Objectives

Target has become more than just a store to visit. It has grown to be an oasis from stress, a home for joy, and a place to be accepted as you are for everyone -- but especially parents. We set out to create a safe space for Target parents to connect, create community, and be open and honest about their parenting experiences without fear of judgment.

Strategy and Execution

On the Target and Target Littles Facebook Pages, we found that our audience of parents shared questions, stories, and photos of their #TargetLittles. There was so much love in the comments, but the conversations were limited to the content we published. To create a space for our guests to connect on a daily basis, we created Target Fam -- a private Facebook group dedicated to celebrating the journey of parenthood and all things Target.

A key focus for Target Fam was to create a community where parents felt they could be open, vulnerable and honest -- all things that can be difficult to do in the social space. To ensure the creation of a safe space for our parents:

• We created clear and concise Group Rules that established a no-tolerance policy for parent shaming and bullying.
• Enabled Post Approvals to eliminate spam, repetitive, or inappropriate content.
• Set up a member approval system to ensure that we were protecting every member of the community.

On September 23rd, we announced the launch of the Target Fam group on our Target Brand Facebook Page. Within minutes, hundreds of guests began to request membership to the group. As they joined, members excitedly shared their praise for Target and our idea to bring a community of Target-loving parents together. Members quickly embodied the spirit of community that we hoped to achieve as top conversation themes quickly consisted of members wanting to meet each other, help one another, and reinforce the idea that they are all in this together.

In addition to sharing product recommendations, members began paying it forward during the holiday season by sending each other symbolic ornaments to represent a lost child or helping one another find hard-to-find products for their Littles. The community has displayed solidarity through uplifting messages when one was feeling down or going through a difficult situation.

As the group has grown, we have challenged ourselves to continually encourage and celebrate the spirit of the Target Fam community but keep the focus on the community itself. To do this, we have implemented monthly member features, member story highlights, bi-weekly meet and greet Q&A posts and surprise and delight opportunities to members.

Within a few short months, Target Fam has quickly become a space for parents from all walks of life to come together and celebrate each other’s journey.

Results

Within the first week: 

• Target Fam generated 14,039 membership requests within 48 hours.
• After vetting these requests against our group guidelines, we found ourselves with 9,722 members in four days.
• Within the first three days, we had over 100 member posts sharing their love for Target and celebrating the newly-created, supportive community.   

To date, Target Fam has tripled in size to a total of 29,033 members - all organically.

The Scary Mommy article "Target Has a New Facebook Group That You Need to Join ASAP" drove over 4K new members to the group — calling out the community, “The Target Fam group is my absolute favorite part of social media right now.”

This group can quickly go from carefree selfies on a Target run to heart-wrenching stories. People have told tales of screaming children with tired mothers, sons adorably looking for new tutus to wear and sharing the heaviness of losing a child.

Our goal was to create a space for parents to share their journey. The outpouring of love for one another has led us to let conversation and content be member-driven. Target Fam has grown to be one of the most wholesome places on the internet.

Media