Social media is a great way for any and all brands to connect and engage with customers. Globally, there are over 3.6 billion people that use social media and that number is expected to grow to about 4.41 billion in 2025. Social media offers an infinite amount of opportunities for your brand to connect with customers. 

Knowing where your audience is on social media can be very helpful in figuring out what sort of content to post and when. The top social media platforms, ranked by number of active users, are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. However, the different types of platforms you have access to don’t stop there. Instagram and TikTok are huge for reaching a younger demographic and they are also growing tremendously. Once you find your target audience, you’ll be able to decide what the best place to reach and interact with them is. 

What is Social Media Interaction? 

Social media interaction can be best described as having digital conversations or touchpoints between companies and consumers. It’s important to remember that having a strong audience or following is as important as getting likes or comments on your posts. People who are putting in the effort to follow your brand, want to know and see more of your content! Consumers want to feel like they have a relationship with a brand. This is where social media interaction comes in. If you’re continually interacting with and being authentic towards customers (both current and potential!) on social media, your following will likely grow organically. 53% of customers say they are far more likely to buy from brands that are transparent on social media. 

Top 5 Ways to Share, Interact, and Connect on Social

Your brand has its own unique personality and voice. In all efforts of content creation, that should be reflected. Social media is the perfect opportunity to who your brand is, what your values are, and your authenticity. Today, 86% of consumers believe that transparency from businesses is more important than ever before. If you get your customers’ trust that can turn into brand loyalty, and that’s the goal! The more customers you have that can speak highly of your business to others, the more your following will grow. Many brands stick to posting product-related content or promotional pieces on social media, and while that’s a necessary part of marketing in a sense there are other ways to ‘present’ and in front of your audience. Try posting a behind-the-scenes at the office picture on Instagram or creating a funny TikTok video,  share a Thank You card or client review, or even repost something a user shared about your product or service. As simple as they may seem, customers are looking for brands to get on their level. 

Your social media pages shouldn’t just be a place where people read about your products or services. Instead, make it a valuable source of information. Be the solution and answer to your customers’ problems and questions. Answer their questions or concerns and relate them back as to why your product or service can be a solution. Social media is being used more every day for research, in fact, 54% of social browsers use social media to further research products. When coming to your page, if you can help your followers learn something about their problem while offering a solution, winning them is that much easier. This doesn’t mean you can’t share promotional and simple product offering posts. But, you should try to turn to offer forms of posts and not just images. 67% of consumers consider video to be the most transparent. Teaching your followers about industry trends or sharing statistics can also make your social stand out and better engage with your following. This also elevates your industry authority and thought leadership. 

Consumers naturally give attention to people (and brands) that they like. The best way to create an emotional connection with your audience is to share and publish content that evokes emotions. Make them laugh! 71% of consumers watch videos on social media, simply, to laugh. You don’t have to be a comedian to create a funny meme, gif, or video that consumers can share with others. Let’s say you’re supporting a local charity but none of your followers know. Take the opportunity to discuss the organization, why you support them, and ask others to support them as well. Companies that give back are more liked by consumers than those that don’t. Whatever emotion you create in your followers, it will establish a deeper connection to your brand and your content. 

Encouraging UGC or User Generated Content can be a great way to engage, connect, and interact with your followers. Your followers, of course, have the best idea of what sort of content they want to see. Sharing their content on your page can not only make them feel as though they matter but can also show your other followers that your brand is authentic. UGC could be a customer with your product in a picture or sharing a good review or interaction. Millennials, specifically, find UGC to be 35% more memorable than content that came from mainstream sources. Using UGC in your content strategy can also be more cost-effective and help your brand reach people more authentically than other ways. UGC can be thought of as virtual word-of-mouth. When you encourage your customers to take a picture with your product and then post their thoughts on social media, they will realize that you do truly care about your customers and they will return for more. 

This one may seem obvious, but it’s not always the easiest. Your brand social media pages probably get lots of questions and comments every day. Responding to those comments and questions makes your brand seem less like a robot and more like an actual person. That’s the whole point! The positive ones are the best to respond to and interact with. However, the negative comments are the ones that need the most attention. If a customer had a bad experience with your brand, don’t worry, it happens. What matters is how you handle it. Respond to the customer in a way where you acknowledge their feelings, apologize for what happened, and then try to make it right. Whether that’s offering a discount on their next purchase or a free trial product. It depends on the situation, but you’ll know what’s most appropriate. If you have questions about your products or services, whether it’s in the direct messages or on a post, answer them! This will make customers want to interact with your brand more because they know your brand will actually respond to them. Seeing as 74% of customers rely on social media to guide their purchasing decisions, it’s clear that responding to questions could make the difference between increasing your brand’s revenue and not gaining anything. 

There are so many great ways for your brand to connect, engage, interact, and share with customers on social media. If you’re making an effort towards creating those relationships with customers and offering them solutions to their problems, the following will come. Be true to your brand and the customers will appreciate that more than anything. When you show you care, you’re creating a longer-lasting relationship with your customers and followers.