Responding to reader comments
Briefly:
- Respond to comments to encourage discussion
- Respond to comments to show you care what your readers have to say
- Do not respond to every comment
- Respond appropriately and in a reasonable amount of time
The head of Company A is very good at responding to reader comments. He does not get drawn into flame wars, but does respond to legitimate complaints and concerns. He answers direct questions, and even poses new questions to his audience in response to comments left. His comments are worded so that he puts no one down, but when he sees a suggestion or question he finds particularly insightful, he is quick to praise.
He also reads through his comments more than once, recognizing that more comments are likely to be left after his first round of responses. He seems to check post comments two or three times in the week after he posts something to the blog, responding to comments when appropriate. If the discussion calls for it, he may continue checking the comments after that first week, too.
Social media has to focus on social, and that means conversations. If you don't respond to comments on your blog, you lose that conversation.
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