New year, new opportunities for creating marketing ‘touchpoints’
In his book, “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell says “Look at the world around you, it might seem like an immovable, implacable place, it is not. With the slightest push — in just the right place — it can be tipped.”
These are true words for marketers.
As the new year unfolds, let us think about the touchpoints that inspire our audiences, our stakeholders, our customers. What moves your audience? Where are the beneficial tipping points in your marketing efforts? As you begin to operationalize your marketing strategy this year, give thought to what your audience cares about.
Touchpoints are something I speak about frequently.
What exactly are touchpoints in marketing?
From my perspective, they are authentic social media content being published in a regular cadence, thoughtful e-newsletters or emails that offer helpful information, letters or notes you place into the mail stream with real postage stamps, telephone calls to customers and more. Other types of touchpoints might be earned media when you or your staff speak to journalists and then you share the subsequent story with your audience, advertising that’s thoughtful or placed in interesting, local settings, word-of-mouth evangelism from one satisfied customer to another and so on.
When you make many small, meaningful moves, you greatly increase the chance of being noticed, and more important, of being appreciated for being in the right place at the right time for your customers.
Woody Allen once famously said “80% of success is just showing up.” Not only do I agree with this statement, I would go a little further and say just showing up is a good start. Showing up well and enthusiastically is exactly what will lead you toward greater and greater success.
As marketers we must show up, but in a wildly competitive marketplace such as ours, no matter the product or the channel, we must present our products or services in a way that is sensitive to the needs of our audience. Today, more than ever, we must pay careful attention to the way our customers wish to relate to our business, too. We also must offer helpful information and insights that feel like small gifts bestowed at just the right time to the recipient.
Though it might feel from the inside like we are stating and restating the same messages outwardly toward our audience, we should be sensitive to the fact that a distracted world might perceive only a small portion of the touchpoints we produce. Marketing messages take time to be heard and you may have to say things numerous times in numerous ways to gain attention. That’s OK. That’s our job.
In 2025, keep a watchful eye on the segments of your audience, notice what they are paying attention to and continue to modify your messaging, your touchpoints, your contact opportunities to meet people right where they are. Position your business as the right place at the right time for them.
• Rebecca Hoffman is the founder and principal of Good Egg Concepts, a strategic communication and brand marketing consulting practice serving clients across the Chicago area and nationally.