In a competitor analysis, you’ll be reviewing your direct competitions social media accounts and making notes based on everything you learn about their content, interaction with their audience, branding, SEO, keywords etc. You can then use this analysis to form your own strategy. 

First, look up your competition and make a note of them. You can’t do a competitor analysis if you don’t know who they are, and when you’ve found them, you can separate these businesses into the following categories: 

 

• Direct competitors – brands with the same product and audience. 

• Indirect competitors – businesses offering the same product, but solving a different problem for the audience. 

• Legacy competitors – established, well-known businesses that are trusted and known. 

• Emerging competitors – new competitors that are trying to find space in the same market, similar to your business. 

You now need to look at your competitor’s social media and begin to learn more about them. Learn about the quality of the products they sell by looking at reviews, see how much they charge, check their style of interaction and customer service, see what their brand reputation is and discover how active they are. If you’ve already started out on social media, you can use some of these insights and compare them to your current marketing. Alternatively, you can use this information to form the foundations of your social media marketing strategy and craft the way you operate on your chosen platform. 

What keywords do they use? You need to take advantage of using relevant keywords or phrases so that audiences can find you, so looking at what your competitors use will help you understand which keywords are delivering the best results. You should also be unique with the keywords you choose – there will obviously be some overlap, but coming up with terms or phrases that relate more to your business will help when users search those words or phrases. Keywords tell the algorithm what your business is about, allowing others to find your content easily when searching for a specific topic. 

How much are audiences engaging with their business’ content? Are they frequently commenting, liking or sharing post? Is there a specific form of content they’re producing that’s attracting the most engagement? Even if they’re leading the industry, audiences may not enjoy their content if it’s not 

getting a lot of engagement. If you see a post with a lot of feedback noting that their audience enjoyed a piece of content, then you can use this post as inspiration for when you start to design your own content. Don’t copy them however – create something original and individual that touches on elements used in successful content by competitors. 

Finally, look for where there are gaps in content produced by competitors, make notes, and then fill those gaps with your content. For example, if they’re making video content but don’t have any captions or chapters, you can add these in when you create your video content to make them more accessible to your audience. Alternatively, if they don’t respond to comments, you should make this a key part of your marketing strategy. By identifying the weaker areas in their strategy, you can ensure they’re covered and strengthened in your own plans, advancing your opportunities to attract the platforms existing audiences. 

Competitor Analysis’ are key for your business to carry out. Not only can you get to know other businesses in your industry, but you can use it to better your own output and show your audience that your business should be their go-to choice. Create yours today and see how it helps you with your marketing.