Community Equity (from PR-Squared)

I just read this article on the PR² blog, and I think David Alston makes some great points. Specifically in social media, there are a lot of movements out there to decide what really qualifies as meaningful metrics. Avinash Kaushik at Occam's Razor talks about overall influence and community involvement as the two metrics he watches most, and I think from a measurement standpoint he may be right.

Community equity, though, might just be the background idea needed to really push companies towards what is important in social media - building and maintaining reputation through value-adding content and community involvement. It is obvious when talking with some people that they do not see social media as what it is, but as just another marketing channel to reach more viewers. While the end goal of a marketing department may be just that, it will not work unless there is give and take, back and forth... you must add value to get value on social media platforms. Followers can tell when you're not actively engaged in the discussion at hand; if you tout your brand, spit out marketing material, and don't participate in the discussions going on, your followers will notice and not see your content as sincere.

One of the best lines in Alston's article, in my opinion, is 'It becomes evident that community building goes in the investment column while buying media buy goes in the expense side.' Customer loyalty is a big issue for marketing and sales, especially when what you selling is seen as a commodity... by building a following that feels like a community both sides benefit - the company with increased loyalty, and the consumer with a better, more fulfilling customer experience.

I have to say, community equity seems like a great idea that I am going to continue to follow... Is it a quantifiable metric? I would want to tie this in some way to organic social media growth; for example, if I am using a lead-capture page from twitter, I would ask the question 'Was Twitter your first interaction with the brand?' While you would be enhancing brand through interacting with customers, interaction with potential customers is really a sign of building community equity as it shows that word of mouth is having a positive effect on the brand.