If you’ve ever wondered why a potential customer doesn’t buy from you the first time they come across your product or offer, it’s because of one key truth: people need multiple exposures to a message before it sticks (customer touch points). This is where the concept of the Rule of 27 comes in—a principle grounded in marketing psychology and the reality of digital noise.
At the core of the Rule of 27 is this idea: customers must be exposed to your brand or offer 27 times before they’re likely to take action. Not because they don’t care, but because they’re overwhelmed by everything else vying for their attention. This is where strategic, intentional customer touch points become your greatest asset—an essential part of building familiarity and trust in today’s overcrowded attention economy.
What Are Customer Touch Points?
Customer touch points are any moment when a customer comes into contact with your brand—before, during, or after the purchase process. Examples of customer touchpoints include awareness-stage interactions like a Facebook ad or YouTube video, consideration-stage touchpoints such as an email in their inbox or a blog post, and post-purchase experiences like a DM, podcast interview, or webinar replay. Every single one of these touch points is an opportunity to plant a seed of connection, to deliver value, and to nurture trust in your business.
When executed intentionally, customer touch points move people through the buying journey—from awareness, to consideration, to conversion, and eventually to loyalty and advocacy. A potential customer may interact with early touchpoints before making a purchase decision, highlighting the importance of engaging them from the start. These stages together form the sales funnel, where each customer journey touchpoint helps guide individuals toward conversion and loyalty. But most businesses give up too early—after only three or four touches—well before they reach the 27 needed to make a lasting impression. Not all touchpoints are equally impactful, so it’s important to prioritize those that drive the most value. And that’s where momentum is lost.
The Psychology Behind the Rule
Repetition builds familiarity, and familiarity builds trust. Customers don’t trust what they don’t remember. And they can’t remember what they’re only seeing once or twice. That’s why scattered or inconsistent approaches to customer touch points lead to mediocre results. It’s not just about visibility. It’s about visibility over time.
There is also a cognitive component: the brain filters out what it considers nonessential. If someone sees your message once, it barely registers. But if they see your message again and again, your brand slowly becomes a familiar presence—and familiarity lowers resistance.
How to Build a Customer Touchpoints Strategy That Converts
To implement the Rule of 27 in your business, you need a layered, omnichannel approach to customer touch points. Identifying touchpoints is the foundation of your strategy, as it allows you to map and optimize every key interaction along the customer journey. The idea is to show up consistently, helpfully, and in the places where your target audience is already spending time. Creating detailed buyer personas helps you understand and segment your customers, making it easier to optimize touchpoints and tailor your approach. Here’s how:
1. Map the Customer Journey
Start by identifying where your ideal customer spends time and how they already interact with your brand. As part of this process, systematically identify customer touchpoints to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the journey.
A customer journey map, or multiple customer journey maps for different personas, are valuable tools for visualizing and analyzing all customer interactions across various stages. These maps help you categorize and review each touchpoint, making it easier to spot opportunities for improvement.
What are your current customer touch points? Review your existing touchpoints—such as billing, renewals, feedback surveys, and loyalty programs—to identify strengths and areas for optimization. Where are the gaps? From discovery to decision, map every possible moment of interaction.
2. Create Content with Purpose for Customer Engagement
Each piece of content should have a clear role in your strategy. Whether it’s to inspire, educate, or convert, your content should reinforce a consistent message. Customer touch points should not only inform, but align with the buyer’s journey and encourage the next step forward.
Email marketing campaigns are a purposeful content type for nurturing leads and guiding prospects through the customer journey. Social media posts serve as key touchpoints for engaging customers and maintaining brand consistency. Additionally, website visits are an important touchpoint driven by your content, especially during brand discovery and initial engagement.
3. Use Automation Wisely
AI tools and marketing automation make it easier than ever to scale your customer touch points. Email sequences, chatbots, remarketing ads, personalized text messages, and triggered responses all help you stay top of mind—without burning out your team. You can also automate cross selling emails to promote additional products right after a purchase, increasing revenue opportunities. Leveraging cost effective channels such as SMS and social media allows you to engage customers efficiently. Additionally, automating customer support channels—including live chat, email, phone, and social media—ensures seamless, omnichannel support and improves customer service.
4. Don’t Rely on One Channel
Diversify where and how you show up. If you’re only emailing, or only posting to Instagram, you’re missing out on segments of your audience. Choosing the right social media platform for your target audience is crucial to maximize engagement and reach. Expand your reach by using a combination of organic content, paid media, search visibility, direct outreach, and direct communication channels like phone calls. Don’t overlook offline touchpoints such as physical locations and the in store experience, which play a key role in shaping customer perceptions. The more customer touch points you generate across different platforms, the better, as customers interact and customers engage with your brand in a variety of ways.
5. Measure and Adjust
Track your data closely across the entire journey to gain a holistic view of your customers’ experiences. Which customer touch points are producing engagement, clicks, conversions, or repeat visits? Analyze customer behavior at each stage to identify patterns and missed opportunities. Use feedback surveys and customer surveys at various touchpoints to gather valuable insights and assess customer preferences. These insights will help you focus on optimizing customer touchpoints, doubling down on what works and phasing out what doesn’t. A data-driven strategy will keep your marketing sharp and your message relevant.
Key Moments: Customer Interactions and Onboarding
The first interactions a customer has with your brand are some of the most important moments in the entire customer journey. These initial touchpoints—whether it’s a welcome email, a product demo, or a personalized message from your team—set the stage for the customer experience to come. A seamless, thoughtful onboarding process can dramatically increase customer satisfaction, reduce early churn, and lay the groundwork for a loyal customer base.
To truly empower customers from the start, businesses should identify key touchpoints in the onboarding process and use customer data to personalize each step. This means understanding what your customers need, anticipating their questions, and providing clear, actionable guidance as they get started. When you optimize these early customer interactions, you not only meet but exceed customer expectations, building trust and confidence that lasts throughout the customer’s journey.
By focusing on these pivotal moments, you can transform onboarding from a simple checklist into a powerful opportunity to engage customers, address their concerns, and set them up for long-term success.
Beyond the Sale: Loyalty Programs and Insights
The customer journey doesn’t end at the point of purchase—in fact, some of the most important customer touchpoints happen after the sale. Loyalty programs are a cornerstone of customer success, designed to reward repeat business, foster brand loyalty, and keep your customers engaged over time.
To create loyalty programs that truly resonate, it’s essential to understand your customers’ behavior, preferences, and pain points. This starts with analyzing customer data and gathering feedback through surveys at key touchpoints. By identifying what drives customer engagement and satisfaction, you can tailor your marketing efforts and optimize customer touchpoints to deliver a superior customer experience.
Loyalty programs also offer a wealth of customer insights, helping you refine your customer touchpoint strategy and adapt to evolving customer expectations. When you use these insights to continually improve your offerings, you not only increase repeat business but also drive business growth and build a community of brand advocates. In today’s competitive landscape, leveraging loyalty programs and customer data is key to creating lasting relationships and ensuring your business thrives long after the initial sale.
Real Talk: It’s Not Annoying, It’s Effective for Customer Experience
A lot of entrepreneurs hesitate to repeat themselves. They worry about being too repetitive, too promotional, or too “pushy.” But the truth is, most people didn’t see your post the first time. Or the third. Or even the tenth. That’s why customer touch points must be consistent and strategically repeated.
Consistent touchpoints not only build brand memory, but also influence how customers feel about your brand over time, shaping their emotional response at every stage. When a customer makes a purchase, it is often the result of these repeated, well-timed interactions. Ensuring that customers can seamlessly transition between channels during these touchpoints is crucial for maintaining a unified experience. These strategies work together to enhance overall customer experiences, driving business growth and loyalty.
Final Thoughts
Marketing isn’t about going viral. It’s about being visible—again and again. It’s about showing up consistently so that, when the moment is right, your customer already knows, likes, and trusts you.
Customer touch points are the bridge between obscurity and opportunity. They take you from forgotten to familiar, and familiar is where sales happen. Touchpoint strategies can vary—one company may need a different approach than another, especially in the SaaS industry, where digital engagement and post-purchase support are critical. It’s important to serve both your customers—new and existing—throughout their journey, ensuring every interaction adds value. Your support team and customer support team play a vital role in delivering positive experiences across channels, while well-trained sales representatives ensure expertise and consistency in every customer interaction. Key post-purchase touchpoints, such as the renewal process, help maintain relationships with existing customers and reduce churn. Comprehensive customer success programs, customer loyalty programs, and a referral program are essential strategies for retention and acquisition, rewarding loyal customers and turning them into advocates. By focusing on these elements, you build a system that consistently reinforces your brand and maintains strong relationships with your existing customers.
Make every touch intentional. Deliver value, clarity, and consistency. Let your customer touch points do the long-term heavy lifting so you can focus on building real relationships and closing with confidence.