Latest / Social Media Marketing with Fexingo: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Platform Strategy / How Brands Turn Social Comments into Product Ideas
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this skincare startup, small brand, maybe a few thousand followers on Instagram, and they launch a new moisturizer this spring. Nothing fancy. But the product itself came directly from a comment thread on one of their posts. Luna: Wait, a comment thread? Like, someone asked for it and they just made it? Lucas: Pretty much. A customer commented that their night cream was great but too heavy for summer, and a couple dozen people replied with variations of 'same' and 'yes, need something lighter.' The founder screenshotted it, sent it to their formulator, and within a few months they had a gel moisturizer that sold out twice. Luna: That's wild. And it's not just small brands, right? I remember reading about a big athletic company that did something similar with sneakers. Lucas: Yeah, exactly. One of the major players, I think it was around 2024, they had a post asking fans what colorway they'd want for a retro silhouette. Thousands of comments, and the most-upvoted combo became a limited release. They even tagged a few of the commenters in the launch post. Luna: That's a smart move. But isn't it risky? Like, what if the most popular comment is just a joke? I saw a brand once take a sarcastic 'make it in hot pink' too seriously and it was a mess. Lucas: Oh, absolutely. That's the flip side. Blindly following any comment is a great way to alienate your core customers. The skill is in separating real demand from noise. And that's what we're going to dig into today — how brands can systematically turn social comments into product ideas without falling for a meme. Luna: Okay, so where do you start? If I'm a brand with a decent following, how do I actually do this without drowning in thousands of comments? Lucas: First, you need a system. Don't just scroll through comments randomly. Set up a dedicated inbox, use a social listening tool, or even a simple spreadsheet. You're looking for patterns, not individual asks. If three people mention something, that's interesting. If thirty do, that's a signal. Luna: So you're looking for frequency, not just the loudest voice. Lucas: Exactly. And you need to look at the language they use. The words people choose are gold. For that skincare brand, they didn't say 'I want a lighter texture.' They said 'too heavy' and 'feels like a blanket.' That's the language you put in the product brief, because that's what resonates with your audience. Luna: I love that. So you're not just copying their idea, you're borrowing their vocabulary to sell it back to them. Lucas: Precisely. Now, there's a second layer: you need to decide which comments are worth acting on. Not all feedback is created equal. You look at engagement on the comment itself — how many replies did it get? And you check if the commenter is a repeat customer or a casual follower. Luna: So a one-off comment from someone who's never bought anything is less valuable than a repeat buyer's suggestion. Lucas: Right. But even then, you can't just take one comment and run with it. You need to validate. That's where polls and stories come in. You can repost that comment and ask your audience 'would you buy this?' That gives you a second data point without committing to a full product run. Luna: That's a smart way to de-risk. And I guess it also makes your audience feel heard, like you're actually listening. Lucas: That's the secret sauce. When people see their comment turn into a real product, they become your biggest advocates. They'll share it everywhere. It's the ultimate form of co-creation. But there's a catch — you have to be careful about credit. Luna: Oh, definitely. There have been cases where brands take an idea and never acknowledge the person who suggested it, and it backfires. People get angry. Lucas: Yeah, there was a beauty brand a few years back that launched a shade after a customer requested it in the comments, but they didn't credit her. She found out and posted about it, and the backlash was brutal. They had to apologize and send her a bunch of free product. Luna: So what's the right way? Do you have to give them a cut of the profits? Lucas: Not necessarily, but you should at least publicly credit them and maybe send a gift. The athletic brand I mentioned earlier tagged the commenters and gave them free pairs. That's enough to keep the goodwill without setting a legal precedent. Actually, there's a legal angle here too — if you use someone's specific idea, there could be intellectual property issues. Luna: Right, because a comment is technically user-generated content. So you need to have clear terms of service that allow you to use it, or you need to ask permission. Lucas: Exactly. Most platforms give you a license to use comments, but it's safer to get explicit consent if you're building a whole product around it. Some brands now have a 'co-creation' clause in their community guidelines. That way it's transparent from the start. Luna: I love that. It's like you're treating your comment section as a focus group, but with a million participants. Lucas: And it's free. You're getting real-time feedback from your most engaged customers. But here's the thing — you can't just wait for ideas to come to you. You need to actively ask for them. Some brands have built a whole innovation pipeline around this. Luna: Can you give an example of that? Like a brand that does this consistently? Lucas: Sure. There's a snack company that regularly posts 'what flavor should we try next?' and they've launched at least three successful flavors that way. They even named one after the commenter who suggested it. That's a story people love to share. Luna: That's genius. It makes the product launch an event in itself, because everyone who commented feels invested. Lucas: Exactly. And it doesn't have to be a new product. It can be a small tweak — a size, a packaging change, a bundle. The point is that you're using the community as a sounding board. This is also where social listening tools come in handy, because they can surface comments you might miss. Luna: So it's not just about looking at your own posts, but also mentions and tags elsewhere. Lucas: Right. A customer might not comment on your post, but they might tweet about your product. Or they might post a video on TikTok using a hashtag. You need to monitor those channels too. There are tools that aggregate all that and let you search for keywords like 'wish they made' or 'why don't they'. Luna: That's a good tip. I'm going to start using that. 'Why don't they' is such a common phrase. Lucas: It is. You can set up alerts for that and you'll be surprised what comes up. But here's a cautionary note: not every comment deserves a product. You need a filter. We touched on this, but let's make it concrete. You want to look for comments that are specific, repeatable, and aligned with your brand values. Luna: Specific meaning they mention a feature or a use case, not just 'I don't like it.' Lucas: Right. And repeatable means it's not a one-off. You want to see the same idea in different words from different people. And aligned with your brand values — if you're a sustainable brand and someone asks for a disposable version, that's a no-go, no matter how many likes it gets. Luna: That makes sense. So it's a curation exercise, not a popularity contest. Lucas: Exactly. And once you've identified a viable idea, you need to bring it to your product team in a way they can act on. That means writing a brief that includes the customer's exact words, the engagement data, and any related sales or feedback data you have. That makes it hard for them to ignore. Luna: Do you have any tips for making that brief compelling? Like, what's the secret to getting product managers to listen? Lucas: The secret is to attach it to revenue. Show that customers are asking for it, that there's a demand, and estimate the potential market size. If you can say 'we've had 500 comments asking for a lightweight moisturizer, and 80% of our audience says they'd buy it,' that's a much stronger case than just 'people want this.' Luna: And then, once you launch, you need to close the loop. Tell your audience that their feedback made this happen. Lucas: Absolutely. You need to shout it from the rooftops. Post the original comment thread, tag the commenters, thank them. That builds trust and encourages more people to share ideas. It's a virtuous cycle. Luna: It really is. And I think it's a great way to build a community that feels like they're actually part of the brand, not just consumers. Lucas: Yeah, and that's the deeper shift. For a long time, social media was a broadcast channel. Now it's becoming a two-way design studio. The brands that get this are the ones that will win, because they're not guessing — they're listening. Luna: So, Lucas, if a listener is a small business owner, what's the first thing they should do tomorrow to start mining comments for product ideas? Lucas: I'd say start by going through your last month of comments and DMs, and look for any repeated requests. Even if it's just five people asking for the same thing, that's a signal. And then post a poll asking your audience if they'd be interested. That's your validation. You don't need a fancy tool to start. Luna: That's a very doable first step. And it's something that could spark a whole new product line. Honestly, if this episode gave you one actionable idea that you'll actually use, that's exactly what we hope for. If you found that useful, and you want to keep these conversations going without ads, you can support the show by buying us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a tiny gesture, but it genuinely keeps us going. Lucas: And it's the kind of support that lets us keep digging into topics like this, week after week. But anyway — back to the question of closing the loop. The brands that do this well treat their comment section as a living focus group, and they never stop listening. Luna: And that's the takeaway — your customers are already telling you what they want. You just have to listen.