At Springbox we spend a lot of time thinking about the many ways brands can interact with their communities in the digital space. A brand's communication network can span everything from email to Twitter to corporate blogs to AdWords and beyond. Some brands we meet are too narrowly focused and missing out on opportunities to engage. Others have become overwhelmed trying to maintain too many properties, or worse, the wrong properties. Many brands with good intentions jump into interactive mediums without clear goals or support structures in place only to find they've created more work for themselves and less than favorable outcomes.

Here are some ways to avoid such pitfalls and find your right engagement mix:

Assess your communication network.
Make sure that every channel has a clear mission and criteria for success, and then make sure each channel is meeting its goals. If it isn't performing, look for tweaks that can be made, or find the right way to phase it out.

Know your audience.
Make sure you define your audience and that your definition is up-to-date. We like personas, but there are other methods.

Critically investigate the market, your competitors, and digital trends.
Don't invest in a medium just because your competitor has or because the blogosphere is proclaiming it the next big thing. Get the data you need to decide if something makes sense for your needs.

Don’t get locked into a formula.
Campaigns and initiatives vary from one to the next. Focus on the goals of each effort to determine the best approach.

Measure, review, refine.
The digital landscape is entirely too transient for brands to rest on their laurels. As marketers and communicators we must always be evaluating the performance of our efforts and looking for new and better ways to connect.