Someone else’s comment section is one of the most underused ad spaces in social. It takes zero production and zero media spend. One sharp sentence on the right post can reach thousands of people. Here’s why comment marketing works, who does it well, and a checklist to get started.
Everyone reads the comments
You see a post. You watch it, maybe twice. Then you open the comments to see what everyone else thinks.
That’s where the second show happens. The jokes, the hot takes, the reply with more likes than the post itself. For a lot of people, the comment section is the best part of the feed.
It’s full of your future customers. And very few brands are in there talking to them.
What comment marketing is
Comment marketing means your brand comments on other people’s posts. Creators, media, adjacent brands and niche accounts where your audience already spends its time. On purpose, on a plan, in your own voice.
Community management takes care of the conversation on your own channels. Comment marketing takes your brand into everyone else’s.
Done right, every comment works like a small ad placement. It sits under content people already chose to watch, it reaches an audience in the mood to engage, and the only production cost is the sentence itself.
Why it works
People read the comments to decide what they think. About brands too.
48% of consumers read social media comments to see what others say about a brand.
1.1 million likes on a single brand comment. Holiday Inn Express posted it under a viral TikTok with 42 million views.
100,000+ likes on one Vita Coco comment that turned into a full creator partnership. More on that below.
One sentence on the right post earns thousands of views. The best ones earn millions. Comment marketing gives you three things:
Visibility. Presence in communities your brand doesn’t own.
Reach and traffic. New followers and visitors to your own channels.
Positioning. Show up in the same conversations week after week and you become a voice in your category.
Yes, we know. Duolingo.
Duolingo is the classic example, and there’s a reason. The owl comments on its own posts and in other people’s feeds, with the same chaotic humour everywhere. Duolingo has made comments in other people’s feeds a content pillar of its own.
It paid off early. In 2021, Duolingo gained 1.5 million TikTok followers in two months on mascot videos and witty comments. When Taylor Swift announced an album on TikTok that year, brands held the top 12 comments. Duolingo was one of them.
The newer proof point is Vita Coco. When creator Romeo Bingham’s homemade Dr Pepper jingle went viral earlier this year, Vita Coco’s social team jumped into her comments. The comment passed 100,000 likes, and Vita Coco became the first brand to sign her as a paid partner. The result: close to 250 million impressions, 130,000 new TikTok followers in about a month, and the brand’s highest Google search interest in four years.
One comment. A whole campaign.
Our take: the Nordic comment section is wide open
Very few Nordic brands do comment marketing seriously yet. Plenty reply well on their own channels. Almost nobody shows up in other people’s feeds, on a plan, every week.
That’s the opportunity. The space is yours to take, and the cost of entry is low: a list of accounts, a clear voice and a few hours a week. Duolingo’s personality first came through in how the team handled comments, before the brand made much video. First movers get to set the tone in their category before it gets crowded.
Comment marketing works best as part of the social plan. It should know what’s launching, which creators you work with and what your brand sounds like everywhere else. Run as a side task, it turns into random jokes. Run as a channel, it compounds.
How to get started
Three steps take you from zero to a working comment channel.
Pick your rooms. Map 5–10 accounts where your audience already hangs out: creators, media, adjacent brands, niche communities. Choose for audience fit over follower count.
Set your voice. Decide how your brand sounds in someone else’s space. Place yourself on a scale from 1 (corporate) to 10 (chaotic), then write down the rules for humour, emojis, pop culture and no-go topics.
Show up and learn. Start with 10–15 thoughtful comments a week. Track which comments and accounts drive reach, profile visits and followers. Double down on what works and update the list every month.
Take it with you
The comment marketing checklist for CMOs
12 things to get right before, during and after. The same list we use ourselves. Tick them off as you go.
