As social media professionals we know; when evaluating the success of an online community, it should all be about the level of engagement and not about the number of ‘Likes’ and/or followers – but the truth is, that rightly or wrongly numbers matter.

This is the first thing clients see when they are searching for a benchmark of success, the first indication of what they would naturally infer as popularity and the first thumbs up of a community that seems to be well run – people have said ‘yes’ to being part of a brand gang. Of course it is this that then instigates the client question that we all dread ‘and so how many Likes am I going to get in the first three months – 25,000?’

Although we could say this question is born out of a misunderstanding of social media we’d be foolish to think it is ever going to go away. High numbers give you kudos – they indicate that you are working the channels to their full potential – they attract more followers – they are even used as PR headlines.

So the solution? Numbers are important and shouldn’t be tarnished with the ignorance brush however, expectations need to be managed up front on type/level of investment, tactical recommendations (aps etc) and timings. Many clients may not realise the digital ad spend that could have gone behind certain Pages, the full time community manager working the customer service Twitter feed, or the recruitment ads driving traffic to a LinkedIn group. There is no doubt that great creative ideas work but nothing is ever guaranteed to go viral. The reality is, without all these additional mechanics – it’s a long, hard slog to get people to like you. And let’s face it, the best communities are born out of a complete brand dedication to instil loyalty and commitment – to develop a community of advocates who can be of use in the long term.