A potential client usually interacts with a brand numerous times before reaching out or purchasing. For conversion, it is incredibly important that their first interaction with the business is powerful and positive.

Examples of first touch point marketing for businesses who market to other businesses (B2B) can be web search, word-of-mouth, direct business development via a conversion with one of your team members, or even a cold call, marketing email or posted package.

Word of mouth often gets overlooked because it’s difficult to measure. But it’s not the numbers that should count, but the quality of the advocation. People are more likely to trust their friends, family and colleagues, above advertising. Having a strong first touch point is an intelligent way to build trust in prospective clients before they even land on your website or meet the team.

It’s not necessarily about incentivising customers to give referrals, but rather giving them the tools to correctly advocate on your behalf because they were so impressed with your business.

A good example of this is a property investment firm who received many referrals via brokers and home lenders, meaning it was the conversation between the referrer and their prospective client that marked the first marketing touch point.

Whilst this was working, it is difficult enough for someone to articulate their own elevator pitch, let alone another company’s. So, we gave these brokers the right words to do so. Through a series of videos pitched at referrers, not clients, we communicated both the benefit of referring to this property investment firm, and the value offering the firm had for their clients. It was an intelligent way to bypass ineffectual conversations and confusing articulations about the property investment firm and their services.

Following this, the client was referred via an online broker portal and sent an automated thank-you email, which triggered a series of internal tasks for the firm’s business development team to implement.

Designing and building well-considered customer journeys gives a business greater control over each client’s interaction with their brand, from the first touch point to conversion, and then during the ongoing client relationship management.

If your customers first come across your business online, there are ways of integrating tracking codes into your online platforms so you can see exactly where visitors are coming from, how long they are staying and what is of interest to them. There is also the opportunity to re-market to interested parties, which is when ads are re-shown to people who have visited your website. This helps your brand narrative be told across multiple platforms.

Regardless of whether you are a B2B or a B2C business, it’s important to make your first impression count.

Let’s chat about the journey we could take your current and prospective clients on to improve engagement and conversion rates.