Can you remember back in the days, those younger years, before kids, before a house, early in your career? I still can (I'm getting old but my memory is still mostly intact). Those were the days when you moved a couple times a year - to a new university apartment, then home, then to a first job apartment, then a better one, and another better one. Remember how much fun it was to move all of your stuff, especially the heavy, hand-me-down couch and the waterbed? Sure, your back probably held out much better than it does now but I bet you always hoped you had a friend or two willing to help out, to lighten the load.

Image Credit - Ken_Mayer via Flickr

When it comes to investing in your brand's community having friends to help lighten the load in times of crisis can be a welcome sight. Yes, just like friends, you don't invest in relationships solely for the purpose of having people around to help you when you need an extra set of hands. However, friends sure are a blessing when the time does come. For a brand, it's important to start investing in your community now, not when you end up with a full blown, social-media-fueled crisis staring you down.

Like friends, your community gets to know you over time. They develop a relationship with you (as a person, not a logo). You both look for ways to help each other out, sometimes when asked, but often proactively - which of course makes it even more appreciated. You develop mutual trust and understanding and an interest in each others lives. You care about each others' success.

And so when some great news does come up for a community member you want to share it. Same goes when you have something cool to share as well. And if your brand suffers a major crisis, your community will care and want to know what's up. They will want to know the facts and how can they help. Because after all, that's what friends are for.

Have you seen examples recently where a brand's investment in their community could have helped them with some heavy lifting?