Asking for and collecting customer feedback is undoubtedly a must, but here’s another powerful option: “feedforward.”

The concept of “feedforward,” introduced by Marshall Goldsmith, is gaining ground for good reason. In marketing, it’s a proactive approach that involves gathering information and data before launching a marketing campaign. The goal of this anticipation is to gain a deeper understanding of the market, competition, and target audience, and to use this information to refine and improve the marketing strategy.

In practical terms, it involves conducting market research, gathering customer input, and analyzing data to identify trends and best practices to follow. This allows marketers to make informed decisions, anticipate potential challenges, and develop a more effective and targeted marketing campaign.

Utilizing “feedforward” is especially crucial in today’s constantly evolving marketing landscape, where staying ahead of the competition and anticipating customer needs is essential for success.

Feedforward vs. Feedback, What’s the Difference?

Contrary to what one might think, feedforward isn’t necessarily better than feedback in marketing. Each has its own advantages, and the choice depends on the marketing objectives and the current context.

If “feedforward” refers to collecting information and data before launching a marketing campaign, which can help refine the campaign strategy and make informed decisions, feedback, on the other hand, refers to collecting information and data after launching a marketing campaign. It provides a summary of the campaign’s performance and helps identify areas for improvement for future campaigns.

Simply put, feedforward focuses on future-oriented solutions. Often and naturally, when we give feedback, we focus on evaluating and critiquing past performance rather than suggesting future improvements. Feedforward, on the other hand, encourages people to focus more on this aspect by seeking practical, objective, and useful advice for the future.

Instead of asking customers for their feedback, it involves asking them what you could do better in the future. The idea is to reframe your request as seeking information on how you can improve things in the future. This gives the customer a positive impression and makes them think more deeply about their response. At the same time, by receiving useful recommendations, this approach presents you as a customer-oriented and solution-driven brand. Rather than just making the customer feel heard, you make them feel part of a positive change that affects them.

Whether feedback or feedforward, both have a role to play in marketing, and the most effective strategies combine the two. The key is to understand when and how to use each approach to achieve desired goals.

How to Implement Feedforward?

Interim Surveys

Beyond traditional satisfaction or recommendation surveys like CES (Customer Effort Score) or NPS (Net Promoter Score), this involves asking one or two very specific questions such as “What feature would you like us to develop for our app?” The responses obtained may not necessarily be feasible or realistic. They may also be redundant. However, some ideas could be purely genius. Either way, these ideas challenge you and allow your company to move forward with what customers really want.
Often, brands take actions based on what they “think” their customers want. It’s just a matter of confronting them with actual users and monitoring their reactions. It’s not certain that they will all be welcomed with joy!

Purchase Confirmation Email

You have every right to send an email to a customer as part of your business relationship without it being perceived as intrusion. Like the purchase confirmation, gathering their feedback on a topic related to their past or future customer experience is completely legitimate.
In the context of a completed purchase, the email has a great chance of being opened because it’s related to the product. Afterwards, will they take the time to reflect and respond? Offering a small discount in exchange for sharing what they would like to see in the future is a win-win situation that will save you even more money.

Caution: This isn’t about obtaining a star rating to exploit in marketing. Encouraging genuine feedback is highly recommended to make good use of it internally to evolve.

In general, feedforward is useful for pre-planning and strategy development, while feedback is valuable for post-campaign analysis and optimization. Therefore, don’t hesitate to combine both approaches to continually refine your marketing decisions over time.