your comment section is your best focus group

Free market research sitting in plain sight

Brands pay thousands for focus groups, customer surveys, and market research. Meanwhile, there's a free, real-time feedback loop sitting right under their posts that they completely ignore.

Your comment section is telling you exactly what your audience wants. You're just not listening to them.

Every comment is a data point. The questions people ask will reveal the gaps in your content, and the objections they raise show you what's not landing. The "this happened to me too" replies tell you what resonates, and the "I never thought of it that way" comments highlight your unique perspective.

But most people treat comments like a chore — they send quick replies, generic thanks, maybe a heart emoji…if anything at all. Then move on.

That's like getting handed a customer research report and using it as a coaster.

Here's how to actually use your comments: once a week, go through every comment on your recent posts. Not to respond to them, but to study them.

Categorize the comments. What questions keep coming up? What objections repeat? What do people want more of?

Those repeating questions are your next content series. Those objections are your next piece of persuasion. Those "tell me more" comments are literally your audience asking you to go deeper.

The best content ideas don't come from brainstorming sessions. They come from listening to what people are already telling you they want.

And it's not just your comments. Look at comments on competitor content. On industry content. On content adjacent to your space. What are people asking for that nobody's giving them? That's your opening.

Comments also tell you how to talk. The language your audience uses in comments is the language you should use in content. Get rid of your industry jargon and your clever marketing speak. Use their words, their phrasing, and the way they actually describe their problems.

When someone comments a question, they're not just asking you — they're telling you that dozens of others have the same question but didn't comment. Every question represents a silent audience waiting for the answer.

Stop treating comments like social obligation. Start treating them like customer interviews you didn't have to schedule.

The insights are right there. All you have to do is read them.