Replying to Comments Boosts Engagement by 5-42% on These Major Platforms

""Instead of comparing one account's engagement to another's (which would favor larger or more active accounts), he used fixed-effects regression models to effectively compare each account to itself over time. The models also controlled for factors such as account size, location, and niche. That means we asked: "When this same account replies to comments, how does its engagement change compared to when it doesn't?" He also used Z-score analyses to measure how each post performed relative to the account's typical engagement, giving us a second check that the lift we were seeing wasn't random.""

""\"If you want engagement, do engagement.\" It's probably the simplest social media advice I've ever seen (hat tip to Buffer's Suzanne Kelly and Carolyn Kopprasch for coining that) - and it's 100% accurate. Not just anecdotally, either. Replying to comments on your posts can significantly boost engagement across six major platforms, according to a massive analysis by Buffer's data scientist, Julian Winternheimer. He pored over nearly 2 million posts from over 220,000 accounts on Threads, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky. His conclusion was a clear and consistent pattern: Posts where creators and brands reply to comments perform better almost every time.""

Nearly 2 million posts from over 220,000 accounts across Threads, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky were examined, revealing that replying to comments correlates with higher post engagement. Fixed-effects regression models compared each account to itself over time while controlling for account size, location, and niche. Z-score analyses measured each post's performance relative to an account's typical engagement as a secondary check. Results show a clear, consistent pattern: posts where creators and brands reply to comments perform better. Limitations include imperfect causal inference and differing sample sizes across platforms, especially newer ones.

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