How to Use the First Comment Feature While Posting From SocialPilot?

SocialPilot allows you to add the First Comment while creating posts for Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. It can significantly enhance post engagement by immediately interacting with your audience, which is favored by social media algorithms. This prompt interaction boosts the visibility of your posts and enhances the likelihood of trending within key categories or hashtags. Additionally, including a strategic call-to-action (CTA) in the first comment can effectively direct user engagement towards desired outcomes, such as website visits or contest participation, optimizing interaction across various global time zones.

In this article

1. Where to Find the First Comment?
2. Guidelines for Using Instagram's First Comment
3. Account Types Supported
4. Availability on Mobile App
5. Hashtag Counter Feature
6. Troubleshooting First Comment Issues

Where to Find the First Comment?

1. Go to the Create Post section to begin crafting your content for Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
2. Once in the post creation interface, click on the tab for the platform where you want to use the First Comment feature.
3. Within each platform-specific tab, look for an input field that indicates the First Comment feature near the bottom of the post creation module.

4. Enter your desired text, hashtags, or CTAs in the designated First Comment field. This area allows you to type or paste the content that will automatically be posted as the first comment once your main post goes live.
5. After adding your First Comment, continue with composing your main post. Once done, you can either schedule the post for later or publish it immediately. The First Comment will automatically follow your main post based on your settings.

Guidelines for Using Instagram's First Comment

To get the most out of the First Comment feature, it is important to follow Instagram-specific best practices and guidelines. By doing so, you ensure that your posts are optimized for visibility and comply with platform standards, avoiding any issues that might prevent your comment from being published.

Character Limit

• Maximize Your Space: Instagram allows up to 2,200 characters in the first comment. This generous limit gives you plenty of room to add additional information, engage your audience with compelling content, or include more detailed calls-to-action (CTAs) that complement your main post.
• Strategic Use: Use this space wisely by adding content that enhances your post, such as extra context, engagement questions, or promotional information. Remember, the first comment can be a great way to drive interaction, so think carefully about how to use this space.

Content Rules

• Avoid Redundancy: Make sure that the content in your first comment is distinct from your post caption. Repeating the same text or hashtags can appear redundant and may dilute the impact of your message. Instead, use the first comment to add value by introducing new ideas, engaging your audience, or offering additional resources.
• Hashtag Strategy: Instagram allows you to use a total of 30 hashtags combined between the post caption and the first comment. This flexibility lets you distribute your hashtags in a way that keeps your caption clean and focused while still benefiting from the discoverability that hashtags provide. For example, you might choose to place the most relevant hashtags in the caption and additional or broader hashtags in the first comment.

Compliance

• Follow Instagram’s Community Guidelines: Instagram has strict community guidelines that govern the type of content you can post, including the use of hashtags. If your first comment contains hashtags or content that violates these guidelines, Instagram prevents it from being published. This includes avoiding banned or restricted hashtags, as well as ensuring that your content adheres to the platform's standards for appropriateness and relevance.
• Avoid Non-Delivery Issues: Non-compliance with Instagram’s guidelines is one of the most common reasons why a first comment might fail to publish. To avoid this, always review your content for compliance before scheduling or posting. This not only helps ensure your first comment goes live as planned but also protects your account from potential penalties or reduced visibility on the platform.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively use the First Comment on Instagram to enhance your post's engagement, and ensure compliance with Instagram's policies.

Account Types Supported

While the First Comment feature is highlighted here for Instagram, its availability and functionality can differ on other platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, depending on their specific API capabilities and restrictions. It's essential to stay updated on the latest API changes and compliance guidelines issued by each platform. This knowledge will help you utilize the First Comment feature effectively and avoid any disruptions in your social media activities.

• Business Accounts: The First Comment feature is available exclusively for Instagram Business accounts. This availability aligns with Instagram's API, which permits advanced interactions such as automated comments only for business profiles.
• Direct Publishing Integration: For Instagram Business accounts, the First Comment is an integral part of the direct publishing process. When you schedule a post through SocialPilot, you can simultaneously set up the First Comment to automatically publish alongside your main content.

Availability on Mobile App

Currently, the First Comment functionality is only available on the web version of SocialPilot. The mobile app does not yet support this feature, focusing users to plan and execute more complex posting strategies via the desktop interface.

Hashtag Counter Feature

The Hashtag Counter enhances your social media management by providing real-time insights into your hashtag usage, helping you optimize the impact of your hashtags across different platforms.This ensures that you stay within the recommended limits and effectively engage with your target audience.

1. Original Tab Usage:
   • Overview: The Original tab within the SocialPilot post creation interface serves as your primary setup area where you can compose your post's content.
   • Hashtag Count Display: This tab automatically tallies the number of hashtags you add as you type. It provides a visual count of hashtags used, helping you track how close you are to the optimal number for engagement without exceeding platform-specific limits.

   • Management Benefits: Monitoring your hashtag usage in the Original tab prevents over-tagging, which can be seen as spammy by social platforms and may lead to decreased post visibility.

     

2. Platform-Specific Tabs:
   • Purpose: When you switch from the Original tab to the platform-specific tabs like Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, the interface adapts to show additional hashtag usage relevant to each platform.

   • Remaining Hashtag Calculation: These tabs provide insights into how many more hashtags you can add based on the best practices and limitations specific to each platform.

     

3. Twitter Character and Hashtag Count:
   • Separate Counts: For Twitter posts, SocialPilot displays the character count prominently, given the platform’s 280-character limit. This count is separate from the hashtag count, emphasizing the need to balance message brevity with effective hashtag inclusion.

By leveraging the Hashtag Counter feature within SocialPilot, you can ensure that your social media posts are not only compliant with platform guidelines but are also optimized for maximum engagement and reach.

Troubleshooting First Comment Issues

Why cannot I see my First Comment enabled?

To enable the First Comment feature, you need to re-authorize your Facebook/Instagram Business account.

1. Go to Manage Accounts from the left panel.
2. You will see a prompt asking you to reconnect your Instagram account.

3. Click on Reconnect and you will only need to grant permission for SocialPilot to manage comments, since you have already allowed other permissions.

   
   

   

   

   
   
4. After re-authorizing, the First Comment feature will be available for your Instagram Business accounts linked to the re-authorized Facebook profile.

If you haven’t granted these permissions, SocialPilot will notify you through Manage Accounts, in queued posts (indicating the first comment won’t be published), and in the delivered section (stating the first comment wasn’t published due to missing permissions).

Don’t worry, this re-authorization is a one-time setup.

My posts are delivered but my First Comment is not. Why?

Your post might be delivered without the first comment due to the following reasons:

1. Your post is not meeting the Community guidelines.
2. You haven’t re-authorized your profile, needed to allow SocialPilot to manage comments on your Instagram account.

To fix this, make sure you follow the community guidelines and re-authorize your account. If the first comment isn’t delivered, SocialPilot will notify you:

• Queued Posts: A warning will prompt you to re-authorize your account, stating that the first comment won’t be published.
• Delivered Tab: It will show that the post was delivered, but the first comment wasn’t due to missing authorization.

Re-authorizing your account and enabling SocialPilot to manage comments will resolve the issue.