Researching your competitors’ platforms allows you to tailor your social media platforms to your intended audience. If you want to implement a stronger strategy, capture more attention from your target audience, and rise above the competition, you need to know what they’re up to. So, look at who’s crushing it. Learning the ins and outs of your competitors helps you come out on top.
The Value of Competitive Analysis
Looking into your competitors’ social platforms gives your business an advantage. If you want to better position your company, competitive analysis is an effective tool to keep in your back pocket. In fact, 90% of Fortune 500 companies practice competitive intelligence. This speaks volumes about the success that a solid competitive strategy can have. Diving into the whereabouts and activities of your competitors on social media act as a benchmark for your social strategy and speak to what goals you should be setting for yourself. To stay on top of trends and exceed industry standards, you need to identify opportunities. The best opportunities come from finding and comparing the key market metrics that separate you from your competitors. If you can identify the areas that differentiate you and your competitors, you are well on your way to a stronger strategy, and business as a whole.
Who’s on Top? 7 Insights Into Your Competitor's Socials
You can learn a lot from your competitors and the areas in which they excel. Keeping up with your rivals’ social performance religiously can reveal what social strategies can work for your business. After all, you do share mostly the same target audience. So ask yourself, how is the target audience interacting with your opponents? By evaluating how they react to your opponents’ content you’ll have an idea of what direction you should head. Increasing brand awareness and engagement becomes a whole lot easier when you can implement these observations into your social strategy.
1. What Trends Are They Capitalizing On?
If you’re interested in uncovering new trends, your competitors’ social media can show you what you might’ve missed or looked over in mainstream news. There are always new updates so look at what your competitors think about the constant stream of information. Evaluating what your competitors are doing allows you to observe trends with a pair of fresh eyes. Looking at your competitor’s content provides you with a different perspective.
2. Where Are The Gaps in the Market?
Where is there room for growth in the market? Over 56% of CEOs see cross-sector competition on the rise and plan to enter new markets in the next 3 years. If you can pinpoint the areas where your competition might be falling short, you are making more room for your company to expand into a more niche area of the market. Head to the comments section to grab the opinion of your shared target audience. What are they saying about them? There’s always room for improvement, so always be on the lookout for new possibilities for authentic offerings.
3. What Content is Working?
Which forms of content are resonating with their- and probably your- target audience? Look at which content has gone viral, what topics are receiving high like and comment counts, and how many people are resharing and vice versa. By spotting the distinguishable traits of your competitors' more successful content, you can implement these elements into your strategy. Uncovering these elements helps you gain insights into the best practices for content creation and output. Look at their successful content and the factors that set it apart. What visual elements elevate this content? Do they use custom or stock photos? Are certain topics resonating better? Don’t forget to take into account the style of voice your shared audience likes to engage with.
4. Which Platforms Are They Using?
Tracking which platforms have the highest number of followers and engagement rates. Your competitors can help you determine which platforms will have the most traction with your shared audience. Are they creating more traction by using CTAs (Calls to Action)? Where do their tags, share buttons, and links lead to? If your competitors are using platforms that you’re not, they can provide you with some insight into whether or not it’s worth your time.
5. When do they Post?
What times do they post and at what frequency? This may vary across platforms but it’s important to note. The dates and times that their successful content is posted can indicate when your target audience is the most active across platforms. Even looking at the holidays they promote can identify opportunities for you to leverage.
6. Which Keyword Searches Do They Appear In?
Google rankings and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are not the same as social search results. Search some industry keywords on the top-performing social platforms and see which businesses come up. How can you stand out? Understanding keyword density is essential when it comes to offering a more one-of-a-kind product and service. What are they doing differently that your target audience is intrigued by?
7. What Sets You Apart?
Knowing what sets you apart can help you articulate your strengths more directly to your audience. It doesn’t stop there, you can learn how to be even more authentic with your efforts by looking at what others are doing. What do you like and not like? Your product and services provide unique value to your audience and reinforcing this value informs your future efforts. Elevating the value of your offerings requires you to understand the differences between you and your competitors.
Comprehensive research into your competition helps you stand out from the crowd simultaneously saving you lots of time and resources. Elevating your competitive analysis strategy gives you the resources you need to make better marketing decisions and understand your target audience from a new perspective. There are endless opportunities to expand your business, and analyzing your competitors’ social media can help you decide which routes have the most potential.
