See how brand touchpoints shape every customer journey. Get bold examples, practical tips, and creative merch ideas to level up your brand experience.
Author: Michael Schwandt, Director of Global Brand Strategy
First impressions matter. So does the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. (That’s not arbitrary… people need about seven brand interactions before they’re ready to buy.) These impressions, or connections between you and your clients and customers, are also known as brand touchpoints.
Your company has brand touchpoints everywhere: your website, social posts, customer service calls, physical merch—the list goes on, but each one counts.
Key takeaways
- Brand touchpoints matter, because they add up to ultimately influence one’s perception of your brand as well as their willingness to recommend your business to others.
- The 3 types of brand touchpoints are pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase touchpoints.
- Imprint Engine has done countless brand touchpoints, but three that stick out are for our clients Uber, Gopuff, and Postman.
Table of contents
- Types of touchpoints & why they matter
- How we’ve built touchpoints that make a splash (+ 3 case studies)
- Build a memorable brand experience with us
Types of touchpoints and why they matter
| Stage | Key Touchpoints | Primary Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Purchase | Ads, Social Media, Content Marketing, PR, Word of Mouth | Awareness & Trust |
| Purchase | Website, In-Store Experience, Customer Service | Conversion & Usability |
| Post-Purchase | Unboxing, Welcome Kits, Follow-up, Loyalty Programs | Retention & Advocacy |
Brand touchpoints are every interaction someone has with your company—planned or not. These interactions can be as physical as a brick-and-mortar store, as digital as a website or social media page, or as personal as an in-person conversation or online chat.
Each touchpoint might feel small, but they stack up fast, shaping how people see your brand and whether they’ll tell their friends about it.
Pre-purchase touchpoints
Pre-purchase touchpoints are the various ways that potential consumers can interact with a brand prior to making a purchase decision. Here are some common pre-purchase touchpoints.
Advertising
Advertising is a classic pre-purchase touchpoint. Ad campaigns, whether out-of-home or digital, are often one of the first brand touchpoints for potential customers. The trick is targeting ads to the right people, otherwise you’re just burning budget.
Social media
78% of businesses use social media to build their brand reputation, and for good reason. It makes sense, considering more than half of the world’s population uses social media, and 76% of those users have bought a product or service based on a brand’s social media presence. Building an engaged community on social media is one of the most trusted marketing avenues out there. These pre-purchase brand touchpoints include not only organic posts but paid ads, influencer collaborations, personal engagement with followers, and more.
Content marketing
Content marketing includes touchpoints such as blog posts, podcast episodes, announcements, case studies, and more. Whether you’re educating, entertaining, or generating leads, the content has to be good—actually good, not just keyword-stuffed filler. The goal? Build awareness and trust by staying true to who you are. People can smell fake from a mile away.
Public relations
Public relations touchpoints like press releases and media coverage are great for building trust and shaping brand perception. Reviews or announcements written and published from outside of your company lets consumers know not only what’s happening with your brand, but that other people are buying in and talking about it.
Word of mouth
Word of mouth goes way beyond casual conversation. Consumer trust and peer recommendations drive real results, because people buy what their friends buy. Online customer reviews, referrals, influencer reviews, viral social media posts, and even a quick verbal recommendation all count as word-of-mouth touchpoints. Branded merchandise can also provide endless opportunities for word-of-mouth touchpoints. When people wear your brand or carry it around on their tote bag or water bottle, others are bound to ask about it.
Read more about why branded merch is important .
Purchase touchpoints
When shoppers shift from browsing to buying, these touchpoints either seal the deal or send them searching elsewhere:
Website
Your website is a touchpoint from start to finish, so it better work smoothly. This is where many customers go to answer frequently asked questions, discover more information about your brand, browse products and services, locate contact details, and perhaps even conduct their purchases. If your site’s a mess, people won’t come back. Simple as that.
In-store experience
An obvious touchpoint is the one that takes place face-to-face with customers. The in-store experience is a tangible brand touchpoint that includes not only your in-person customer service, but sensory elements like lighting and music as well as logistical elements like store layout and product organization.
Customer service
Customer service interactions are key brand touchpoints that influence a customer’s likelihood of coming back. Phone, email, live chat, social DMs… doesn’t matter. It has to be fast and helpful. People get that things go sideways sometimes, but it’s how you remedy the situation that impacts your relationships. Excellent customer service will make 78% of consumers want to do business with you again, even if you made a mistake.
Post-purchase touchpoints
Post-purchase touchpoints are those that occur after a customer has made a purchase. Here are just a couple of examples of post-purchase touchpoints.
Delivery and unboxing
Have you ever opened a package and thought, ‘Hm, well this is underwhelming for how much I spent.’ Or worse, ‘Yikes, that’s a ton of packaging for one tiny item!’ Creative and efficient packaging that stands out to customers is a touchpoint that is often overlooked but leaves a stellar impression. Part of our mission as your brand experience partner is to reduce our impact on the environment through sustainable and efficient packaging, so even our largest clients can delight their end consumers with a pleasant and unique unboxing experience. Read about our sustainability program, Imprint Impact .
Welcome kits
Welcome kits tell customers you’re glad they’re here—and that you want them to stick around. These can come in the form of promotional materials for future purchases, new product samples, personalized goods, or something as simple as a thank you card. Post-purchase touchpoints keep customers coming back and thinking about you between purchases. No one does welcome kits quite like Imprint Engine. Check out our brainstorm list of small welcome gifts .
Follow-up communication
Follow-up communications can sometimes be the most valuable touchpoint for securing a loyal customer relationship. Send a quick survey after the sale. You’ll learn what worked, what didn’t, and how to do better next time. Customers notice when you factor in their feedback! Read more about how to maintain a good relationship with your customers .
Loyalty programs
Loyalty programs are touchpoint goldmines. 83% of customers say that belonging to a loyalty program influences their decision to continue purchasing from a brand, and that’s because loyalty programs consistently keep your line of communication open! Included in the loyalty program brand touchpoints could be tiered memberships, emails containing exclusive offers, point-based programs, or subscription services. The payoff? Loyal customers who actually stick around and tell their friends about you.
How we’ve built touchpoints that make a splash
We build brand experiences that people remember from concept to doorstep. We work like we’re part of your team, because we learn your customers inside and out, so we can reach them anywhere in the world. Read more about how we’ve built a global operation. Here are a few touchpoint examples from three of our clients: Uber, GoPuff, and Postman.
We unified Uber’s brand
Our multi-year partnership with Uber Eats involved several in-person brand touchpoints such as event activations, uniforms, in-store advertising, and onboarding kits as well as digital brand touchpoints like restaurant activation software, online stores, and marketing collateral.
They needed help getting stuff out the door faster and making sure it all looked like Uber Eats, no matter where it landed. First, we supplied high-quality, on-brand physical assets to each market swiftly. We concurrently developed and implemented a large-scale program focused on unifying branding across all collateral. We centralized everything: production, distribution, the works. Result? Faster delivery, lower costs, and consistent branding across every market.
Read the full case study: From Chaos to Cohesion: Rethinking Logistics for Uber Eats
We boosted brand awareness with GoPuff
GoPuff wanted to boost brand awareness among college students through their Back to College Campaign, but needed our help with creating and distributing 4 million deliverables to more than 300 campuses in a tight 3-week timeframe. These 4 million in-person touchpoints included branded merchandise and product samples that were handed out at universities across the nation. We worked directly with suppliers and stayed hands-on through production and distribution. Everything shipped on time, onbrand, to 300+ campuses.
Read the full case study: Navigating College Complexity with GoPuff 
We built consistency with Postman
Postman is a massive API platform that initially took on the challenge of managing their broad range of brand touchpoints. This proved more challenging than anticipated, so they brought in the big guns. (That’s us.) We took over their entire swag program—the Shopify site, packaging, distribution, customer support, all of it. The Shopify site, product packaging and distribution, customer support, and the merchandise itself are just a few brand touchpoints we transitioned into one centralized location to maintain consistency and efficiency.
Read the full case study: Streamlining Global Distribution & Consistency with Postman 
Build a memorable brand experience with us
Every touchpoint is a chance to connect with your customers—and we make sure none of them fall flat. We handle everything—from boosting brand awareness to streamlining logistics—so every touchpoint actually works toward your goals.
Contact us to get started.
Build a brand experience that lives on
