Stability. Stability is the point at which there is no major mismatch of status between the parties. In a social media campaign, the relationship is stable, and the firm has provided a reasonable value proposition for filling latent customer needs. You have stability when the consumer is willing to sort through the criteria for making a decision and the vendor is willing to transparently make available the information needed to satisfy the consumer's criteria. In online media, a good example is Amazon.com. In addition to providing the manufacturers' information about products, they allow product reviews to ensure that consumers have a voice.
It is often difficult for brands to relax their corporate and brand guidelines to allow for reviews and comments, but know this: If you don't allow it on your site or in your campaigns, it will happen elsewhere. You can't get people to stop talking about your brand, but you can learn something by listening and being part of the conversation.
Commitment. Commitment comes when there is a shared outcome. Forms of commitment include downloading a trial, placing an item in an online shopping cart, or purchasing an item. However, in a social media campaign, terms are different, and commitment can mean posting a personalized brand message to your wall, sharing something with friends, or clicking a link to purchase.
For example, in Toyota's recent Rock the Space campaign, bands were asked to submit their best song within a personalized demo tape in an attempt to win a MySpace recording deal. Bands were then able to post a widget that included their demo tape to their page to share the experience with their fans.
Co-creation. Co-creation is about co-creating value and co-ownership of vision. When Skittles relaunched its website and displayed tweets on its home page, it was effectively telling customers that they could shape the brand -- a powerful co-creation example.
Embracing the LOVE model embarks an organization on a journey of discovery. Like a good marriage, the better you know your customers or the targets of your campaigns, the more you'll learn about them and about how to improve your business, from products to processes to messaging. The best customers will move out of the role of transacting and into the role of advocate. The benefits, however, do not come for free. You'll have to actually listen and align your interests with theirs.
Carnet Williams is co-founder and CEO of Sprout.
On Twitter? Follow iMedia at @iMediaTweet.
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