounded touchpoint map should cover every stage of the customer lifecycle. Striking the right balance between attracting new customers and building loyalty with existing ones is essential for long-term success.
How can I decide which customer touchpoints to improve first for the greatest impact on my DTC brand?
To figure out which customer touchpoints to improve first, zero in on the ones that have the biggest impact on customer decisions and satisfaction. Dive into data like customer feedback, journey analytics, and conversion metrics to pinpoint areas that aren't performing well but play a major role in driving engagement, loyalty, or sales.
For DTC brands, it’s smart to prioritise touchpoints across critical stages such as discovery, evaluation, purchase, and post-purchase. Focus on changes that enhance long-term customer value, making sure your efforts align with your brand’s goals and deliver clear, measurable results. A well-thought-out, data-backed approach ensures you get the most out of your resources while creating meaningful improvements.
