The best thing about blogging for me isn’t about the freebies. Yes, you folks already know that I do receive products from PRs for editorial consideration so there’s no need for me to be coy about it. But while that is a bonus, it’s not the best thing about blogging for me. Even if that stops tomorrow, I’ll still be carrying on because to me, the best thing about blogging isn’t just about helping to make someone’s day, it’s also to interact with my readers.
I don’t know if I said this enough but I love every comment that I get on the blog. I’m very thankful that I don’t often receive hateful comments because that’s a whole other kettle of fish to deal with. I may not reply the comments as soon as they come in but I do try to reply to every comment that I get. That’s the primary way I interact with my audience.
So here’s my question for you: how do you interact with your audience?
There are so many ways you can interact with your readers. Blogging is such an interactive activity. it’s not just about you creating content; it’s also about creating conversations with your readers about said content. If I’m only going to be writing without giving my audience any way to interact with me, I might as well close shop now because it really isn’t going to work at all.
Here are 6 ways you can interact with your readers:
1. Blog comments
Personally, I don’t understand blogs that switch their comments off. Not every reader is on social media and as bloggers, we have to remember that not all of our audience are tech-savvy. We should give our readers every opportunity to have their say, good or bad (I draw the line at trolls and hateful, meaningless comments). That’s what a blog is for, isn’t it? It’s to generate conversations with your readers. Comments work the best for me and I highly enjoy receiving and replying them.
2. Social media
For readers who are also on social media, well, this makes interaction with them even easier. I enjoy Twitter and Facebook for this. Some blogs even insert a Facebook comment plugin in their commenting system to allow their readers to leave comments via Facebook instead of just on the blog’s regular commenting platform. Do whatever works for you.
3. Email
When I started my weekly email newsletter, BA Insider, I’ve been getting email replies from readers after every mail sendout. I love it! My content on BA Insider is slightly different from what you get on the blog; it has a more personal touch and I love it when my readers interact with me via email. If you have a mailing list or a email newsletter, encourage your readers to reply to your emails by asking questions in your newsletters.
4. Twitter chats
I hosted a Twitter chat using the #bbloggersoz hashtag years ago and it was so much fun. It was not easy, mind you, as you’ll need to moderate the chat, ask questions, retweet good answers and keep the chat interesting for an hour. I thought it was highly engaging and I learned so much from other beauty bloggers and non-bloggers too. Host a Twitter chat if you can. It doesn’t have to be about blogging. Set a date, time and topic in advance, let your audience know and most of all, have fun!
5. Webinar
I haven’t done one yet but I hope to do a Google Hangout soon. I’ve attended many Google Hangouts where I join an audience to interact with the host and asked questions.
6. Live events/meetups
This is popular amongst YouTubers but hey, no one said you can’t do it too. I haven’t done one but it’s mostly for the fear of people not showing up 😛 . However, if you have a good amount of audience, it’s a great way to actually meet your readers and interact with them face-to-face. It’s very different doing it in real life vs. behind the computer.
There are so many ways to interact with your audience. You don’t even need to blog frequently to start and maintain conversations with your readers. Engage with your readers and keep those conversations going. A lot of my readers have even turned into friends. 🙂
Great post, Tine! As I’m getting back into this blogging thing, I’m so new to everything and am even out of date with what social media people are using, ha. So for me I’m just keeping it simple this time – comments and e-mail. I think meetups would be cool too, maybe in the future! 🙂
Renee / Beautifille.com recently posted..Makeup, I Want My Make Up For Ever.
Hello hello Renee, how are you? How have you been? Feels like it’s been ages! Did you stop blogging for a while, ‘cos I haven’t seen your blog in my feed in ages!
Hey Tine! Yep, stopped for like 1.5 years but I am back 🙂 I changed my blog URL so that could be why?
Renee / Beautifille recently posted..HD Powder Mishaps: How to Avoid (& Fix) It
Strange, I do have your current URL. Don’t know why my Feedly isn’t updating it. Never mind, I deleted the old URL and re-added it!
Oh very strange – thanks for subscribing! I added you to my Blogroll (I know I’m super old school, ha) but will subscribe too! Keep up the great work!
Renee / Beautifille recently posted..Etat Libre D’Orange in Singapore!
This post is very relevant to where my blog is at right now because I just started receiving more comments. My blog is quite new but I get very excited when someone comments on my posts because I get to write back to them and thank them for stopping by. I didn’t start my blog to in order to create a huge following for myself. I did it because I wanted to do it for myself. So if each of my posts gets at least one comment which means it’s reached at least one person then that’s good enough for me.
Tracy recently posted..Comment Courtesy – Responding vs. Reacting
I agree Tracy, and I feel the same too. It excites me whenever I receive a comment. And it’s a good thing too to start doing it for yourself. Whatever comes down the road, you’ll still remember why you love blogging in the first place. 🙂
Blog comments are such an important part of blogging to me, I want my readers know that I value their thoughts they leave behind! And starting a newsletter is definitely on my list to do next, as soon as I find the time to create one 😀
Kelly B. recently posted..How to Capture the Little Moments this Summer with Walmart Family Mobile!
I highly recommend getting on your email list. It took me 7 years to get crackin’ on a newsletter. Talk about procrastination. 😛
I only use blog comments at the moment, but I have enjoyed seeing you post on Facebook more Tine!
Mel recently posted..Violet Box April Review 2015
Hahahaha I often forget I have a Facebook page for the blog! Yeah I’ve been trying to use it more often. It just sucks though that Facebook only allows my posts to reach so little people despite having a good amount of following. Well, unless I pay of course. Boo.
Are you kiddin?!! You’re totally the best! Most of the time with bloggers I’m a silent reader who barely ever comments because its all one sided but you always answer, even if you don’t, I still know you’ve read them! 🙂
AWWWWW thanks Ash! I definitely read all of my comments and reply everyone when I can. I made the mistake of not replying comments years ago and I paid the price for it. Lost many readers. 🙁