How Small Brands Turn Customer Feedback Into Marketing Strategies

The customer is always right. But about what, exactly? For some brands there’s never been a truer mantra, and they’re listening a little harder to get specific answers from the people they serve. This is particularly true for small and direct-to-consumer brands that want to collaborate with their clients. They want to know exactly what customers want and are eager for them to partake in the design process by engaging them in formal surveys and Instagram polls. It’s a relatively new way of thinking, particularly compared to retailers who consider themselves all-knowing trendsetters. But it’s also born from advances in tech. Instagram polls and Google surveys didn’t exist five years ago. Now, they give brands the ability to communicate with customers en masse and synthesize the data into usable insights. “The future of retail is far more curated and personalized,” Amit Kumar, vp of growth and analytics at the socially conscious subscription box Alltrue, told Adweek. Are You Making the Most of Customer Feedback? It’s an easier prospect for smaller businesses, since they’re not locked into big batch contracts seasons in advance. “Agility provides degrees of freedom—the ability to pivot away from bad situations and toward good ones,” Tom Goldsby, co-faculty director of the University of Tennessee’s Global Supply Chain Institute, told Adweek. “That was something of a luxury before the pandemic, but it's a vital form of business resilience now.” Cats vs. Dogs Maggie Dawkins learned that firsthand. Before Covid-19, Dawkins, vp of merchandising design and production at the subscription apparel brand FabKids, held “kids board meetings.” Children were invited into the office to share their opinions on designs. They were also encouraged to bring their favorite clothes so the adults could learn why they like them and apply those learnings to future styles. In one group, the team presented two T-shirt designs: a cat and a dog. They were shocked that the kids preferred the cat over the dog 10-to-one. The merchandising team had already placed the order with more dog shirts. But since FabKids buys in smaller batches, they were able to add to the cat buy. “We placed our bet on the wrong buy,” Dawkins said. “We changed it, and I’m glad we did because the sales reflected that interest in the cat shirt. It’s a small thing, but it can make or break business.” Kids consult on user experience During another meeting, kids discovered a design flaw in a prototype for a “flippy” shirt—a shirt with sequins that flip into another design when swiped. As they were playing, the kids noticed the sequins got stuck. Dawkins’ team contacted the manufacturer to change the sequins before placing the order. Since Covid-19 impacted in-person meetings, the team has been sending samples to social influencers and kids they know to test products. They’re also relying on Instagram polls and formal surveys conducted four times annually. Right now, the team is drafting a survey asking parents if they’d be interested in matching family outfits for Valentine's Day. They’ve also been mining customer feedback and reviews. They noticed customers asking for basics like bras and panties. It’s a new category for FabKids, so they sent samples to users. That’s when teenagers noticed a production mistake in the sizing, something FabKids was able to correct before ordering a large shipment. “Getting into your customers' brains helps in making business decisions,” Dawkins said. “We’re trying to push consumers and give them things they don’t know they’re ready for, but kids know what they want. We try to marry the two.” Which do you prefer? Victoria Cirigliano was convinced she’d use glossy crocodile leather for the fall boots she recently designed. On a whim, Cirigliano, founder of the shoe brand Vicson, posted the two swatches—a matte and a glossy crocodile—on the company’s Instagram and used the polling function to ask followers which they preferred. The results surprised her. “I was set on the leather,” Cirigliano told Adweek from her home in Miami. “I thought I’d upload the swatches because it's a fun way to interact with the audience. It wound up that 53% of votes were in favor of the other leather—the matte option. I ended up changing the leather. That's my audience, so if they tell me what they want, why wouldn’t I change it?” Nate Johnson and Vera Moore, co-founders of the lingerie brand Love, Vera, had a similar experience. The couple wanted feedback on a new corset coming to market, so Moore posted a picture on the brand’s Instagram. It was strapless, satin black with rose gold hardware clasps in the front. She wanted feedback on the clasp hardware. Should they stick with rose gold or switch to silver or gold? The consensus was gold, which many followers said was easier to style. The founders changed the hardware. “We try to be as flexible as possible to meet the needs of our growing community,” Johnson said. “Engaging with customers helps us make better decisions across the business.” Take bra sizes. Since launching their nude color collection last year, feedback came in asking for larger cup and band sizes. As they restock that collection this summer, they’re adding G- and H-size cups, based on feedback they received through social media. “When somebody takes the time to give you feedback, we appreciate and value it,” Johnson said. "It shows they care and are interested. It’s our job to listen to them and incorporate that feedback to the best of our ability.” Personalization is the future Listening makes for good business. Cirigliano's shoe brand Vicson is a small business with about 15 products at a time. Metrics show that those who buy are often repeat customers. She believes including them in the design process directly results in more visits to her site. “In this new era of consuming and shopping, people are so oversaturated—it’s overwhelming,” she said. “So personalization is key. Really involving them in the process is one of the most authentic ways to do it.” That’s exactly what Joanna Georgiou, co-founder of apparel brand Grayers, which has a store in New York City in addition to its ecommerce business, found. The brand regularly surveys customers and has used their feedback to create new product categories, refine fit and influence website design. Customers asked the brand to curate shoppable outfits by occasion on the website. Recently, they’ve asked for sections like Working From Home. As a result, the conversion rate is 100% higher than on the rest of the website. “You never know what you might find in the research,” Georgiou told Adweek. “You might have a feel for something and test against it, and learn something entirely different. Things come out that you hadn’t thought of.”