It’s a typical Friday night—I’m relaxing in my apartment, reality TV is playing, and I might go out in a few hours to meet some friends. I’m in the middle of painting my nails when a bit of a revelation hits me: I’m painting my nails right now because of social media.

Yes, I am a bit of a polish fanatic, and yes, I do paint my nails every few days regardless of reason. But on this particular evening, I’m waiting for the polish to dry so I can post about the shade on Twitter. Not just so I can tell others how it looks, but because I know that the company who makes the polish—China Glaze (@ChinaGlaze)— will read my tweet and most likely respond.

Consumers who use Twitter have a lot of expectations about how their tweeted thoughts about products and companies should be handled by those brands. In short, most of us expect some type of response. But a basic reply isn’t likely to motivate the average consumer into becoming a brand advocate.

It’s community that makes a difference. When a brand consistently communicates, encourages, and converses with their consumers it builds a genuine relationship—and not just between brand and buyer. Well-cultivated Twitter feeds and Facebook pages also enable fans to interact with each other.

It’s this type of online community that China Glaze has created and also what makes me eager to tweet about nail polish. And, when I begin to think about it, it’s actually the reason why I purchased four of their products this week.

Until I started engaging with the brand online, China Glaze wasn’t a product I often purchased. It was a combination of watching fans get excited over an upcoming collection and the feeling of knowing that the brand was listening that influenced me to make a sale.

And the thing is, this is a strategy that can work for any product—there’s endless space for online consumer engagement. So what are you doing to excite and attract new customers?