Nathaniel Fried
All social media sharing platforms, barring perhaps Pinterest, are based on the principle of community building and regular interaction, and YouTube is no different.
This may not really matter to you if your primary reason for creating a channel and uploading videos is say to share things with friends and family, or to archive interesting content for your own entertainment. However, if you are hoping to build your channel to attract all viewers, promote a business or showcase your creative skills in the world of music etc then you cannot afford to ignore the importance of engaging with your growing audience.
Engaging with comments is vital
This is so important that you should always keep in mind how the videos you are making and posting could attract conversation or questions. So what are the tangible benefits of responding to comments people make on your content?
Comment engagement builds community
People expect interaction on YouTube, and the opportunity to communicate with lots of strangers through comments is part of the experience for lots of YouTube users. They may not necessarily expect you to respond to any or all of them, but if it is appropriate you should try to.
Responding to comments establishes your authority
This is a great opportunity to share any specialist knowledge you have – if that is relevant to your channel. If you run a business page you will probably find viewers have plenty of questions, and those are comments you should answer promptly every time.
Comments boost your presence
The more comments you have the more people will get to see your videos. They mark you out to the YouTube bots as someone with valuable content that others deserve to see, and when you respond to them you get extra points because you boost that level of interaction even higher. Major search engines like this kind of activity, as do YouTube.
If you’re just starting your channel and want to build your presence a little quicker then buying comments may be a suitable option, however you should do your research to make sure you know what you’re getting into. To do so you can check out the following page on Social Media Daily: https://www.socialmediadaily.com/youtube/comments.
Comments can help you develop your channel
You may not always like the comments that viewers make, but they can be a good way to get insight into what people like and dislike, and what you are doing right, as well as what you could perhaps improve on. It’s always good to create a dialogue with people who leave this kind of comment, even something neutral if you don’t agree! (Arguing with people on your channel is never a good move! If you suspect someone is trolling, or is being offensive it’s wiser to simply remove their comments and block them.) The comments from your longer term followers can be even more helpful, as you can trust their judgment and opinion considering they are familiar with your work and have proven they like it.
You don’t have to spend every spare minute checking for comments to reply to, but it’s good to set aside a regular block of time, say once or twice a week, to work through the comments and respond, delete spam and so on.
