One person downloads a guide. Another signs up for a free trial. A third asks to be contacted.
They all appear in the database as new contacts, but they’re asking for different things.
Someone who downloads content may want to explore a topic at their own pace. Someone trying out a platform needs to understand how to get started. Someone filling in a business form, on the other hand, is likely to expect a prompt reply.
The form collects the request. The welcome journey helps you understand how to handle it.
To build it, you need to start with the reason that led the person to provide their details, give them an initial response, and see what happens next. A piece of content they’ve viewed, an unfinished task or a new enquiry all provide information that the initial form could not have included.
It is these signals that suggest how to proceed.
The entry point determines the route
Let’s take the example of someone who downloads a guide on customer loyalty.
The chosen topic already gives us a clue, but it doesn’t yet tell us whether the person is looking for ideas for their work, comparing different solutions, or considering a more concrete project.
Asking her to book a demo straight away might be a bit premature. Including her in a generic sequence, disconnected from the content she’s requested, would mean losing the most useful information we have.
We know where her interest originated. The journey can start from there.
The same logic leads to different choices when the request changes. After activating a free trial, the prospect needs to be granted access quickly, along with some guidance on how to get started. In the case of a sales enquiry, however, a lengthy sequence of content would risk slowing down a conversation that the person has already initiated.
Before designing the journey, it is therefore worth pausing to consider the initial request and identifying the most logical next step. There is no need to anticipate every possible development straight away. What is needed is to provide a good response to what the person has just done.
From confirmation to an initial value
Once the form has been completed, the contact should be able to tell straight away whether the request has been successful.
The confirmation can be brief. It should deliver on what was promised, clarify what will happen next and make the next step – if there is one – straightforward.
Anyone who has downloaded a guide should be able to open it without having to search for it amongst several messages. Anyone who has asked for information should know when they can expect to be contacted. Anyone who has started a free trial needs access and clear instructions on how to get started.
The timing of the message also matters. If the confirmation arrives whilst the request is still fresh in the recipient’s mind, it creates a sense of continuity between the form and the subsequent communication. If it arrives much later, the message risks seeming disconnected from the action taken.
This initial response can provide useful content.
The person who downloaded the customer loyalty guide may receive, a few days later, an example of a campaign to re-engage inactive customers. The new content explores the same topic in greater depth without bringing forward a commercial offer which, at this stage, may not yet be relevant.
For those who have signed up for a trial, the first step may involve completing a task. A short tutorial can help them set up their account or prepare their first message. Completing a specific step enables them to gain a better understanding of the service and to assess whether it meets their needs.
The welcome journey doesn’t need many messages. It needs a recognisable continuity between what the contact has asked for and what they receive.
Behaviour provides further information
The initial form doesn’t need to cover everything.
Asking for a lot of information before offering anything in return may discourage people from filling in the form. Any missing information can be provided later, when it is actually needed for the process.
The individual can specify which topics they wish to explore in more depth, what objective they wish to achieve during the trial, or through which channel they prefer to receive communications. Every question should have a tangible outcome. If we identify an area of interest, subsequent content should take this into account.
Preferences and consent must also form part of the journey. The customer chooses which communications to receive, whilst the company retains this information and uses only the available channels.
Then come the interactions.
The person opens the guide, reads the suggested in-depth article and returns to the website. At that point, we know a little more than we did on the day the form was filled in. Their interest may lead them to more specific content or to a proposal for a consultation.
The journey also changes when the expected action does not take place.
A reminder can be useful if the first message went unnoticed or if an action remains incomplete. However, it must help the user pick up where they left off, rather than simply repeating the same invitation.
Anyone who signs up for a free trial but does not complete the setup may have encountered a problem. A tip on that particular step will be more helpful than a generic invitation to return to the platform.
If the prospect continues to show no engagement, the journey can be put on hold, the approach changed, or the journey halted. This, too, is a choice: continuing automatically does not make the communication any more relevant.
Designing the journey therefore means deciding which behaviours warrant a response and which messages can genuinely help the prospect to move forward.
Different channels for different occasions
A confirmation, a topic to explore in more depth and an event to note down do not necessarily require the same channel.
Email provides the space to send a guide, support someone through the early stages of a trial, or suggest related content. A text message can draw attention to a deadline, an appointment or an important outstanding task.
With RCS, images, buttons and options are integrated directly into mobile communications. The recipient can browse through a range of options or take the suggested action without having to rely on a message consisting solely of text and links.
This does not mean including email, SMS and RCS in every customer journey. The channel should be chosen based on the role it can play at that moment and used in accordance with the consents obtained.
If a communication adds nothing to the journey, it simply becomes yet another message.
When to involve the sales representative
Those who explicitly ask to be contacted again expect a prompt reply. Other enquiries require different timeframes and assessments.
Downloading a guide in itself does not constitute a commercial enquiry. However, subsequent interactions may provide a clearer picture. The person might view more content on the same topic, return to the website or visit a page dedicated to the offer.
When clear signals emerge, the journey can update the CRM and involve the sales representative.
The team doesn’t just receive a name and an email address. It can find out what sparked the interest in the first place, the topics explored in depth, and the actions already taken. This means the initial discussion can start from a more useful context, without asking the person to retrace their steps from the beginning.
Automations also help to avoid unnecessary steps. If the user completes the trial setup, the scheduled reminder no longer needs to be sent. If they request assistance, the workflow can suggest relevant content or notify the appropriate contact person.
Journey Builder manages timing, conditions and branching. CRM, APIs and webhooks enable events to flow between the systems used by the company. The technology remains behind the scenes, whilst the customer receives a response consistent with their previous actions.
Building the welcome journey with inTouch
With inTouch, a contact collected via a form can be added to the relevant list and workflow, along with the available information and consents.
In Journey Builder, you can define the subsequent steps, waiting periods and conditions that alter the flow. Emails, SMS and RCS are triggered when they serve a specific purpose, whilst integrations ensure the journey remains linked to other business processes.
Statistics help us see where leads go next, which content generates new interactions, and at which points the journey tends to stall.
The form tells us where the enquiry originated. Subsequent actions show how it is progressing.
A welcome journey links this information together and guides the lead without forcing them to start from scratch with every communication.
