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This is something that you really don't hear about too much, but is an exceptionally powerful tool that often goes overlooked when trying to gain a foothold on YouTube and other social media platforms. Comments get handed around so readily that many are lost in a sea of endless emojis and low-value quips. A planned, well thought-out comment can provide insight into your authority on the subject, it can extend a curiosity to your own work and offers a glimpse into the value that you can provide.
Here is a sample of what I think about when writing a comment on someone else's video or social media post and why it is important:
Quantity Matters
No, you do NOT need to go out and spam every single video you watch. Above all else you need to leave comments that touch on the subject matter (more on that later). But you need to be proficient. One comment per month is not going to do you much good. Like fishing the more bait you can put in the water the more chances you stand of catching a fish. But you want to use good fresh bait. (Did I mention I do a fishing channel? lol).
Timing Matters
People read comments, and you need to remember this when you are writing one. You aren't just speaking to the creator of the video, but to the others who are going into the comments section. Pick ten bigger creators in your niche and turn on the YT notifications for these creators. Be conscious of their upload schedule and make an attempt to comment on their videos as soon as they get published. Again, you want good, knowledgeable information provided in what you write; just posting 'Hey nice video' provides no value to anybody. But by being one of the first to comment you put your words in front of every single person who comes to comment later.
Be Valuable
Ok, you are committed to being the first comment on videos for the top ten creators in your niche... now what in the world do you write? I typically have a phrase in mind each morning that I tend to re-use for multiple comments ('re-use,' not copy and paste or spam). Something to the effect of referencing current events or maybe I'll stick to a keyword like 'man this is insightful' or 'my day is a little brighter because of your work.' Something nice. This will be just a small part of what you are writing; it helps to kickstart your comment but absolutely should not be the meat of what you are trying to say. For this you need to watch their video and refer to something they did or said in the video. Preferably something that stands out; this will help to catch the attention of others who saw that same thing in the video and then came down to read the comments. If you fake it you are going to get called out for it or worse, you'll be ignored. Also, it ALWAYS helps if you can provide some sort of insight, hot-take or opinion on the events of the video. Give information that you may have on the subject.
Respectfully Redirect
After commenting about something in the video and providing your own insight it is important to steer traffic your direction. BE RESPECTFUL. The last thing you want to do is say something like 'hey, come check out my channel.' That's lame, it likely gets you thrown into the blocked comments category and the second you say anything that even remotely could be spam for your channel you are going to be ignored and your comment was a waste of time. Rather, I prefer to offer direction in the form of insight. For example, if someone posts a video about catching and cooking sheepshead I will say something like this:
"Oh man... I LOVE me some sheepshead! One of my all-time favorite eating fish! We just caught about twenty of these guys for a recent video on our channel and MAN am I stoked to try this recipe you just showed me!"
BAM!!! You see what I did there?! I took their video and made it the focal point of the conversation. At the same time everybody who reads that comment (including the person who made the video) sees that I do a fishing channel and I catch sheepshead too. It isn't pertinent to the comment at all, but it is a simple, subtle redirect that maybe the person who wrote this is worth checking out. Now to be fair, I only do this one in maybe ten comments on any given channel. It will get picked up on, so don't over do it. You will need to provide comments simply because you enjoy their content nine times out of ten.
Length and Structure
Finally, there is one last thing to consider when writing the perfect comment. It always helps to write longer comments... Nick Nimmin has spoken many times about how it is important to answer the comments in your own videos because viewers crave that engagement. As a writer of comments you can reverse engineer this. When someone takes the time to write a long, thorough comment it shows that they are passionate about what they are talking about. Not every comment needs to be a novel, but it is a good practice to write long comments from time to time if the subject matter warrants it because these comments stand out and only further reflect the knowledge and value you can provide.
As a side note Nick Nimmin also stresses not saying things like 'thank you' in a comment... the reason being that this is a conversation killer. 'Thank you' is the end of a conversation... your goal is to continue conversation with the comments that you make. Eliminate this from your comments and it will challenge you to write things that encourage others to respond.
In Conclusion
Writing valuable comments gives you access to people who view and appreciate what you do. It is an opportunity to reach out to people whom you otherwise would likely have little access to and it is a chance for you to give a positive impression of your work before someone has a chance to see it first hand. Done right and with the right mix of focus, insight, appreciation and direction a simple comment can very easily lead to a helpful increase in your own audience and it makes for an easy means of spreading your own value.
Here is a sample of what I think about when writing a comment on someone else's video or social media post and why it is important:
Quantity Matters
No, you do NOT need to go out and spam every single video you watch. Above all else you need to leave comments that touch on the subject matter (more on that later). But you need to be proficient. One comment per month is not going to do you much good. Like fishing the more bait you can put in the water the more chances you stand of catching a fish. But you want to use good fresh bait. (Did I mention I do a fishing channel? lol).
Timing Matters
People read comments, and you need to remember this when you are writing one. You aren't just speaking to the creator of the video, but to the others who are going into the comments section. Pick ten bigger creators in your niche and turn on the YT notifications for these creators. Be conscious of their upload schedule and make an attempt to comment on their videos as soon as they get published. Again, you want good, knowledgeable information provided in what you write; just posting 'Hey nice video' provides no value to anybody. But by being one of the first to comment you put your words in front of every single person who comes to comment later.
Be Valuable
Ok, you are committed to being the first comment on videos for the top ten creators in your niche... now what in the world do you write? I typically have a phrase in mind each morning that I tend to re-use for multiple comments ('re-use,' not copy and paste or spam). Something to the effect of referencing current events or maybe I'll stick to a keyword like 'man this is insightful' or 'my day is a little brighter because of your work.' Something nice. This will be just a small part of what you are writing; it helps to kickstart your comment but absolutely should not be the meat of what you are trying to say. For this you need to watch their video and refer to something they did or said in the video. Preferably something that stands out; this will help to catch the attention of others who saw that same thing in the video and then came down to read the comments. If you fake it you are going to get called out for it or worse, you'll be ignored. Also, it ALWAYS helps if you can provide some sort of insight, hot-take or opinion on the events of the video. Give information that you may have on the subject.
Respectfully Redirect
After commenting about something in the video and providing your own insight it is important to steer traffic your direction. BE RESPECTFUL. The last thing you want to do is say something like 'hey, come check out my channel.' That's lame, it likely gets you thrown into the blocked comments category and the second you say anything that even remotely could be spam for your channel you are going to be ignored and your comment was a waste of time. Rather, I prefer to offer direction in the form of insight. For example, if someone posts a video about catching and cooking sheepshead I will say something like this:
"Oh man... I LOVE me some sheepshead! One of my all-time favorite eating fish! We just caught about twenty of these guys for a recent video on our channel and MAN am I stoked to try this recipe you just showed me!"
BAM!!! You see what I did there?! I took their video and made it the focal point of the conversation. At the same time everybody who reads that comment (including the person who made the video) sees that I do a fishing channel and I catch sheepshead too. It isn't pertinent to the comment at all, but it is a simple, subtle redirect that maybe the person who wrote this is worth checking out. Now to be fair, I only do this one in maybe ten comments on any given channel. It will get picked up on, so don't over do it. You will need to provide comments simply because you enjoy their content nine times out of ten.
Length and Structure
Finally, there is one last thing to consider when writing the perfect comment. It always helps to write longer comments... Nick Nimmin has spoken many times about how it is important to answer the comments in your own videos because viewers crave that engagement. As a writer of comments you can reverse engineer this. When someone takes the time to write a long, thorough comment it shows that they are passionate about what they are talking about. Not every comment needs to be a novel, but it is a good practice to write long comments from time to time if the subject matter warrants it because these comments stand out and only further reflect the knowledge and value you can provide.
As a side note Nick Nimmin also stresses not saying things like 'thank you' in a comment... the reason being that this is a conversation killer. 'Thank you' is the end of a conversation... your goal is to continue conversation with the comments that you make. Eliminate this from your comments and it will challenge you to write things that encourage others to respond.
In Conclusion
Writing valuable comments gives you access to people who view and appreciate what you do. It is an opportunity to reach out to people whom you otherwise would likely have little access to and it is a chance for you to give a positive impression of your work before someone has a chance to see it first hand. Done right and with the right mix of focus, insight, appreciation and direction a simple comment can very easily lead to a helpful increase in your own audience and it makes for an easy means of spreading your own value.
