Inviting Customer Feedback, Target Style
It’s a human condition as well as a marketer’s condition: we tend to be a little freaked out by blank spaces. Be they pauses in conversation or copy-less ad inches, it is our instinct as social beings to fill it already (yikes)! And yet, the best way to actually invite engagement may be to train ourselves (as marketers especially) out of that rut.
With that in mind, I took note of a full page Target ad in last Sunday’s New York Times. The simple message? “Tell us what more we can do for you.” That was followed by a decently legible email address (not a teeny one at the bottom) and the words, “we’ll get back to you shortly.”
If, one day soon, we read of new causes or different ways of business that Target will pursue, due to this “more” feedback, THAT’s the gold! You see – every marketer knows from their 101 textbook that customer feedback is key, but not a lot of brands actually a) take it in in any logical/organized/productive way, and then b) never talk about what was learned from that feedback or acknowledge those folks who contributed it. Oops – that means they don’t close a loop and are missing a huge opportunity for customer interaction.
The thing is that, all the white space and open-ended feedback invitations in the world won’t do a bit of good if your brand isn’t prepared to commit to taking it in, sorting through, using what helps and thanking those that gave it. Taking out a full-page ad is a first and visible step, but there needs to be follow-up. Does Target have the patience to allow their customers to fill that scary white space? Given what I’ve seen from the brand in the past, they just might!
(If you took Target up on the offer, let me know how they follow up!)
