This can be a frustrating scenario if you really like a particular YouTuber’s content, and comment a lot on their videos, but struggle to really get them to see and respond to your comments. If they have large channels and their videos get a lot of views, your comments can get lost in the mix.
In this article, we’ll run through some quick tips to help you get your comments seen and responded to by YouTube content creators that you like and want to engage with. There are definitely some things you can do to give your comments a better chance of being seen and replied to, so let’s run through some suggestions to help with this.
1. Comment Straight After Videos Are Published
Probably the best way I’ve found to increase the visibility and engagement of your comments is to post them as soon as possible after a video is published.
There are 3 main reasons for this:
- Content creators tend to check the comments on their videos most on the day it is published, more specifically the first few hours after posting, and even more specifically in the first hour after publishing in my experience.
- Given point #1, your comment has much more chance of being read and replied to by the creator if it’s posted especially in the first hour after publication.
- For really popular channels that have a lot of subscribers and where each video gets a lot of views, you also need to get in early with your comments, or it will tend to be pushed way down the list and get lost in the mix.
The best way to get in early with comments is to sync up with the YouTuber’s publishing schedule, if they have one.
And especially for more informational channels, you will find that creators do tend to upload their videos on a regular schedule (eg. 9am EST every Tuesday). If you go to the Videos tab of their channel, you can usually find out if there’s a pattern to their publishing in terms of time and day.
Also, another tip, whether they publish at regular intervals or not, is to sign up for Notifications on their channel.
Make sure you hit the Notifications bell on the right hand side……
….this will make sure that you are sent an email whenever the creator uploads a new video, so you can get straight in there and leave a comment as soon as possible, which is more likely to be responded to by them.
Unfortunately, if the channel is popular and the videos get lots of views, and you’re “late to the party” in terms of only seeing and commenting on it once it’s been out a day or two, the video is already going to have loads of comments, and yours is likely to just get “lost in the noise”.
That’s why it’s important to get in there early and publish comments early, in the first hour after it’s been released if possible. Using the Notifications feature and keeping in sync with their publishing schedule is the best way to do this.
2. Respond To A Pinned Comment From Them If They Post One
This is another good tip to combine with the last one. YouTubers will often publish their own pinned comment that sticks to the top of the comments thread, and responding to this may give you a better chance of it being seen and responded to by the channel owner.
A pinned comment looks something like this:
If the channel owner pins their own comment, then any replies to that comment will come through on their email and YouTube notifications if they have them turned on, and therefore you might have a better chance of them seeing it and engaging with you comment via that particular thread, as opposed to your comment being a standalone one that’s way down the comments list and never gets seen by them.
Again, you’re best also combining this with tip #1 and replying early to this pinned comment thread if they set one up, preferably within the first hour of the video going live.
This may help you get better engagement with the creator, but again it’s not guaranteed, as everyone tends to jump on this bandwagon and there’s only so many comments they will have time to read and respond to. Get in early though, and you’ve got a chance.
3. Comment On Videos From New YouTube Channels
This is a brilliant hack that I’ve just recently taken advantage of. Try to find videos on your favorite topics from much newer YouTubers who are just starting off trying to build their channels up.
The reason for this is that YouTube channels can take a long time to build and therefore their early videos won’t get many views and comments, which means they’ll be keen to read and respond to every comment they do get to help with the algorithm and keep growing their channel.
Of course this can be a bit of a catch 22, because newer channels aren’t so easy to find precisely because their videos aren’t getting many views because their audience isn’t so big just yet. However, if you keep an eye out, you’ll still find that YouTube will sometimes show videos from up and coming channels on your Homepage and recommendations feed.
Watch out for these videos with far less views from newer channels and give them a chance; you just might find a great new creator who you can readily engage with on their videos.
I’ve personally found that this is where you can sometimes get the best value and information from YouTube comment interaction, because you can converse with people who are often extremely knowledgeable in their field and produce great content, but are much more accessible because they are still in the early days of them growing their channel and therefore don’t have a large audience yet (but definitely will in the future once their channel gets some traction).
Because their audience is still small, you don’t get lost in the comments mix, and you can regularly engage in dialogue with them through commenting on their videos, getting fantastic advice and tips that you won’t be able to get so easily once their channel has grown and your comment just gets lost in the mix with the (now hundreds or thousands) of others.
It’s a great little hack so I encourage you to keep an eye out for smaller, newer channels in whatever your interest/hobby topics are, and give these smaller channels a chance if their videos show up in your recommendations feed. It helps you as you can have excellent engagement, and it also helps them grow their channel, so it’s good all round
4. Add Value With Your Comments
Another good way I’ve found to increase engagement is to make your comment stand out in some way, either because it’s intelligent, thought provoking, or just really adds values and is therefore worth them responding to.
Here are some ways I’ve used to add value to comments in a way that has gotten the creator to see, like and respond to me:
- In general try to put some real thought and effort into your comments – don’t just bang a comment out for the sake of it to try and get a response. Ask an intelligent question or respond in a way that’s been thought out.
- If their video is making a specific point that you relate to, then give a real life example, story and scenario that demonstrates the point being made (eg. “I had exactly the same experience myself when….”). Be authentic though and don’t just make stuff up.
- Try to ask questions, the answer to which could also help other people who read the comments.
- Try to ask questions which could open up more video topics for the creator to do in the future.
- If you do make any criticism or challenges to ideas or information, make sure it’s done politely and constructively, and not confrontational or rude to the creator or other commenters.
5. Use Humor
This is another one that I’ve often seen get the content creator to like and reply to, even if with just an “lol” acknowledgement. A well placed joke or witty one liner will often get a lot of attention in a YouTube comments section.
Here’s one a found pretty much at random, where a witty response to a video from a creator about “choosing signals” or “indicators of interest” in dating, drew an LOL out of the publisher:
There’s loads more of these in the comment sections of many videos on YouTube. You can get the publisher’s attention with a witty joke that shows some sharp mindedness, astute observation or sarcasm, especially if you get in there early after the video goes live, as we covered in Tip #1.
