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Building Community with Comments and Commenting Loyal, repeat audience members are a good measure of a successful blog. Fostering member interaction will help increase the loyalty of all members as your blog becomes a central meeting point for community discussion. Encourage authentic commenting and discussion by posting all member comments (not just things you agree with) and remaining objective and open in your responses (try to see things from their side). Developing a policy for comments and posting the policy publicly will help set expectations for what you deem appropriate and give you some back up in the event you elect not to post (or even to remove) certain comments. |
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If you want your members to comment on your blog, take the time to learn about them and establish a virtual relationship. Visit their blog(s) and comment where you have an opinion. Link to posts that are relevant to your audience and help them spread the word. Soon enough, they’ll take notice and an active interest in what you have to say.
Here is an example of a corporate blogger who really engages his audience: www.barryjudge.com What can we learn from this Best Buy CMO? He’s authentic and open, and he writes thought provoking posts and makes specific requests for engagement. The interaction from readers allows him to crowdsource his strategy and effectively tests his campaigns before they go to market.
By focusing on your audience and framing questions, you will reap the benefits of a more cohesive community focused on idea sharing while your audience will feel engaged and important.
