What your comment section is telling you

Your customers are asking, sharing and suggesting. There’s valuable brand real estate just below your latest post.

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Your customers are asking, sharing and suggesting. There’s valuable brand real estate just below your latest post.

I came across Archrival’s research while reading Vogue Business, and one finding made me pause: 52% of Gen Z respondents said they looked at comment sections when researching brands and products on social media, compared with 37% who looked at brand profiles and posts. Source: Vogue Business

I had definitely underestimated the comment section.

Working in a creative field, I naturally put so much thought into what gets published. The concept, the shoot, the edit, the effects. The hours spent making something feel right.

Then someone sees the finished piece and scrolls straight down to find out what everyone else thinks.

That stayed with me. We give such careful attention to the story a brand tells, while the conversation underneath it can become part of how people judge the business.

The research focuses on Gen Z. It also made me curious about what we might find by paying closer attention to our own audiences, whatever their age. What are they asking? What remains unclear? And what happens when they reach out?

Looks good. But will it work for me?

Beauty and wellness content often asks us to imagine a possibility: a different routine, a stronger body, a product we’ll love using.

The comments bring that possibility into everyday life.

“Does this shade look as good on deeper skin?”

“Has anyone with fine curls tried it?”

“I’m in my fifties and new to strength training. What’s the starting level?”

These questions add details that a campaign can’t always contain. People bring their own bodies, budgets, experiences and doubts into the conversation. Other customers answer. Someone asks a follow-up question. The polished image acquires context.

That’s what interests me culturally: a brand’s message is being interpreted in public, with customers contributing their own knowledge and expectations.

Those contributions aren’t automatically accurate or representative. But they offer a view of what people are trying to work out before buying or booking.

For founders, that makes the space beneath a post worth reading closely.

I wanted a conversation. I received a discount code.

I recently sent a brand a DM because I wanted to connect. They replied with a generic message and a discount code, which felt strange because it had nothing to do with what I’d written. I remember thinking, "oh... ok...?"

It wasn’t a public comment, but when you take a moment to write something, you hope the person on the other side will take a moment to read it.

I can see how this happens when you’re busy running a business. Answering all the messages and comments is just a task no one is keen on taking. But being on the receiving end made me realise how easily a conversation can end before it’s really started.

If you’re a founder, try reading a few recent exchanges in your inbox from the customer’s side. Would you feel that someone had understood why you reached out? After that experience, it’s something I’d pay much closer attention to.

What needs a reply, and what needs a rethink?

Founders already have enough competing for their attention. “Spend more time engaging” is difficult advice to use without knowing where to start.

I’d look for three kinds of conversation.

Questions holding up a decision.

Someone wants to understand a shade, a hair product’s intended use, a class level or what happens at a first appointment. Give them a clear answer. If it’s useful to others, make that information easy to find publicly.

Questions that keep coming back.

Repeated confusion about the same thing can reveal a gap in your content or customer journey. If people continually ask what a treatment price includes, review the booking page. If they keep requesting a demonstration on a particular skin tone, bring that into your next shoot.

Concerns about someone’s experience.

A reported reaction, disappointing result or difficult appointment needs individual attention and appropriate follow-through. Where health concerns are involved, connect the person with qualified support. Later, consider whether the exchange reveals something your team needs to explain or handle more clearly.

Each requires a different response. Recognising the difference helps you put your time where it can be useful.

Follow one question all the way through

Imagine a haircare founder repeatedly seeing this comment:

“Will this be too heavy for fine curls?”

The first step is to understand the concern. Are people worried about losing volume, using too much product or choosing the wrong formula?

The founder checks whether the same question appears in DMs and customer enquiries. They speak with the team about what the product is designed to do and who it suits.

That gives them a more specific brief: film an application on fine curls, show the amount used, explain the method and describe that person’s experience without promising identical results for everyone.

The useful information then goes onto the product page. The team returns to the original questions with a link to the demonstration.

Over the following weeks, they can look for signs that the explanation is helping: fewer repeated questions, more specific follow-ups or customers saying the demonstration clarified their choice.

One recurring question has informed a reply, a piece of content and a better product page. That’s a practical return on paying attention.

A suggestion is a starting point

There’s a judgement call here, too.

One enthusiastic request for a new shade or class time doesn’t establish demand. Comments come from the people who choose to speak, and their needs may differ from those who stay quiet.

Before committing, ask another question. Look for repetition. Compare what you’re hearing with booking enquiries, customer feedback or reasons for returns.

If an idea looks promising, test it on a manageable scale. Be clear about what you’re exploring and what you can realistically change.

Then tell people what happened. Even when the answer is “we can’t offer that yet,” explaining the decision acknowledges the time they took to contribute.

And if your comments are quiet?

A small or quiet comment section still leaves you plenty to work with.

Questions may arrive during consultations, at reception, through booking forms or in DMs. Ask the people who handle those conversations what they find themselves explaining repeatedly.

You can use those questions to create useful public content without identifying the customer.

A studio might explain what a first session involves.

A beauty founder might demonstrate how to choose between two finishes.

A practitioner might walk through the consultation process.

You can also invite a specific question: “What would you like to see before choosing a shade?” gives someone a clearer starting point than “Any thoughts?”

The aim is to make it easier for people to tell you what they need.

What this changes on Monday morning

• Set aside twenty minutes to review recent comments and enquiries with whoever speaks to your customers most often.

• Choose one question that is either recurring or important to a buying decision.

• Decide whether it needs a clearer reply, a demonstration, a website update or individual support.

• Give someone responsibility for the next step, and return to the conversation when you have something useful to share.

This approach fits with TikTok’s guidance to understand relevant communities through their conversations, and Hootsuite’s emphasis on looking at interaction quality alongside volume. TikTok for Business · Hootsuite

I’ll still care about the concept, the visuals and the edit. But this research has made me look more closely at the life a piece of content has after we publish it.

Someone asking founder, following that question through could improve far more than the next post.