You want viewers to leave comments on your videos. You want viewers to interact with you and other viewers on YouTube. You want viewers to ask you questions and post their thoughts on your videos. Don’t shut off comments in your control panel. It’s annoying when you do that, especially if a viewer wants to leave a flattering comment, and thank you for the information you just talked about. Cutting off a viewers’ ability to comment is shutting down one metric that YouTube uses to evaluate your video. I encourage my viewers to leave comments. I want them to leave comments. I want them to tell me what they liked and what they didn’t like. I want them to take a position and tell me whether they agree or disagree. You may not like what they have to say. You may not agree with what a viewer has to say, but it’s important that they are interacting with you and your video community. Face it… If your videos are vanilla, nobody will leave a comment. Nobody will share your video. Nobody will criticize you or your content. Most likely, few viewers will actually watch your video. Why? Because it’s vanilla and there’s nothing there that’s overly interesting to keep their attention. I am not suggesting that you get controversial or political in your videos just to generate controversy. That would be going to the extreme of what I’m suggesting here. That’s not a good direction to head toward.
Instead, I am suggesting that you take a stand. Take a position, even if it’s not popular. Make your position known and let your viewer know how you feel. You can even tell them you acknowledge and understand that they may have a different opinion, and that’s perfectly ok. For example, let’s say the highest court in your State just came down with a ruling that said spouses of people who died cannot recover money for a loss of consortium claim in a wrongful death lawsuit. Your video talks about this new ruling. During your video, after explaining what this new ruling means for surviving family members, you turn back to the camera and tell your viewer what you really think about this ruling and why. Your opinion may not be popular. It may not sit well with viewers, but it shows you’re taking a stand. Don’t worry about what people will think about the position you take. Why not? Because they will appreciate that you had the guts to take a position. Let’s say you’re talking about a ruling that men can now use the women’s bathroom, and women can use the men’s bathroom. Whether it’s right or wrong doesn’t matter. The fact is that you’re talking about it and then state your own personal opinion. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Then ask your viewer that question. Invite him to leave a comment below to let you know what he thinks. He will eagerly leave a comment, especially on a controversial topic.
One key warning…
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When you invite viewers to leave comments, you must monitor your comments through your YouTube dashboard. What does that mean? It means that you must respond to every single comment. You must look to see if there are comments at the end of each day. If so, respond to each person. Think about it. They’ve taken time out of their busy day to watch your educational video. Then, you invited them to leave a comment, which they did. You must have to respond to their comment. Your response doesn’t have to be long or get the last word in. But you do need to reply. It can be as simple as “Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment.” Or it can be a more detailed reply. The choice is up to you. Here are a few tips when responding to comments on YouTube:
- If your viewer curses at you or your topic, delete the comment and block the user from your channel. You don’t want to tolerate that nonsense.1. If your viewer curses at you or your topic, delete the comment and block the user from your channel. You don’t want to tolerate that nonsense.
- If the comments are racist, follow my advice in #1 above.
- If your viewer leaves a comment that you disagree with, consider that an opportunity to teach and school your viewer why you have a different opinion. It’s the same concept as when you’re picking a jury, and one juror just rants about why cases like yours are likely frivolous and nobody should be bringing these kinds of cases. Well, it’s time to teach the other jurors (and viewers who read those comments) that this person is entitled to have their opinion, but let me explain why every injured patient is allowed in this State to bring a lawsuit against their careless doctor…
- If someone compliments you, make sure you thank them for their kind comments!
- If someone criticizes you, get over it. It’s going to happen. Don’t delete it. Instead, recognize their criticism and do NOT apologize for your comments or opinions. Instead, point out how and why you have that opinion, and at the end of your ‘discussion’ make sure to thank your viewer for taking the time to watch and leave a comment.
- Think of when you read Amazon reviews, and they are all glowing 5-star reviews with not a single negative review. You begin to wonder if these reviews are real. Same with comments. If every single one is glowing, you begin to wonder if just your mom and good friends are the only ones leaving these comments. Leave negative comments up unless they focus on #1 or #2 above.
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Getting back to how you get viewers to leave comments and interact with you, you start by asking your viewers to leave comments. Tell them and encourage them to leave comments. That’s first. Second, talk about legal issues in your area of law and in your State that will affect them. It might be a recent court decision. It might be a new law. It could be anything that will impact them if they have a case involving a topic you handle. Then, state your opinion. Do you agree with the decision? Why? Do you disagree? Why? Tell your viewer why you feel the way you do. Your why is critically important. Also, when you explain why, make sure you’re passionate about why. Do not be wishy-washy. That will detract from your opinion, and you’ll lose trust and credibility. Remember, take a stand, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Don’t think that by taking a stand you’ll lose potential cases because your viewers will not agree with your opinion. You’ll find that they will actually flock to you because you’ve taken a stand even though they don’t agree with you personally. Let me share a quick story about a negative comment I received.
One morning I went to check my YouTube video comments. There were a few really nice comments that I responded to. That made me feel great before starting on my day. Then I read the last comment. I had to read it again. That wasn’t good. It was a threat. On me. On my life. I read it again. I debated what to do. I debated whether to reply. I checked the video that the viewer chose to leave a comment on. The video topic was innocuous. It was entirely educational. It was informative. It was just another great helpful video explaining how lawsuits work in New York. I gathered that this viewer was disgruntled with the legal system and was clearly unhappy with his result. He was ranting about lawyers in general. Then he focused his venom on me personally. I had never had to deal with such a comment like this before. I certainly needed to delete this comment and then block this viewer from my channel. That was the easy part.
I made sure to copy the content along with his YouTube channel, his name, and a screenshot of what he wrote. I then deleted his ugly comment t and blocked him. His comment made me uncomfortable. To think that some moron took the time to personally threaten me because I was providing great information bothered me.
I contacted the police to let them know about this nut job. They promised to look into it. I quickly forgot about it, and I am sure nothing will ever come of this. The point is that you should expect viewers to leave comments that will upset you because they don’t agree with you. Don’t let it control you or ruin your day.
You Want Viewers to Leave Comments on Your Videos
Don’t simply accept accolades. Don’t let those go to your head. I get comments every day on my videos. Many are great, thankful, and complimentary comments that make me feel really good. Some are hateful and make you feel like crap. Others are opinionated, and that’s Ok with me. Some are averse to my personal opinions, and I enjoy that since I get to school my viewers with my replies.
Oh yes, I forgot to tell you one of the most important parts of how to get viewers to leave comments on your videos…
Create great educational content that helps your viewer understand how their type of case works. Do it in an interesting and educational way without talking about you or your law firm. By focusing on your viewer and what they need to know, you’re providing a great service that gets your viewer to understand that you know your subject well.
Want to Test the Concepts I’ve Outlined Here?
Now, if you want to test my concepts I discuss above, I invite you to watch a video or two of mine and then leave some comments on my videos. See how long it takes me to reply and what kind of reply I leave. Then use that to model your own comments.
Just type my name Gerry Oginski into YouTube search and pick any video that looks interesting to you. You have your choice of over 3,000 videos to choose from. Watch the video, then leave your comment. Watch what happens next.
Till next time, see you on video!
