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In the comments on a TikTok of a dog yelping into a pillow, you\u2019ll find Google making calendar jokes. Below a TikTok about NYC ice-cream trucks, you\u2019ll find fashion brand Kenneth Cole commenting that \u201cMister Softee must be earned. Never tracked.\u201d And in the comments section of a TikTok of influencer Alix Earle dancing and lip-syncing in her pajamas, you\u2019ll find meal-delivery company HelloFresh encouraging her to drop an album.<\/p>\n
Brand social media accounts taking a more casual, conversational tone isn\u2019t new\u2014Wendy\u2019s has been doing it for the better part of a decade. But increasingly, brands are showing up in the comments sections on TikTok and Instagram, whether the post is about them or not.<\/p>\n
Kathryn Fernandez, global brand director for Dove at Unilever, told us in an email that 80% of the posts Dove commented on last month were on TikTok. \u201cThe creator community there is so strong and vocal around topics that align with our brand mission, so this is a really authentic place for us to engage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Brand marketers said that the comments section, particularly on user-generated posts, not only allows brands to engage directly with customers, but also establish relevancy and encourage positive brand sentiment.<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes, Dove works with a team of five community managers and strategists at Edelman, which is overseen by Kalie Dobrow, a senior supervisor of social strategy who helps manage the brand account. Their whole week, Dobrow told us, is centered around reading and replying to comments on Dove\u2019s posts, as well as finding commenting opportunities on user-uploaded posts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a lot more time than people realize to source these opportunities and craft language,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to be looking for fresh opportunities and fresh ways that people are talking on social so that we can figure out how to insert the brand into current and relevant conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
In early May, Dove (along with other brands like Spanx and Milani Cosmetics) was celebrating in the comments section on a TikTok of Zendaya arriving at a pre-Met Gala dinner. Dove\u2019s comment was met with a response from the original poster saying he loves the brand\u2019s products\u2014an interaction that Fernandez said was organic.<\/p>\n
Keeping Dove in the conversation during relevant cultural moments has allowed the brand to develop relationships with creators through commenting, Dobrow said. Dove\u2019s comment on a Bridgerton<\/em> parody video from TikToker Nate Brown, for example, led to a follow-up video from him that generated more than half a million likes, as well as an additional unboxing video after Dove sent him a gift.<\/p>\n When deciding whether to post a comment, Dobrow said the team evaluates the age of the video, the \u201cvolume and velocity\u201d of comments, and whether it\u2019s worth being one of many brands in the conversation (if others have commented already) before it\u2019s too oversaturated.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be a leading voice in the space, and that\u2019s another reason why we\u2019re so on top of the conversation on a daily basis,\u201d Dobrow said. \u201cSo that we can be one of the first.\u201d<\/p>\n When a comment is well-received, Dobrow said it can help the team develop future content ideas for Dove\u2019s owned channels. \u201cCommunity is a really great spot to learn how your audience might react to something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Other brands are taking a similar tack. At audiobook and podcast company Audible, Rosina Shiliwala, global head of social media marketing, told us her team tries to create \u201csocial content to match what the community is talking about.\u201d When comments on posts around the 1984<\/em> Audible adaptation release clamored for more content from cast member Andrew Garfield, she said that\u2019s what the team at Audible delivered.<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Liz Cole, chief social officer at agency VML, which works with Audible on its social media accounts, said some advantages of hitting the comments section include a quick turnaround time and a far lower cost of writing 50 comments over, say, making 50 videos.<\/p>\n \u201cIt allows us to test things in a very quick and lightweight way that doesn’t require a whole big production every single time,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n When commenting, Cole said Audible tends to \u201coccasionally break the fourth wall\u201d to help connect with audiences. \u201cThere\u2019s just enough personality to be able to imagine that there is a real person there understanding these titles, engaging with the lore, and taking part in the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Audible engages with online communities like BookTok and Bookstagram who may already be familiar with the platform, but Cole said comments also allow Audible to engage with people who aren\u2019t yet familiar with its offerings. When a TikTok about someone witnessing a man drinking cold-brew concentrate went viral, Audible\u2019s comment on the video about someone reading at 50x speed racked up more than 64k likes.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a hugely visible comment, and although not directly related to a book or [an Audible] property, it really underscored our allegiance with entertainment lovers and people who voraciously consume content,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n The strategy comes down to affinity and growing community, Shiliwala said. \u201cWe want as many people following Audible or on our owned and operated social media channels, and we also want to increase brand love across all of these engagements that the team is spending time interacting on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While it may be tempting to comment on every viral video, sometimes it\u2019s best to step back. At Dove, Fernandez and Dobrow said the team has some parameters in place, including making sure the poster is not under 18 or a bot. When considering whether to comment, the team also checks the poster\u2019s other content and the comments section to evaluate if it seems brand-safe.<\/p>\n Rachel Karten, a social media strategist who works with brands like Cava, told us that while comments have been \u201creally important\u201d for the fast-casual chain in establishing a funny brand voice, the best commenting strategy for non-owned content often boils down to quality over quantity.<\/p>\n \u201cMy general rule about it is it needs to be tangentially related to your brand in some way,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes it can feel a little bit off if it\u2019s just completely random or talking about something within pop culture. That\u2019s a little bit dicey, and where I would probably say, \u2018No need to comment there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u201cLightweight\u201d effort<\/h2>\n
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