How often should you seek feedback in product marketing?

in my experience feedback cycle is highly dependent on the dynamics of your industry --> in B2B SaaS you should tie it to your product releases - if you release continuosly, your users should have opportunity to always give feedback - with quarterly releases, you should have mechanism to collect feedback around each one any time there is a major market shift or new customer trend, it also calls for reviewing your feedback cycle

First and foremost, remove your biased filter that MY PRODUCT IS THE BEST. If a customer is sharing a feedback, you should listen to him/her with all sincerity and honesty. Many a times, Product Managers (including me :( ) forget this basic mantra of product-market fit and end up losing such customers. It is also important to listen, digest and improve upon such feedback in order not to lose many more such customers who do not even bother to give you feedback and result in what is called as "silent churn". Given that the approximate cost of acquiring a new customer is 3X than retaining a customer, customer feedback should be handled with utmost importance.

Le cycle de rétroaction est un processus clé dans la gestion d'entreprise, impliquant la collecte de commentaires de diverses sources comme clients, prospects et concurrents. Ces informations sont analysées pour identifier des tendances, puis utilisées pour mettre en œuvre des actions correctives ou des améliorations. La réactivité est cruciale, et les entreprises proactives intègrent ce cycle pour s'adapter aux changements du marché et améliorer continuellement leurs opérations, assurant ainsi une compétitivité durable.

I think of feedback in 2 ways - evergreen feedback and time-sensitive feedback. Evergreen feedback is collected on an ongoing cycle. This might be a feedback pop up on your website, email forms, or App Store reviews. This type of feedback is helpful to view trends over time, determine if you’re addressing customer needs, and monitor whether sentiment has changed. It’s important to gather this feedback consistently, so you’re understanding the whole story vs a snapshot at a given point in time. Time-sensitive feedback is driven by specific initiatives. This includes product launches, marketing initiatives, or product roadmap research. I tend to lean more into qualitative research here because you’re often developing something net new.

Embrace a culture of continuous improvement by incorporating various feedback channels: 1. Stay connected with your audience through high-frequency, light-touch methods like quick polls and social media interactions. 2. Dive deep into understanding user perspectives with low-frequency, in-depth approaches such as user interviews and focus groups. 3. Trigger feedback loops during pivotal moments like new releases, market changes, and in response to customer requests. Remember, success lies in actively listening, adapting, and consistently striving to improve. Let feedback be the compass guiding your journey to excellence.

The feedback from existing customer has to be keep on high priority. The customer who is paying for your services also helps you to do better with other customers by giving the genuine feedback. And to understand that feedback sales team and product team need to have great listening skills.

The proposed list of sources for feedback should be enriched with sales analytics. Of course, it will reflect the sum of different factors such as: sales channels performance, trade marketing activities results, and brand awareness as well. But sales numbers are the main criteria of product success in the certain stage of lifecycle. To be in close touch with sales team at the edge of delivery chain is crucial for Product Manager, especially at the launch face of product to be able to calibrate promo activities. Obviously, the product in its decline phase does not need so much attention to feedback, because the specific niches for its consumption have been already defined.

Elevate your product marketing strategy with diverse feedback methods: Direct Insights: 🔍 Surveys: Gain targeted insights swiftly. 🗣️ Interviews: Dive deep into user experiences and motivations. 👥 Focus Groups: Capture group discussions and reactions. 📞 Customer Support: Analyze pain points and feature requests. Indirect Perspectives: 📲 Social Media: Monitor mentions and discussions. 🌟 Reviews & Ratings: Gauge sentiment and pinpoint areas for improvement. 📊 Website Analytics: Understand user behavior and engagement. 🔍 A/B Testing: Experiment with diverse marketing messages. Bonus Feedback Channels: 💡 Idea Portals: Let users submit suggestions directly. 👀 User Experience Testing: Observe real-world interactions.

I concur sales analytics is key while taking into account feedback from customers. Teams must be cognizant of not suffering from "Group Think" as your existing customer base can provide you an echo chamber. So validate across multiple customer and prospect sources. Your largest clients can be the biggest voices, but how do ensure they represent your best TAM (total addressable market)

In a work environment, I've recognized the significance of employing a diverse range of feedback methods. My experience underscores the value of utilizing approaches like customer surveys, interviews, focus groups, and social media listening to gather comprehensive insights. It's crucial to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative methods for a well-rounded understanding of customer perspectives. By combining tools such as surveys with qualitative approaches like interviews and focus groups, a more holistic understanding emerges, facilitating a nuanced and effective response to customer needs and preferences.

Judge feedback quality by: 1. Specificity: Detailed feedback is more actionable. 2. Relevance: Does it align with your research goals? 3. Actionability: Can you easily turn it into improvements? 4. Source: Credible users and diverse perspectives matter. 5. Consistency: Repeated issues or recurring themes tell louder. Look for feedback that: 1. Identifies problems and suggests solutions. 2. Explains motivations and user needs. 3. Provides concrete examples and context. 4. Comes from reliable sources. 5. Aligns with other data and observations. Remember: Even negative feedback is valuable!

The job of a product marketer is to filter out signal vs noise. Think about it like this - the people who are most likely to leave a review on Yelp are either really happy customers or really upset customers. The question to ask yourself is whether these extreme opinions are representative of your customer base. This is where a look back trend or sentiment analysis can be helpful to extract learnings that are generalized instead of pinpointed. That said, lean into your most passionate customers for qualitative feedback. Their passion (both bad and good) can be translated into profound product insights and drive innovation for your roadmap

In my experience, this is most important. It's easy to collect feedback, but how are you collecting, what is the group and group size, etc Questions like these decide the quality. You may be deciding the action items based on the feedback you are collecting, so quality matters. For example: 1. Ask the right questions - Every stage of the product cycle demands a different set of questions. Therefore, you must ask all the right questions. 2. Cover every base - Think twice or thrice if you have to. Just think about everything. 3. Don't stretch too much - Just because you want to know about your product, do not start asking too many questions. Otherwise, users will start giving answers half-heartedly. And you surely do not want that.

In a specific work scenario, I realized the critical importance of prioritizing feedback quality over sheer quantity. Throughout my professional experience, I've consistently found it beneficial to emphasize the significance of quality insights. Encouraging contributors to provide specific and actionable feedback addressing essential aspects like product features, user experience, and marketing effectiveness has proven to be a more impactful strategy. By stressing this approach, we not only streamline the improvement process but also ensure that the feedback contributes significantly to the overall success of our projects.

Be careful, there is a high chance of collecting feedback to feed your ego. It sounds a little rude, but this is very common. If we are not careful, we formulate questions in a targeted way to receive the answers we want and fail to listen to the real perception of customers and other stakeholders. Be open to hearing about reality. It may hurt a little in some cases, but it saves us time and money, as well as truly guiding us towards the next steps of the business.

Feedback frequency: 1. Regular, not sporadic. 2. High-frequency: Quick polls, social listening. 3. Low-frequency: In-depth interviews, focus groups. 4. Trigger feedback: New features, market changes, customer requests. Adapt to your needs: 1. Rapid development cycle? More frequent feedback loops. 2. Strong feedback culture? Encourage ongoing input. Remember: Quality over quantity, but listen regularly to stay ahead.

In a specific work instance, I learned the importance of promptly gathering post-launch feedback to capture initial impressions and address immediate concerns. Throughout my professional journey, I've discovered the effectiveness of continuously monitoring customer sentiments through ongoing feedback mechanisms. Combining immediate post-launch assessments and adaptive adjustments in feedback frequency based on the pace of product updates and market changes has proven to be a valuable and responsive strategy for achieving iterative improvements.

As a general guideline, it’s good to seek feedback: 1. At least once per quarter for regular check-ins and understanding evolving trends. 2. After any major product launch, update, or marketing campaign to gauge effectiveness and customer reception. 3. Annually for comprehensive market research to understand broader market trends and customer demographics.

Without enough qualitative data, we may get to a "garbage in, garbage out" situation, so to me it's tricky to separate frequency and quality. In my experience, having two feedback streams works best. The first stream will come from a small number of sources with whom you have established a rather close relationship and that will provide reliable and knowledgeable feedback, frequently enough, because you already have enough touchpoints with them. Here, you may adapt frequency rather easily. The second stream will come from less known people, where quality may not be as reliable even if the selection process was thorough, and where frequency may be just one-shot. This stream could shed light into other perspectives to study and validate.

For me, the feedback process should be part of the company's culture if it is carried out all the time. In many cases in an automated way, such as on your website, after a sale has been made, at a physical point of sale. In other specific cases, when there is a specific demand that needs to be addressed, whether in validating a new product, analysing new customers, among others.

-Feedback is of little value unless it translates into actionable insights. Modern feedback collection systems support automatic alert notifications for critical feedback and provide analytics to facilitate actionable insights from the collected feedback. -A dedicated team to analyze the data and close the loop is essential for success.

1. Constructive Feedback: Feedback should be constructive, focusing on specific behaviors or outcomes rather than personal attributes, and should aim to provide actionable suggestions for improvement. 2. Two-way Street: In a healthy feedback culture, feedback is not just top-down; it’s a two-way process. Employees at all levels are encouraged to provide feedback to their peers, subordinates, and superiors. 3. Growth Mindset: A feedback culture is closely tied to a growth mindset, where mistakes and failures are seen as opportunities for learning and development rather than reasons for punishment or embarrassment.

The frequency of seeking feedback in product marketing can vary, but generally, it's beneficial to gather feedback regularly throughout the product lifecycle. This could include initial product development, launch, and post-launch phases. Regular check-ins with customers, surveys, and monitoring social media can help you stay attuned to user experiences and expectations. Adjust the frequency based on the product's maturity and the pace of changes in your industry.

Leverage partners for product marketing feedback. They have unique insight into how your products are perceived and how they compare to competitors.

It is a good idea to try to seek out feedback that contradicts your hypothesis or strategy. It could be from customers or internal stakeholders. But how you pose your questions matters a lot. Don’t just ask leading questions that seek to confirm what you think. Try questions like “what needs to be true for this to succeed” or “what are the blind spots here”. This will help you make better decisions.

Asking prospects and customers is a key source of insights. What is equally valuable is asking your front-line sales team. What are they seeing in the market? What is the competition doing in sales campaigns. How are the prospects coming to the engagements with per-convinced ideas of what and how your firm provides value. Work with your best performing sales teams and collect insights on what they believe are the true differentiators required to increase your value proposition in the market.