How To Comment On Articles From Your Business’s Account
Get involved and make a name for yourself. Here’s how to comment… appropriately.
Reading interesting articles online that pertain to your industry? Don’t just read and walk (or click) away. Also, don’t just take this information and imitate it on your own site or even share it. Get active by putting your foot in the door and engaging in conversation with these companies, even on their own websites. By making accounts under your business’s name, you’re essentially creating a public spokesperson, at times debater, for your company in these conversations.
It’s important to keep some things about how to comment in mind when approaching these professional conversations in environments outside of your comfort zone. There are “trolls” who might try to tarnish your reputation, people who may know just as much as you, and also the site looking for people who might be considered “spammers”. No one wants them. These conversations can get quite heated or become extremely friendly, but you never know where potential business opportunities could spawn themselves. Knowing how to comment can save your company embarrassment and maybe stir up some new clients.
Here are some helpful tips for how to comment on industry articles or social media posts:
Never advertise yourself
It’s always obvious when a company sneaks in a little advertising bit, even when it’s only a small portion of a comment. No one will click your name unless you somehow offer something incredible that’s also realistic (this never happens). Advertise yourself indirectly by being intelligent, not by being just another salesman. Don’t even provide a link to your page, unless it happens to be an extremely relevant educational article. Contributing good material is how to comment on an article. That guy or girl doesn’t know how to comment.
Explain yourself coherently
While it’s important to use the words and jargon of your industry to prove your experience, you don’t want to overdo it. You must contain yourself in trying to be the ultra professional know-it-all. By kindly using jargons- that is, explaining what it means sensibly afterward- you’re showing you are consumer-friendly. You want to be the smart guy everyone likes, not the nerd in class who talks down on his “inferior” classmates.
Ask questions
Even if it’s just asking someone’s opinion on something, ask a question. Typically, you don’t know everything, or the article doesn’t include everything about a subject. To demand a response is to show you care. By asking either an educational question about the article or a general question about the subject itself that you ended up at, you will be interacting with consumers that view the article. Hence, they might take a liking to you and check out your company.
Don’t Let the Trolls Get To You
If it’s a mindless troll, you need not worry. However, there are also the Bill O’Reilly trolls who know their stuff, but will never back down in a discussion, even when clearly wrong. It’s your responsibility as ‘spokesperson’ of your company to ease into these people by delivering calm and steady responses, but also holding ground until the time is right. You’ll know when the time is right (when you’re getting tired of even looking at your computer screen).
Don’t overdo it
Just as you want to explain yourself coherently, you want to explain yourself concisely. Yet again, you don’t want to look like the try-hard (plus, people won’t read your giant response). Keep your answer relatively short, a nice 3-6 sentence paragraph in response, but not much more. This way, your comment looks inviting and contains some great material. And, to make it a win-win, you won’t be overexerting yourself and spending a bunch of time on someone else’s site.
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