DOS_patos
Unverified Legion of Trill member
Have you spotted Instagram comments from huge brands or celebrities popping up in your feed as you scroll through the latest posts?
It used to be that brands wanted to receive Instagram comments from followers to grow their account. But now, thanks to a new algorithm and a culture change, brands, celebrities, and influencers are cleverly (and successfully!) using witty comments to optimize their exposure on Instagram and gain more followers!
By leaving Instagram comments on other profiles’ posts, brands are opening themselves up to new audiences and the Instagram comments section is quickly becoming one of the best parts of Instagram.
But these cute, witty and fun comments are not just for laughs — they’re a smart engagement tactic that’s helping brands attract tons of attention and grow their account!
Here’s how you can use Instagram comments to fuel your growth:
Why Instagram Comments Are More Important Than Ever If You Want More Followers
Instagram comments are going through a big change.
Brands are no longer just interacting on their own profile’s posts anymore — they’re leaving the comfort of their feed to engage and communicate with other brands on Instagram.
In an article for Vogue, Bridget Read wrote: “On Instagram, the comments section is the new frontier in the app’s evolution from a platform once attractive for its immediacy and relative purity to something a lot more akin to its parent application, Facebook.”
“Instagram’s increasingly complex comments section, once a log of emoji responses and acknowledgments, now features a plethora of delights,” said Read. And we tend to agree.
While the majority of Instagram conversations used to look something like multiple flame emojis and ‘O.M.G’ comments from a follower to another follower, a follower to brand, and occasionally a brand to a follower, the tables have turned. Now we’re seeing a huge increase in “brand to brand” comments and we’re loving the new trend!
For example, take a look at how Verizon Media left Huff Post a comment supporting their latest post, while tagging in Virgin! This type of three-way convo is the new way brands are communicating with each other!
So what we’re seeing is both Instagram users and brands reacting, and engaging with the comments sections more so than ever. As a brand, this is the place to be if you want to catch the eye of new followers!
How Did This New Instagram Comments Trend Start?
Late last year, users started seeing changes in how comments were displayed in the Instagram feed. Comments, especially those by celebrities and larger accounts suddenly became much more visible as you scrolled through your followers’ posts.
Now, the Instagram algorithm tends to show the 2 most recent comments from verified accounts directly underneath the post’s caption in your feed.
Dubbed a “sticky comment”, this is a prime location for influencers, brands and celebrities to get exposure on a follower’s feed.
But that’s not all. The algorithm is so smart that sometimes it will show you comments from profiles that it thinks will be of “interest to you”. So based on who you follow and engage with the most, it will highlight relevant profiles in this “sticky comments” section too. It’s a new way to help users discover more profiles on Instagram.
That’s why sometimes you might see comments from profiles (they’re not always verified profiles, but usually do have a strong following) that you don’t follow, or have never seen before highlighted as a “sticky comment”:
For example, you might follow HBO and a few of the cast of Game of Thrones like Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke on Instagram. So the next time you see a post by HBO on Instagram about Game of Thrones, you might spot comments from other cast members like Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams in that top comments position. The algorithm has learnt that you’re interested (read: obsessed!) with all things GOT, so it’s going to show you other related profiles in the “sticky comments” section.
From a brand perspective, the algorithm is working hard to pull together the relationships between profiles — defining what things you have in common with other brands that might interest to your new, prospective followers.
Here’s an example from The Cut: they shared a photo of Russian Doll’s star Natasha Lyonne. The top two comments in the “sticky comments” were from Rebecca Ramsey (fashion director at The Cut) and fashion designer, Marc Jacobs.
As a user, you might tap into either profile to learn more about them, or see how they’re related to The Cut brand.
Instagram comments has become a game changer for increasing a brand’s exposure with very little effort — even if you don’t post new content, your comments on related brands and businesses, could still appear in a follower’s feed and attract their attention.
And while being verified definitely does help you get to that top spot, it’s not essential!
The hugely successful Instagram account @CommentsByCelebs really optimized on this Instagram algorithm update and based their whole content strategy around extracting and sharing screenshots of celebs commenting on other celebs’ Instagram posts.
In a podcast interview with Who? Weekly, co-creators of the @commentsbycelebs Julie Kramer and Emma Diamond said: “We picked up on the [new] algorithm… We would follow celebrity accounts to specifically see how they were commenting on each others’ posts”. And from there, they dedicated their page specifically to sharing these hilarious celebrity interactions.
After humble beginnings in April 2017, the pair have grown the account to over 1M followers, and each post exposing the daily quips, chats, and shoutouts between celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Drake, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Chrissy Teigen receives tens of thousands of likes!
It used to be that brands wanted to receive Instagram comments from followers to grow their account. But now, thanks to a new algorithm and a culture change, brands, celebrities, and influencers are cleverly (and successfully!) using witty comments to optimize their exposure on Instagram and gain more followers!
By leaving Instagram comments on other profiles’ posts, brands are opening themselves up to new audiences and the Instagram comments section is quickly becoming one of the best parts of Instagram.
But these cute, witty and fun comments are not just for laughs — they’re a smart engagement tactic that’s helping brands attract tons of attention and grow their account!
Here’s how you can use Instagram comments to fuel your growth:
Why Instagram Comments Are More Important Than Ever If You Want More Followers
Instagram comments are going through a big change.
Brands are no longer just interacting on their own profile’s posts anymore — they’re leaving the comfort of their feed to engage and communicate with other brands on Instagram.
In an article for Vogue, Bridget Read wrote: “On Instagram, the comments section is the new frontier in the app’s evolution from a platform once attractive for its immediacy and relative purity to something a lot more akin to its parent application, Facebook.”
“Instagram’s increasingly complex comments section, once a log of emoji responses and acknowledgments, now features a plethora of delights,” said Read. And we tend to agree.
While the majority of Instagram conversations used to look something like multiple flame emojis and ‘O.M.G’ comments from a follower to another follower, a follower to brand, and occasionally a brand to a follower, the tables have turned. Now we’re seeing a huge increase in “brand to brand” comments and we’re loving the new trend!
For example, take a look at how Verizon Media left Huff Post a comment supporting their latest post, while tagging in Virgin! This type of three-way convo is the new way brands are communicating with each other!
So what we’re seeing is both Instagram users and brands reacting, and engaging with the comments sections more so than ever. As a brand, this is the place to be if you want to catch the eye of new followers!
How Did This New Instagram Comments Trend Start?
Late last year, users started seeing changes in how comments were displayed in the Instagram feed. Comments, especially those by celebrities and larger accounts suddenly became much more visible as you scrolled through your followers’ posts.
Now, the Instagram algorithm tends to show the 2 most recent comments from verified accounts directly underneath the post’s caption in your feed.
Dubbed a “sticky comment”, this is a prime location for influencers, brands and celebrities to get exposure on a follower’s feed.
But that’s not all. The algorithm is so smart that sometimes it will show you comments from profiles that it thinks will be of “interest to you”. So based on who you follow and engage with the most, it will highlight relevant profiles in this “sticky comments” section too. It’s a new way to help users discover more profiles on Instagram.
That’s why sometimes you might see comments from profiles (they’re not always verified profiles, but usually do have a strong following) that you don’t follow, or have never seen before highlighted as a “sticky comment”:
For example, you might follow HBO and a few of the cast of Game of Thrones like Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke on Instagram. So the next time you see a post by HBO on Instagram about Game of Thrones, you might spot comments from other cast members like Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams in that top comments position. The algorithm has learnt that you’re interested (read: obsessed!) with all things GOT, so it’s going to show you other related profiles in the “sticky comments” section.
From a brand perspective, the algorithm is working hard to pull together the relationships between profiles — defining what things you have in common with other brands that might interest to your new, prospective followers.
Here’s an example from The Cut: they shared a photo of Russian Doll’s star Natasha Lyonne. The top two comments in the “sticky comments” were from Rebecca Ramsey (fashion director at The Cut) and fashion designer, Marc Jacobs.
As a user, you might tap into either profile to learn more about them, or see how they’re related to The Cut brand.
Instagram comments has become a game changer for increasing a brand’s exposure with very little effort — even if you don’t post new content, your comments on related brands and businesses, could still appear in a follower’s feed and attract their attention.
And while being verified definitely does help you get to that top spot, it’s not essential!
The hugely successful Instagram account @CommentsByCelebs really optimized on this Instagram algorithm update and based their whole content strategy around extracting and sharing screenshots of celebs commenting on other celebs’ Instagram posts.
In a podcast interview with Who? Weekly, co-creators of the @commentsbycelebs Julie Kramer and Emma Diamond said: “We picked up on the [new] algorithm… We would follow celebrity accounts to specifically see how they were commenting on each others’ posts”. And from there, they dedicated their page specifically to sharing these hilarious celebrity interactions.
After humble beginnings in April 2017, the pair have grown the account to over 1M followers, and each post exposing the daily quips, chats, and shoutouts between celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Drake, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Chrissy Teigen receives tens of thousands of likes!