Blueprint to Implement Social Media Competitive Analysis

If you’re a digital marketer, understanding what works on social media isn’t just nice to have, it’s necessary. Social media competitive analysis gives you insights into what your competitors are doing right, where they’re falling short, and how you can capitalize on those opportunities. This process allows you to spot industry trends and gaps that you can use to enhance your social media strategy. Basically, it’s a way to stay sharp and ensure you’re not falling behind in competitive edge.

So, what’s next? Keep reading to learn the exact steps, tools, and strategies to keep you ahead of the competition in social media.

What is Social Media Competitive Analysis?

Social media competitive analysis involves monitoring your competitors’ social media activities. The monitoring process involves tracking their social media performance, and using that information to improve your social media strategy. This process includes benchmarking their follower growth, engagement rates, content styles, and more. It helps you get a clear picture of what’s driving success in your industry.

For digital marketers, social media competitive analysis is critical because it provides real-world data on what works. This social media analysis allows you to see what your competitors are doing well and where they’re missing the mark. From there, you can refine your approach, making decisions that are rooted in competitive insights.

You can use the Free social media competitive analysis template that I have created for PrimeNest Realty. This fictional competitive analysis will help you use the template.

Key Metrics to Track in Competitor Analysis

To get the most out of your social media competitive analysis, focus on tracking a few key metrics that can tell you a lot about your competition’s social media performance. These metrics include:

• Follower Growth Rate: Is your competitor’s audience growing faster than yours? A quick comparison with social media competitor analysis will help you gauge their brand momentum.
• Engagement Rates: Look at likes, shares, comments, and other engagement metrics. This shows how active their audience is and can hint at what type of content works best. It can help you with effective content creation ideas.
• Content Types and Posting Frequency: What are they posting-videos, images, stories? How often do they post? Understanding this helps you adjust your content plan.
• Hashtags and Share of Voice: Which hashtags are they using, and are they leading conversations in your industry? This can reveal social media trends you might be missing.
• Post Timing: The timing of posts can significantly impact engagement. Are they posting at peak times, and how does that align with your posting schedule?

By focusing on these metrics, you can identify areas where you might be lagging and opportunities to get ahead.

Pro Tip: To gain an edge in competitor analysis, focus on understanding how to measure social media marketing performance by tracking metrics such as audience growth, engagement rates, reach, and conversion data. These insights can reveal what's driving your competitors' success and guide your strategy for optimized results.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a vital part of social media competitive analysis. A SWOT analysis is a strategic tool used to assess the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats associated with a business or project. It’s designed to give you a comprehensive view of where your company stands in the marketplace, including areas of improvement and potential risks.

In the context of social media competitor analysis, it helps you assess your competitors’ performance and compare it with your own. It helps break down your competitors’ performance so you can make strategic decisions:

Strengths: Look for what your competitors are excelling at. Maybe they have high audience engagement or an active, loyal following. Can you replicate or improve on these strategies?

Weaknesses: Are there areas where they’re underperforming? Low audience engagement on certain platforms or a lack of content diversity could be gaps you can exploit.

Opportunities: What trends or industry gaps can you take advantage of that they’re missing? This is where you can differentiate your brand.

Threats: Are new competitors entering the market, or are there industry shifts that could affect your standing?

Here are the questions you can ask for each section of the SWOT analysis:

Strength	Weakness	Opportunities	Threats
What content or strategies are driving the most engagement for competitions?	Are there any platforms where they have a weak presence or low engagement?	Are there industry trends or emerging platforms they are missing that you can capitalize on?	Are there new competitors entering the space with strong social media strategies?
Which platforms are they performing best on, and why?	Do their posts lack variety or creativity? Is there a content format they’re underutilizing?	Are there content gaps or topics they aren’t covering that resonate with your audience?	Is their audience growing faster than yours, and if so, what are they doing differently?
Do they have a larger, more active follower base compared to your brand?	Are they slow to adopt new trends or features on social media (e.g., TikTok, Instagram Reels)?	Can you target a demographic or interest group they haven’t fully reached yet?	Are there shifts in audience preferences or platform algorithms that may put you at a disadvantage?
Are there specific types of posts (e.g., videos, stories, reels) that consistently get higher engagement?	Is there a negative sentiment in their audience comments or reviews?	Are they failing to engage with any communities or hashtags that could expand your reach if you tap into them?	Could their superior ad campaigns or influencer partnerships be pulling your audience away?

This competitor analysis will give you a clear view of where your brand stands in relation to others. Helps you understand how you can improve, pushing you to create industry benchmarks.

Benefits of Social Media Competitive Analysis

Here’s why social media competitive analysis is essential for digital marketers:

• Improved Strategy: By analyzing your competitors, you’ll gain valuable and deeper insights into what’s working for them, which you can apply to your own social media campaigns.
• Identify Opportunities: Competitive analysis helps you spot gaps in the market or underutilized platforms, which you can use to your advantage for a competitive edge on social media channels.
• Better Customer Engagement: Learn from your competitors’ successes and boost your own engagement by adapting their most successful tactics.
• Benchmarking for Growth: By tracking competitors’ growth, you’ll be able to set realistic benchmarks for your own social media performance.
• Proactive Threat Management: Keep an eye on emerging competitors or shifts in target audience preferences so you can adapt before it’s too late and apply on social media channels.
• Enhanced Ad Campaigns: Use competitor data to fine-tune your own ads and increase your return on investment (ROI) and actionable insights.

Identify Your Competitors on Social Media Platforms

Knowing who your competitors are is a key first step in social media competitive analysis. But it’s not just about looking at direct competitors; indirect competitors are important too.

Direct competitors are businesses offering the same products or services to your target audience. Let’s say Nike vs. Adidas. Both target the same types of customers with a similar product lineup.

Indirect competitors don’t offer the same products but still have the same target audience. For example, while Nike might see outdoor gear brands as indirect competitors, since both are going after people with active lifestyles, the products are different.

To identify both direct and indirect competitors, you can:

• Use Google searches to see who ranks for relevant keywords.
• Check social media platforms using hashtags your audience follows.
• Use tools for more detailed insights on social media competitor analysis through their activities.

How to Do a Social Media Competitive Analysis?

Let’s break down the process of social media competitor analysis step by step:

Step 1: Identify Your Competitors: Start by identifying your direct and indirect competitors through Google searches, hashtags, and social listening tools. Make sure you’re keeping track of both types because they can offer different insights.

Step 2: Track Key Metrics: Now that you’ve identified your competitors, begin collecting data on important metrics like follower growth, engagement, content types, and posting frequency.

Step 3: Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Take the data you’ve gathered and analyze it by performing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). This gives you a comprehensive view of where you stand compared to your competitors.

Step 4: Leverage Tools: Use social media competitor analysis tools to dive deeper into how competitors’ social media strategies impact their overall web traffic and conversions.

Step 5: Continuous Monitoring: This isn’t a one-time task. Set up a routine—whether it’s quarterly or biannually—to review your competitors’ strategies and see how things are evolving.

Use Competitive Insights for Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

Here’s how you can apply the competitive insights from your competitive analysis to improve your own social media strategy on social platforms:

• Adjust Your Content Strategy: Use your findings to tweak your content. If you see that competitors are having success with specific types of posts, consider incorporating those formats into your own plan.
• Optimize Ad Campaigns: Tailor your ad campaigns based on what’s working for your competitors. If video ads are getting better engagement, shift your focus there.
• Regular Monitoring: Social media is constantly changing, so set up regular audits to keep your content strategy up to date and make adjustments as needed.

Social Media Competitive Analysis Tools

Here are a few social media competitor analysis tools that make competitive analysis easier and more effective for social media performance:

1. Hootsuite: Great for tracking follower growth and engagement across platforms. This social media competitor analysis tool simplifies data collection so you can focus on social media analysis.
2. Similarweb: Useful for tracking how competitor social media efforts lead to actual web traffic, giving you a broader sense of their impact.

Using these social media competitor analysis tools will streamline your social media analysis by automating the data collection process. That way, you can spend more time analyzing social media trends and refining your social media marketing strategy rather than digging through raw data.

Conclusion

Social media competitive analysis is a must for digital marketers who want to stay ahead and create industry benchmarks. By regularly reviewing your social media competitor analysis, you can refine your own and ensure you’re making data-driven decisions that lead to growth in the competitive landscape.

If you’re just starting out, begin with basic social media competitor analysis tools and key metrics, then scale your efforts as you become more comfortable with the process. And remember, regular audits will keep your social media strategy fresh and relevant.

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