Use the "lurk factor" to measure engagement

Previous: Think small when it comes to social networks and online communities

The way to measure conversational marketing isn’t to look at how many people logged on to the blog or website. Rather, it’s analyzing how actively people participate.

Just one percent of the people who log on to the big social networks go on to create original content, while only another 10 percent comment on or respond to that content. The other 89 percent lurk.

The more engaged people are, however, the more they will contribute original content. 

In a recent study of 38,515 members of 66 by-invitation, branded communities we found participation rates of up to 86 percent, with just 14 percent lurking.

Next: It's about the social glue, and not necessarily your products