There’s a lot out there around creating more engaging social media posts. And not enough around high-quality commenting.
Go on Google, and you can easily find articles around social media post ideas, a step-by-step process for posting content to different social media channels, and how to create top-performing posts that go viral. I even wrote about 20 LinkedIn post ideas for beginners.
But what if you’re not ready to post? Or what if posting your own stuff freaks you out?
If posting is off the table (or you feel like you don’t have time), you can still establish a social media presence and boost engagement. How? You focus on writing high-quality comments on posts.
Commenting is a great way to warm up to your platform of choice. And it may be one of the most underutilized social strategies.
What does it mean to engage on social media?
Engagement on social media boils down to a mixture of your interactions with social content online. It could be…
- Creating social posts online and publishing them.
- Making comments on other posts. (Which are then visible and able to be read by others.)
- Sharing or reposting content others have posted to your feed for your followers to see.
Engagement revolves around these different types of interactions and can be measured in the form of likes, loves, laughs (all the emojis), as well as impressions, lead generation, and clicks.
For the purpose of this article, I want to focus on comments.
How to Create Your Social Commenting Strategy
Looking at best practices around how to write engaging social media posts, there’s also a “do’s and don’ts” list for creating engaging comments. Especially if you want your comments to help you encourage community involvement and find your most loyal advocates.
I can think of 3 uninspiring types of comments you want to avoid with better things to say instead.
#1 – Emoji Only Comment
Emojis are fun, quirky, and can add emotion. For sure!
😊😁🤣😋😳💯🤔👍🙌
I’ve even seen on social media where others use an emoji with their name to associate with their personal brand. (Mostly on LinkedIn.)
- Cheese 🧀 for Blair Sharp.
- The ax 🪓 for Kris Hughes.
- The rocket ship 🚀 for Ed Gandia.
Emojis can help with visual recognition. I see these emojis and instantly think of these people.
But when it comes to comments and starting out, I wouldn’t recommend ONLY using an emoji in your responses. Others have to get to know you, and that’s tough if all you keep doing is adding a single emoji below someone’s post. (This is outside the typical click for “like,” “love,” etc.)
Instead, do this:
Add some context with words and end with an emoji for an emotional reaction. You can also include their first name so they’re tagged to see the comment. Here are some examples:
- “Learning more about PR is a valuable skill indeed. Talk about improving your communication game! Good stuff, Trish 😊”
- “Perception is real and something you should take into account when building your business. If you don’t, you may stay stuck in your own bubble, making assumptions, and miss how to improve. Great post, Ramshina 👍”
- “There’s always something to learn and take with you. Every experience is a lesson for your next endeavor. Agree, Hafza😊”
Sure, at some point a single unique emoji in the comments may be fitting. But at that point, you should already have a relationship from thoughtfully commenting on previous posts. It won’t be weird. The connection should already be established.
#2 – The Quick Hit Comment
I think of the quick-hit comment as a one- or two-word response with no context. Comments like…
“Great post”
“Agree”
“Love it!”
“Thanks, [Person’s Name]”
While these are mostly said with the best intentions, there’s a big problem with why these quick hit responses don’t spark meaningful conversations…
You don’t provide enough to engage.
I have no doubt most people come from a place of meaning well when they leave comments like this, but it’s a missed opportunity to start building relationships.
Instead, do this:
- Talk about WHAT about the post was great. Did it teach you something new?
- Expand on why you agree with the post. What about it could you identify with? Briefly touch on that similar experience.
- What did you love about the post? Take one line from the post in quotations and then further expand on it and why it stuck out for you in a good way.
- Thanking the creator is awesome. But go on to say why you appreciate their writing and their presence on the platform.
When you can start responding with more intentional and thoughtful comments, it goes back to the argument of quality vs. quantity. The higher quality your response is, the better chance of you making real connections.
If you only put one-word answers down for 50 different people’s posts in a day, you won’t be easy to remember.
#3 – The Summarized “Are you AI?” Comment
And then of course you’ve got the summarized AI comment that leaves me scratching my head. This is the comment you read and go…”Ok…all you did was summarize exactly what I wrote above. Did you put this into AI, and this is what it spit out?!”
It’s annoying and off-putting, unfortunately.
You would be better off not commenting at all if you’re using AI.
It lacks any personal touch. I don’t see what resonated, your opinion, or any start of a connection…instead, it does the opposite; it turns me away.
So don’t do this. (Like at all.)
Don’t use AI to copy and paste a post and then ask to provide a short summary that you then use as your comment.
Instead, do this:
- Write a comment how you speak. Don’t make the sentence structure perfect. I want to read your comment as though you were talking to me in the room. It should be conversational.
- Let me see who you are. Give me a peek into your experiences and your personality. Be inspiring. People relate to people….not companies. Add humor if it comes naturally. (We all need a good laugh.)
- Don’t overthink it. It’s a comment here today and starts fading away tomorrow, especially on social media. Share a little.
Why is social media engagement important?
It’s all about connecting with your audience and showing up where they like to hang out. And the only way to connect is through consistent and intentional engagement.
Comments included.
If you aren’t on social (or active on social) you drastically hurt your chances of your tribe finding you. And when you do that, there’s lost opportunity for all.
