As YouTube is staying in the top list of social media platforms to grow a blog on, people seek ways to drive attention to their content and reach success in the conditions of great competition. And the key to catching up to the top influencers in your industry is to get more engagement out of your audience. Making highly interactive content gives the opportunity to beat the competitors in shorter terms. Of course, having high-quality content is a must too.
How does engagement on YouTube happen? Well, the main connection is happening in the comment section. Real YouTube comments can bring you the benefits and also fine feedback for improvement. And in this article, you will find the best tips and techniques to encourage and manage the comments on your channel.
Moderation
The moderation of your comments is what you have to do. Paying attention to the atmosphere that is going on in that sector is vital so you can keep it in the right direction. Commenting can get messy, and the given topic doesn’t matter. Although controversial content will boost the discussion, it will require tougher actions from you as well. YouTube offers some options that help to control the conversations under your videos:
- Holding all the comments for review. This helps to prevent appearing of insulting and aggressive behavior in your discussions
- Blocking users who post negative comments that are not objective.
- Blacklisting certain words, so the comments with such terms will not be posted
- Granting some users permission to leave comments without moderation
Moderation takes a lot of time if you want to do it right. Some YouTubers and brands do not moderate comments at all. This is the decision that is up to you, and you will have to stick to this policy. It is worth noting, that passing through the aggressive and trolling comments may provoke a boost in the discussion between the troll and his opponents, which can reflect well on your stats. But it would still change focus from your content to their personal arguments.
Communication
YouTube is a social platform in the first place, even if many people think it is just big video storage. And the comment section is a place where you as a creator are coming out to your audience, this is where you bond with them. Being in close contact with your viewers is what makes your content more valuable to them and what makes them eager to follow your updates and support you. Again, as YouTube is social, just producing fine content is not enough. You will have to communicate and grow strong relationships with people who watch what you have created. For sure, there are some ground rules that you should follow if you want to get the reputation that you need:
- Reply to the major part of incoming comments. Always try to show that you appreciate every comment you get.
- Don’t limit the number of replies for each user. If the conversation is going on, support it.
- Be polite and friendly. The communication on social media has to bring positive emotions for all participants.
- Avoid peaky topics in your discussions, unless this is specific to your content. Nevertheless, politics and religion are personal business, and nobody should be discussing them.
- Don’t react harshly to the critique that you get. Sometimes, there can be really good points to pay attention to, so you should always try to find a reason for the negative feedback in your comments.
- Never start fights with trolls. Haters are coming to spill out what they have and they are interested only in irritating you. You will never win that argument because they are not coming into your comments for discussion. So do not even waste your time and efforts on that.
These are basic rules that will save you time and get you good results. Remember that the main rule is to keep calm in any situation that occurs online.
Another Way To Encourage Your Audience To Leave Comments
Besides actual communication that happens in comments, your task is to provoke the viewers to leave their opinion in the first place. There are certain techniques that would fulfill that task for you.
- Ask questions in your videos. Don’t be shy to ask them directly – a simple “what do you think about it” at the end of your film is quite OK. However you should aim for more accurate and specific ones, so you can get the feedback you need for further improvement of your channel.
- Leave the first comment under your video. This practice works like the invitation to begin the conversation with you. It can duplicate the question you asked in your video, or just be related to the theme of your video.
- Analyze what is working best for you and repeat the success. And no, do not just replicate your older content, that will not work on this platform. You need to capture what was the most engaging to your viewers and use it for your growth. See what kind of content attracts much more attention and reaction from users, and make it your inspiration for upcoming updates.
- Create a contest on youtube. Although it is not as popular as the same events on Instagram or Facebook, it exists on this network too and can be quite fruitful for your blog. This one will require some funding and promotion, but it pays off soon. This would give your subscribers some motivation to leave comments and will help to attract new viewers too.
- Time-codeyour videos. This function will later allow your viewers to refer to a certain part of your video if they need that. This way you will also show that you care about your viewers.
- Comment on the videos of your favorite influencers, in order to attract their audience. It would be better if you are collaborating with that influencer in some other way, so it won’t look like you are stealing his viewership.
Keep Checking Out Your Older Content
One of the markers that define a good blogger on youtube, is the attention that he or she pays to the older content on his channel. YouTubers often stop replying and updating the comment section in their older videos, thus, they are losing the potential. For users, your reply that is posted after some time is important, and they feel that you are seriously involved in your blog. It might take some time to do so, but it will definitely play in your favor. Don’t forget that even if your constant viewers have already left their feedback on that video, newcomers can still give you useful insight.
Conclusion
The comment section on youtube is a gold mine of engagement on this platform. One of the goals that any blogger has to set is growing a strong and loyal community, that is eager to communicate with you. In comments, you can get ideas for your new content and some inspiration for the existing formats. Push the trolls and haters away and don’t give them a chance to ruin your mood with their words. Keep your etiquette in the form of light cocktail talk, invent community memes and tags, that will tighten your connection with the audience. Good luck!