Social media can be a great marketing tool, but only if it is used appropriately. Social media lets customers interact with your company in a less formal environment. While employees responsible for maintaining your social media presence should always be professional, it is a great opportunity to engage customers with fun information as well as with product information. Establishing a brand takes time, and it requires that people bond emotionally with the products. One successful example includes Coca Cola’s annual Christmas campaigns, which work on a sentimental level to remind consumers how long Coke has been a part of their lives. Creating that kind of consumer identification can be much easier using social media tools. Below are five great ways to get customers to interact with your company and start building brand recognition and loyalty.

1. Encourage Reviews – Today, many people post reviews of local and national companies on review sites like Yelp!, Epinions, and My 3 Cents. Ask customers to post a review of your business and offer them an incentive to do so. A discount coupon or free give-a-way is a nice way to thank customers for taking the time to share their opinion about your company. With more and more people checking online reviews before deciding on a company, service or product, it is important to ensure that your business is represented positively online. Unfortunately, you will probably experience the bad with the good. Not everyone will have a positive experience and they may post less than favorable reviews. By monitoring these you have the opportunity to show other consumers that you care about the opinions of your customers and are willing to try and address their concerns, even when they are negative. Think of negative reviews as a way to demonstrate your stellar customer service.

2. Customer Service – Negative responses are always more likely on a review site, so it is important to address them as quickly as possible. Invite the person that had the poor experience to contact you directly so that you can work together to create a solution. Don’t get involved in an online argument, and once the customers issue is resolved don’t hesitate to ask them to post an update, or post one yourself stating that you hope the customer’s concerns have been addressed and express your apologies for the inconvenience.

3. Online Check-Ins – Another great way to keep customers engaged is to offer an online check-in. Many social media sites now offer people the ability to post their location automatically when they login to their social media of choice. Offering customers give-a-ways or special discounts for checking in at your location can be a great way to advertise your business. It is a bit like word or mouth, but has a much broader application. Everyone in that customer’s social network will see where they shop and that introduction can drive sales right to your business.

4. Viral videos – Creating videos for display on sites like YouTube is a great way to build an additional following. There is no real formula to creating a viral video, so make sure that all your content is either informative or fun.

5. Promote Events – Using social media to promote in-store events is a great idea. Not only will it give you some idea of attendance numbers, it will help generate excitement prior to the event. It is free and very easy to create an event page, so this should definitely be included as a part of any upcoming promotions or sales.