Picture this: you read a post on LinkedIn about immigration that was both thoughtful and engaging. The author clearly knows their stuff, and this is content that you work on day in and day out, so you leave a similarly thoughtful comment on the post with your own opinions. You can’t wait to hear what the author has to say about your post but instead, you get a ‘thanks!’
And that’s it…
Why Should I Reply to Comments?
Do you leave feeling a bit miffed or surprised at the lack of engagement? If you do, and I think you would—I know I would—then you’re not alone. When someone leaves a substantive comment on your post and you reply with a one- or two-word answer, (e.g. “thanks!”), it can leave a bad taste in your commenters’ mouths.
Imagine the same scenario but now in person and not online. You said something in person at an event and someone replies to you in a substantive and thoughtful manner, you would probably say more than just “thanks” right?
LinkedIn works best when you treat these conversations the same way you do with real-life conversations because we all want meaningful conversations about the work we do. Here are my four reasons why giving substantive and thoughtful replies to the people who comment on your posts will help
Reason One You Should Reply to Comments: It’s the polite thing to do
Number one is the basic etiquette of the situation: it’s just more polite than giving a one-word response! It’s more respectful to the person who spent time writing a lengthy and purposeful response. This commenter took the time to read your thoughts on the subject, and then shared their own. Show them the same respect by responding in kind.
Reason Two You Should Reply to Comments: You can break one of LinkedIn’s limitations
LinkedIn, like almost all social media platforms, has a character limit with each post. It was recently updated from 1,300 characters to 3,000 characters, but sometimes even that’s not enough. Responding thoughtfully gives you a chance to work around this. By responding thoughtfully, you have an opportunity to write MORE on the original topic, which, in a way, circumvents the 3,000 character limit. You are also writing more about the same topic to an audience that will notice and engage, so adding to the conversation is a win-win for everyone.
Reason Three You Should Reply to Comments: Thoughtful responses build relationships!
Your response may prompt its own response, thereby getting you into a little bit of a back-and-forth. This kind of conversation is really what you want to be having while you are using LinkedIn because these are the moments that build a relationship with that person. Importantly, it also will give your posts a boost to that person and to both of your respective audiences.
Reason Four You Should Reply to Comments: A longer response will help increase your visibility on LinkedIn
LinkedIn wants conversations and the algorithm will help boost the visibility of your responses. This means that even if everyone doesn’t manage to see your original post, after a few comments and replies, they’re much more likely to see your post because of the activity (and the boost it gets).
Now that you know why you should reply to comments on Linkedin, do you feel like you have content that is going to generate these conversations and build connections? If you’re feeling stuck on how to start, check out my blog post on how to figure out what your audience wants from you and how to start creating content that will engage them.
