Instagram comments help you connect with followers and build a presence on the platform. If you’re wondering how to manage comments for your business, read on for everything you need to know!

What’s an Instagram comment?

It’s a response that users leave on a posted photo, video or Reel. Unlike direct messages (which go straight to a profile’s inbox and can only be viewed by them), Instagram comments are public, which means everyone can see them.

Why are they important?

Comments are more than a simple reply, they are an important part of your brand’s perceived authenticity and can affect how often users see your posts.

Comments build community

Comments are the only way your followers can communicate with you in a public way on Instagram, which encourages more overall engagement. It’s like the difference between sending someone a personal letter, addressed directly to them or posting your letter on a bulletin board. More people (i.e. the community) will see your letter on the bulletin board.

Comments affect Instagram’s algorithm

The Instagram algorithm is complex and mysterious and determines which posts make it to the top of a user’s newsfeed, which posts are featured on the Explore tab and the order that posts, Stories, live videos, and Reels show up across this social media platform. Comments are one of the many factors that contribute to how often your posts are seen. More comments mean there are more eyes on your brand and more eyes often lead to more followers. How many of you have stumbled across a profile / post because it’s been laid before your eyes on your feed? That’s Instagram’s algorithm working its magic!

Comments are great for customer services

Good community management of your comments are a fantastic tool for customer support. If someone asks you a question on a post, by responding other users can see your reply. This frees up your post for other queries and can prevent your inbox getting clogged up with the same question!

Comments show you’re real!

Thinking about buying Instagram followers? Think again! Buying Instagram followers usually results in bot followers and bot followers can’t comment on your posts the same way that real people can.

How can you tell a bot account from a true account? Bot accounts are known to have tens of thousands of followers but only 2 or 3 comments on each of their posts.

We strongly recommend that you don’t buy comments, instead an effective advertising campaign to grow your page is the way forward.

Comments can be pinned to the top of a post

You can pin up to three comments to the top of a thread. This allows the author of the post to control the tone of the comment thread through highlighting positivity and moderating more negative and abusive responses that show up below pinned comments.

Comments can be turned off

If you don’t want anyone to comment on your post, or one of your posts is getting a lot of negative / abusive comments, and you don’t want anymore —you can turn off commenting completely.

First, hit the three horizontal dots in the top right corner of the post. From there, a menu rolls up. Select Turn off commenting to stop comments (and make the original comments invisible).

Comments can be limited

Instead of turning off commenting altogether, you can “limit comments” for a certain amount of time. This is a useful short-term tool if you feel like you or your business is being harassed by multiple people on the app.

To limit comments on Instagram, first go to your profile and tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner. From there, hit Settings. Then, tap Privacy. From there, go to Limits. From the limits page, Instagram allows you to temporarily control unwanted comments and messages. You can limit accounts that aren’t following you (“These accounts may be spam, fake or created to harass you” according to Instagram) as well as ones that only began following you in the last week.

You have the option to set the limit for as little as one day, or for as long as four weeks.

Comments can be blocked

If you’re being harassed you can block specific users from commenting on your posts. To block comments from certain people, go to your Settings, then Privacy, and tap Comments. You can type in usernames here, and this will block them from being able to comment on any of your photos, videos or Reels.

Comments should be responded to

If someone comments on your post, and your practicing good community management, you should respond to it. To respond to an individual Instagram account, just tap Reply under the comment. If you don’t want to reply publicly, you can also respond to a comment by sending the user a private message.

Replying to every message individually can be tricky, though it’s a good idea to get into the habit of doing it.

How to get more comments on Instagram

Getting more engagement on any social media platform usually comes down to creating authentic, unique content that your audience loves. If you want to get technical, you can use analytics to track your progress or carry out a competitive analysis using a successful account that’s similar to yours.

Less technically, here are some tips for gaining comments:

• Ask a question

It’s simple, and it works. Asking a question in the caption of your photo, video or reel will prompt other users to comment on it. If you’re using your Instagram for business, this could be a question related to your product or just a general ask—for example, “What’s your favourite thing to do on a bank holiday?”

• Post helpful advice

Anything that adds value to your followers’ feeds is likely to get some good engagement, so tips, tricks and advice often do well. And even if you’re a business, it’s nice to offer some industry knowledge or insight free of charge every once in a while.

• Share good news

Spread positive vibes and update your followers about successes big and small—they follow you for a reason, and they’ll likely feel compelled to congratulate you (you deserve it).

There you have it, our lowdown on how to manage comments on your Instagram posts. If you need help with Instagram or any other social media platform, why not send us a message at hello@socialsoda.co.uk