Today we have some big news to share: Disqus is now part of Zeta Global, a marketing technology company that helps leading brands acquire, retain and grow customer relationships.

Welcome the Chapter 5 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on the most recent chapter on promoting comments on external channels. Thanks!

A highly engaged audience can be a your most valuable asset. In this chapter, we’ll explore strategies for fostering loyalty from new readers and retaining your most valuable audience members through incentives and recognition.

... and how you can help!

With millions of comments posted on Disqus across 191 countries, it should come as no surprise that not everyone using Disqus speaks the same language.

Welcome the Chapter 4 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on the most recent chapter on hosting events. Thanks!

Today’s readers engage with your content across several channels. More than ever, readers find, read, and interact with content on social media, email, and in mobile apps. The most successful publishers employ a multi-channel strategy to foster engagement and connect to their audiences. Here are some best practices to increase reader engagement when leveraging channels outside your website:

Welcome the Chapter 3 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on Chapter 2 on turning comments into engaging content. 

Events bring people together around a shared experience, creating a powerful sense of community. An event could be anything from a Q&A forum, a live video stream, or simply a place to hang out. As long as it involves a group of people gathered together by a common purpose, you have an event.

One of our favorite things to do at Disqus is talk with publishers about how we can help them grow. Frequently publishers tell us about their desires to grow their email subscription lists as a way to distribute their content directly with their readers. We took these insights and turned them into a new feature within Disqus. Starting today, publishers on our Disqus Pro and Business plans can now enable an email subscription prompt directly within the Disqus comment embed to allow their most engaged users to seamlessly subscribe.

Welcome the Chapter 2 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on the latest from Chapter 1 on listening to your community.

In 2015, New York Times Community Editor Bassey Etim was speaking on a panel about community building and moderation when he said: “We have to treat comments as content.”

You’re reading through your favorite site in the morning before starting your day. It's a normal part of your routine. You recognize the topics, content, articles and even the authors. But this time you see something new: a subscription prompt. It could be as simple as a kind request for you to support the site, maybe it's entirely optional, maybe it’s not. Or perhaps you’ve now been given 10 more articles to read free of charge, until being forced to pay or find a source of content.

When I first started my career in analytics, Data Analyst was declared the “Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.”  Buzz around “big data” was on the rise as the most successful companies were increasing their investments in data and striving to foster data-driven cultures. This led to a high demand for data analysts and scientists who were needed to sift through that data in search of value. However, due to the lack of widespread data accessibility and transparency within companies, too often analyst work becomes frustrating and monotonous, consisting of one-off requests for stakeholders, data-validation, running similar queries over and over, and having co-workers compete for resources and prioritization. These inefficiencies keep companies from getting the most out of their analysts and make achieving the benefits of a data-driven culture more difficult.

Listening is the essential first step and establishes a framework for building strong relationships with your audience. Reciprocity is critical. A strong community includes both you and your readers. By listening to your audience from day one, you align the goals and expectations of both parties and ensure that you remain an embedded part of your community.