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Learning From Your Competition


When you’re starting from scratch with content and you’re looking for inspiration, competitors are a great place to start. Although this is a good jumping off point, be careful not to assume that just because they’re doing it a certain way, that it’s the best strategy. Always keep in mind what speaks most authentically to you and your brand before drawing inspiration from another.




From looking at your competitors’ social profiles you can see:
  • ·        How often they post
  • ·        What days of the week and times of the day they post
  • ·        How large their follower bases are
  • ·        What specific types of organic, sponsored, and ad content they post
  • ·        Which types of posts get the most engagement

By capturing this information in a spreadsheet or a format that works well for your organization, you are able to see patterns that show what is working and what isn’t.







Lessons to learn from Competitors on Social Media

                     Different approaches to Social Media Marketing:

Observing social media activity can reveal plenty about a brand’s marketing strategy. Look at which social channels other businesses are most active on, how often they post updates, what time of day they share content, and whether or not any of their content is sponsored (i.e., whether they pay to get more views and engagement). Size up how effective a brand’s social media marketing tactics are by looking at their engagement levels, and take note of brands receiving a consistently high number of comments, shares, likes, and replies.

   What Content Sparks The Most Engagement:

Successfully connecting with consumers on social media requires sharing content that inspires engagement. Following similar businesses and brands to see what type of content their audience enjoys most (ex. Do certain hashtags or keywords result in more retweets or reactions?) important to consider how content can be repurposed and presented differently across multiple social networks.

 Find Consumers and Influencers to Follow:

Several things businesses can learn from analyzing their competitors’ social media fans and followers. The consumers following competitors can reveal insights into the target audience of the business you represent, including online behaviors and preferred social media channels.

Scoping out a competitor’s connections can help identify industry influencers who might be interested in partnering up or reviewing products. Remember to always look at the competitor’s followers as well as who the competitor is following back.

 Social Media Tactics to Avoid:

 Businesses can also learn from their competitors’ mistakes. Anytime a business or brand fails to address a negative comment or acknowledge a customer
concern, it presents an opportunity for competing brands to think about how they could have handled the situation better.

 Relevant Industry News and Trends:

 Brands can use social media to gain awareness about trending topics, events, and anything else top industry brands or local competitors are posting about.
Following competitors on Twitter is like subscribing to a steady stream of relevant industry news. Whether checking out what they’re retweeting or following links to their latest blog posts, other brands in the industry are sources of real-time updates and information that may be relevant.






Understanding your Competition

·        Perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of your current and future competitors.
·        
     Social media can be your best friend in analyzing the competition. Use a private Twitter list to shield your competitors from knowing that you are watching their behavior and notice which of their posts get the most retweets and likes.
·       
     Facebook and Instagram Insights have a slate of tools available for you, including the useful “Pages to Watch” section.
·       
     Companies like Hootsuite and Oktopost allow you to compare your social media strategy against others like yours in terms of sharing, click-through rates, and total views.


Thanks for reading! As always, use these blogs as a guidepost for finding your voice, but always use social to be true to yourself and your brand and tell YOUR story!

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