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In the world of social media and marketing, replying comments really matters. Here’s why. The clue is in the name. Social media. Using these various platforms is supposed to be a social experience. When you reply to people who have commented on your posts and content, you’re engaging with and building a community.
Note - when I say reply, I do not mean simply spamming the prayer emoji. 🙏 That’s just not going to cut it in 2021. You need to take the time to actually reply and engage in real, meaningful and thoughtful conversation. When you do this, it builds a real relationship with your followers and audience. They appreciate that you’re taking the time to respond. It shows that you’re reachable and down to earth--almost like you’re one of their online friends.
Imagine an A-list celebrity getting out of their chauffeur-driven car, sunglasses on. They walk right past and ignore the screaming hordes of fans who’ve waited 8 hours to catch a glimpse of them. This disillusions their fans and sends a message that perhaps they’re just not worth the time and the celebrity does not appreciate them.
Don’t ignore your fans.
Whether you like it or not, when you present yourself online and start to build a following, people look up to you and want to engage with you; similar to the way they do with actors, rock stars, sports personalities and anyone else who’s famous. Furthermore, they may even want to talk about how amazing it is that you take the time to reply. That means they will tell their friends about you and spread the word.
It’s no secret that the various social media algorithms love engagement. They’re looking for real people commenting on real things (as opposed to bots). So, if you foster an online environment where that’s happening, it’ll serve you well. Remember that not everyone is doing this. Replying to comments and engaging with your community can help you stand out from the crowd and get an edge on your competitors.
It’s also just nice to acknowledge that people are taking the time to engage with your content. That shouldn’t be taken for granted. Let them know that you’re grateful and thankful for their support because without them, you wouldn’t be where you are.
By taking the time to read and respond to comments, you can learn a lot about what your audience is enjoying and what they want to see more of. This is great market research for your brand and it can help shape your content strategy.
Ask a question in your content and seek out answers. Then make sure to reply and acknowledge the people who took the time to comment and contribute to your community. You will be amazed by the results.
The number of comments you get will also give you insights into which topics you post or write about generates the most buzz. That in turn will give you ideas for the kinds of topics to post about in the future.
There may come a time when your following becomes so large that it is physically impossible for you to reply to every comment. I’m pretty sure celebrities and politicians with 50 million followers or more are not sitting there replying to all of their IG or Twitter followers. But my guess is that most of you reading this don’t fall into that category.
However large your following is, there are quite a bit of ways you can go in responding to them before you have to cut back. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what famed digital marketer Gary Vaynerchuk had to say about it.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CNvuIDOAd-h/?igshid=9jn2mp5oxq6r
Do you have a comment in mind that you know you haven’t replied to but should? Now you know why it’s so important, it’s time to go fix that mistake and start a new chapter in your social media journey.
