[5] Therefore, brands must create short and engaging advertisements in order to capture the attention of the consumer during the pre-purchase stage of his or her decision making process.
Such atmospherics involve using the senses to relate to consumers on a more personal level through the use of store scents, visual appearance, music and the ability to touch products.
To reduce the chance of having the consumer turning away from buying a particular brand, there is a need to ensure that staff are properly trained in product knowledge and also in interpersonal skills.
Successful businesses utilize touchpoints to build an image of what they can offer to customers, straightforward communication between parties and value that comes with the purchase of products or services (Hogan, Almiquist, Glynn, 2005).
Businesses that offer products or services directly to customers use touchpoints in order to improve the relationship with the consumer and create brand recognition within their minds (Roll, 2015).
The Brand touchpoint wheel demonstrates that the sales force is a large contributor in this experience, as this will leave the consumer feeling either satisfied or dissatisfied with the purchase process.
Customer experience is important in the communication process from seller to buyer as if the product or service is not promoted and people cannot see what they will receive for the transaction of purchasing the good their willingness to buy will decline.
It has the advantages of Multi-sensory appeal; sound, music, dialogue, movement, photos, written scripture, product and so on ("Television advertising pros and cons" n.d.).
Magazines are the paid touchpoints that offer very high-Quality images, high-gloss, heavy paper, elegant and beautiful photos that really attracts the attention of a reader (Ives, 2011).
For example, a small coffee shop might use marketing tools like social media ads paired with a local coupon drop to ensure visibility both online and offline.
By combining strategic storytelling, consistent messaging, and targeted marketing campaigns, small businesses can create meaningful connections that resonate with potential customers.
Brands have sensory characteristics, e.g., shapes, feels, sounds, colours and smells that they can use to influence consumers’ emotions, therefore purchasing behavior.
For websites or mobile phone apps it is important to have an attractive, easy to use layout that will appeal to the businesses target audience (Xu, Peak, & Prybutok, 2015).
Through research, Edelma, D, C. (2010) discovered that today's customers take a more iterative and less reductive purchase journey of four stages: consider, evaluate, buy, and enjoy, advocate, bond.
Often conducting online research after purchasing the customer, if pleased, will advocate the product or service by word-of–mouth, reviews and so may bond, entering an enjoy-advocate-buy loop that skips the consider and evaluate stages.
It can also come down to how easy the business has made the process of returning goods, whether they are faulty, wrong size, or if the customer has simply decided they no longer want it (Stein, & Ramaseshan, 2016).
They use social media to listen, to engage, to offer services and to interact through platforms that enhance the brand and customer experience, to keep them coming back.
Traditionally businesses have developed their customer experience touchpoints by communicating their brand and services through channels they control; the shop, the phone, events, their website.
Now, however there is a shift towards new touchpoints that are completely independent of the business owner; social net working such as Facebook, blogs, mobile apps, Twitter, Instagram, location based services and many more.
Cialdini states that there are 6 principles of persuasion when it comes to the consumer's decision making process: Reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity.
Westernberg, E. (2010) suggest that through the pathways of interaction through social media, web searches and mobile apps, consumers are leaving fingerprints on many touchpoints, such as when they seek information or visit a specific destination.
Face-to-face communication has it all; sight, sound, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language, it is a “asynchronous” touchpoint and yet miss-communications can occur.
The campaign had a connected system of touchpoints, which supplied the opportunity to unlock the can to gain a vast world of content, experiences and prizes; leading to twenty seven percent sales increase above forecast (PR Newswire, 2015).
[21] Purchase (or usage) experience touchpoints refers to those that moves a customer from only thinking about a company's brand to buying a product or service and commencing a consumer-brand relationship.
[22] Post-purchase touchpoints can include loyalty programs, customer satisfaction surveys, warranty and rebate activities, regular maintenance, and reminders about the brand's innovations on its products or services.
The increased use of touchpoints across a variety of communication channels has resulted in development of neuroscience and behavioural economics, to advance emotional and experiential consumer connections (Noble, 2016).
An example is herbal essences (a hair product brand), which focuses on the sensorial experience of smell, associating emotionally with indulgence and sensuality (Bailey, 2015).
The first step is defining the overarching experience, which aims to pinpoint specific goals, helping to differentiate the brand from its competitors at a non-conscious level.
Contacting prospect and future customers is another way to seek strengths and weaknesses as they can provide information through surveys and word of mouth on their thinking towards the brand and their thoughts on the competition in the neighboring fields.
[28] This method allows brand managers to set up a system in which they can enhance customer experience which gives a competitive edge within their target market.