Whether you’re trying to get more people to interact with your written content, such as your blog, or you want more people to leave comments on your videos, such as YouTube, here’s a trick that will make it happen.
Why do you want people to interact with your content? Because it will often give you a better standing in search. For example, part of YouTube’s algorithm is to look at how many comments your video gets. The more comments you have, the higher your video might rank in search.
And when you get your readers and viewers to interact with your content by leaving their own comment, you also increase their perceived ‘ownership’ of that content. They are more likely to share it on social media as well as view more of your content in the future.
Now then, how do you get comments?
The usual way is to simply ask, and that does work. “If you’ve enjoyed this video, please like and leave a comment.” Or… “Which do you prefer, chunky or smooth peanut butter? Please leave your comment below and let us know.”
Now here’s how you can take this simple technique of asking and double or even triple the number of responses you get as well as increasing the quality of those responses dramatically:
Make it into a contest.
At the end of your video or article, let them know that the BEST comment will get a free valuable gift.
Yes, this freebie might be one of your products, but it doesn’t have to be.
I was watching a YouTube video of a gal talking about a certain kind of jewelry. She was wearing one of these necklaces throughout the video, and at the end she said she would send this necklace to the person who posted the best comment.
What a great idea! This necklace is something every viewer has been looking at and admiring for the entire video, and now they’re told they can OWN it?
And it gets even better, because at the very beginning of the video she said, “Stay tuned to find out how YOU can receive THIS necklace in the mail.”
This no doubt increased the average viewing time her video received because people were sticking around to find out how to get the necklace.
And the reward was very specifically targeted to the exact audience who would want the reward, since the video was about this specific type of jewelry.
The cost to her? I doubt it was more than $10. And yet there was a true element of scarcity because in this case the necklace was vintage (approximately 50 years old) and not something people could buy at their local store.
What I love about this is that the prize would be physically mailed to the recipient. Because it was lightweight the postage wouldn’t cost much regardless of what country it would be sent to.
And scrolling through her comments it was obvious that people really were going for the gold in trying to have the most interesting, wittiest or most helpful comment of everyone there.
She uses this technique with many of her videos, which gives her an immediate bump in views from her regular audience as well as a ton of comments. Views in the first 24 hours are especially important on YouTube to help with getting your video seen by more people.
She states in the description below the video that she will choose the winner in 30 days. But since she does not show the date the video went live, she continues to get more and more comments even when her videos have been up for months. She also uses this reward system to encourage viewers to become subscribers so they know when she posts a new video, too.
Depending on your niche, you might have to get creative to make this work for you. If you have electronic products, then the key is to offer something of high value, like a course you sell for at least a couple hundred dollars.
If you teach dog training, maybe you could give away adorable handmade dog sweaters. Let your own dog be the model. If you have a book, then that could be your prize.
Try this on your next couple of videos and watch the magic happen in the comments section.