Latest / Customer Journey with Fexingo: Touchpoints, Mapping, and Multi-Channel Marketing / The Touchpoint Most Journey Maps Miss the Pre-Order
Transcript
- Lucas: So you run a DTC brand. You spend months perfecting a limited-edition product. You announce it two weeks before the drop. And for those two weeks, what does your customer journey map show? Luna: Probably just a straight line from 'announcement email' to 'purchase page.' Maybe a reminder email in between. Lucas: Right. And that's the blind spot. The pre-order waiting period — that gap between when someone becomes aware of a product and when they can actually buy it — is one of the most emotionally charged touchpoints in the entire journey. And most maps treat it as dead air. Luna: Dead air. I like that. So what's actually happening in that gap? Let's pick a concrete example. Lucas: Let's use a limited sneaker drop. Say Nike announces a retro Air Jordan colorway, available March 1. It's February 15. A sneakerhead named Marcus sees the announcement on Instagram. He's in. He sets a calendar reminder. He tells two friends. He starts checking resale forums to gauge hype. Luna: And he's also probably getting ads for other sneakers in the meantime, which might distract him. Lucas: Exactly. During those two weeks, Marcus is building anticipation. But he's also vulnerable to competitors, to doubts, to forgetfulness. A 2025 study by the marketing firm Hype Institute found that brands that actively engage customers during a pre-order waiting period — think exclusive content, countdowns, early-access referrals — see a 22% lift in repeat purchase rate within six months. Luna: Twenty-two percent. That's not small. And what does 'actively engage' look like in practice? Lucas: SMS is a big one. You send a teaser video at T-minus 7 days. At T-minus 3 days, you give subscribers a behind the scenes look at the design process. On launch morning, you send a 'your size is reserved for 15 minutes' text. Each touchpoint deepens the sense of being an insider. Luna: That's smart. It turns anxiety into belonging. But doesn't that require building an SMS list and a content calendar for every drop? That feels like a lot of overhead for a small brand. Lucas: It does, but you can start lean. A simple countdown page with an email capture form. A single 'pre-order interest' button. The key is to recognize that the waiting period is a touchpoint — not a void. Map it. Give it a purpose. Luna: I'm thinking about how this applies beyond sneakers. Like, you pre-order a new tech gadget. Or a concert ticket. Or even a limited-edition coffee blend. The emotional arc is similar. Lucas: Absolutely. And here's where the journey map fails: it usually shows 'awareness' then 'consideration' then 'purchase.' But for pre-order products, there's a whole phase between awareness and consideration that's about anticipation, community, and commitment. If you ignore it, you're leaving money on the table. Luna: So what specific line item would you add to a journey map to fix this? Like, what's the actionable takeaway? Lucas: Add a row called 'Pre-Order Waiting Period.' Under that, list three sub-touchpoints: 'Announcement Confirmation' — send a thank-you or a shareable asset, 'Community Engagement' — a private Discord or SMS preview, and 'Last-Mile Reminder' — the countdown push. Test one of them for your next drop. Luna: And measure what? Conversion rate from announcement to purchase, sure, but also referral rate and social shares. Lucas: Exactly. Because if someone shares the pre-order link during the waiting period, that's a stronger signal than a click from an ad. You're capturing intent at its peak. Luna: I'm sold. And you know, if today's episode made you think differently about one touchpoint in your own map, that's exactly the kind of thing that keeps us going. These conversations stay free and ad-free because of listeners who find them useful. If you want to help, you can buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep the lights on. Lucas: Yeah, seriously. Every little bit helps us keep drilling into these blind spots. So back to the waiting period — another thing I see brands miss is the referral loop. If you can get someone to refer a friend during the pre-order phase, you've essentially doubled your acquisition cost efficiency. Luna: And the friend probably has higher intent too, because they're hearing about it from someone they trust. Lucas: Right. So you build a 'refer a friend and get early access' mechanic. That turns the waiting period into a growth engine. One brand I worked with did exactly that — a limited-run coffee subscription — and their pre-order conversion rate went from 12% to 31% just by adding a two-week SMS countdown and a referral reward. Luna: Nineteen percentage points. That's massive. What was the referral reward? Lucas: A free bag of beans on the first order. Cost them maybe four dollars per acquisition. Compare that to their Facebook ad cost per acquisition of eighteen dollars. Huge difference. Luna: So the pre-order touchpoint isn't just about retention. It's also about acquisition. It's a full-funnel moment. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why it's such a glaring omission in most journey maps. The map usually shows the funnel as linear — top, middle, bottom. But the pre-order waiting period sits across all three. It's an awareness event, a consideration trigger, and a purchase driver all at once. Luna: I want to push back a little though. For a lot of brands, pre-orders aren't the norm. They run on continuous inventory. So is this still relevant? Lucas: Fair question. If you don't have a pre-order, you might still have a waiting period for restocks. Or for seasonal launches. Or for new product introductions. Any time there's a gap between announcement and availability, the same dynamics apply. The principle is: don't let the gap go silent. Luna: So the map should have a 'pre-launch' phase even for continuous products, if you ever announce something before it's ready. Lucas: Exactly. Think of the way Apple handles iPhone launches. They announce, they take pre-orders a week later, they ship two weeks after that. Every day in between is a carefully orchestrated touchpoint — reviews, interviews, unboxing videos. They treat the waiting period as a product in itself. Luna: And that's the bar. So how does a smaller brand replicate that without a billion-dollar marketing machine? Lucas: Start with one channel. If you have an email list, send a 'what to expect' series. If you have a social following, post a countdown story daily. The goal is to keep the anticipation alive and give people a reason to check in. Even a simple '3 days until launch' post with a user-generated question can work. Luna: I've also seen brands use the waiting period to collect data. Like, ask people what color they're most excited about, or what they'd name the product. That builds investment. Lucas: Yes. And that's a form of co-creation. When someone votes on a feature or a color, they're psychologically committing. They're more likely to buy when the drop happens. A study from Wharton found that customers who participated in a pre-launch poll had a 37% higher conversion rate. Luna: That's huge. So the waiting period is basically a conversion optimization lab. Lucas: Exactly. And the beautiful thing is, most competitors aren't doing it. They're focused on the announcement and the sale, but the space in between is largely empty. That's an opportunity. Luna: Alright, so to wrap this up: next time you map a customer journey, add a row for the pre-order or pre-launch waiting period. Populate it with three touchpoints — a confirmation, a community engagement, and a countdown. Test it. Measure referral rate and conversion lift. Lucas: And if you do, drop us a note. We'd love to hear how it went. Because the more we share real examples, the better these maps get for everyone. Luna: Agreed. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you next time.