I've been thinking about the conversation starfish for a bit now and came to the conclusion that one area where the starfish falls short is in giving proper weight to the various channels (or tentacles) represented on the starfish.

To make up for this, I've put together the following chart to help describe the power of each channel. I've used two factors: Conversation Builder and Conversation Loyalty. For both criteria, I used a 1-5 scale, creating Conversation Power Ranking maximum of 10.

Conversation Builders are channels that work well to draw new audiences. They tend to be things that help illustrate new ideas, are easy to link to, and have the potential to create buzz. I put blogs at the top of the Conversation Builders (represented in blue) since it's a format that lends itself well to publishing ideas on a regular basis, thus building an audience.

Conversation Loyalty, as I define it, covers channels that work very well for building deeper relationships with people who may have first found you through a Conversation Builder. The top of this category is Events, since physical meetings provide the richest form of loyalty building. However, other tools that help foster ongoing relationships, such as Twitter, Flickr, and online video work very well too.

What's the point? Prioritize where you invest your time based on your communication goals.