Something that a lot of people notice but leave out when it’s time to count YouTube metrics is comments. Actually, It’s something a lot of people forget when it comes to any social network.
But comments are important.
They show that the video is worth watching since a lot of people already know that likes can be artificially gathered. They build relationships with followers and within the community itself, and it just gives you a lot more exposure, since it’s part of Google’s formula.
However according to a study by Gideon Shalwick, only the top 4% of viewers will actually comment. So that means if you have 1,000 views, you should have around 40 comments if everything you’ve done has been average.
But there are many ways to increase your comment:view ratio and in turn, get a higher vantage point in the battlefield of YouTube success
1. Ask for it
The First thing you could do is the most simple advice I have to give. Simply ask for comments. It works. But don’t just say “Hey! Comment below!” Actually give them something to comment about. Give them a topic so they don’t have to spend time thinking of the direction they need to go.
2. Incentives
People love getting deals. And a lot of times, people fail to recognise that they don’t need to offer elaborate gifts to increase incentive. A simple disclaimer for fast replies will do, however incentive does get higher the simpler the process is and the bigger the prize.
3. Thought provoking content
The most obvious but possibly the most difficult piece of advice depending on how you’ve trained yourself: Creating thought provoking content. Now, there’s lots of good content out there, but not all good content is thought provoking. I mean content that leaves the audience thinking. Be it something that leaves a lot of good questions, or something outlandishly weird, or even something controversial. Use your content as an initiator of conversations.
Lastly, I want to give you something extra.
I mentioned that incentive increases with simplicity and prize. Here’s a simple way to gain that.
A basic mind trick is that people are more driven when a group they’re in has common goals. It helps others, it makes them look good, and community goals are just simply more exciting. So what do we do with this information?
Another thing that Gideon did was he asked people at the end of the video to comment. And if his video got more than 100, he’d post another video that was more in depth about his specialty, basically giving away trade secrets. The number of comments skyrocketed to a 33% ratio, more than 8 times the usual.
Now like with all tricks, you can’t do it too much, or it’ll just lose its magic. You’ll just be known as that guy that does strategy A all the time.
If you’ve got a topic you want me to touch on in the future, please comment below.