How to Perform a Social Media Competitor Analysis in 6 Steps


A social media competitor evaluation entails amassing and evaluating details about your rivals’ social media presences. Which helps you perceive their strengths and weaknesses and divulges methods you may enhance your personal social media technique.

Working a aggressive evaluation for social media allows you to:

  • Benchmark your efficiency
  • Determine areas of alternative and differentiation
  • Get to know your audience on a deeper stage
  • Uncover new traits or conversations you may cowl

We advocate operating a social media aggressive evaluation as soon as 1 / 4 to make sure you keep updated with competitor and trade adjustments.

Comply with alongside for how one can do a competitor social media evaluation in six steps:

1. Determine Your Competitors

Construct an inventory of your foremost rivals to tell your evaluation.

When you might concentrate on each direct rivals and oblique rivals (those who promote totally different services or products however might compete with you for market share), focus in your direct rivals.

Why? 

As a result of direct rivals are companies most much like your personal. So you may get probably the most correct data. 

Use Semrush’s Market Explorer to establish your foremost rivals and get insights into the aggressive panorama.

Right here’s how:

First, choose “Discover Opponents” and enter your area.

Then, click on “Analysis market.”

The “Overview” tab exhibits who you compete with on-line. And supplies details about market share, viewers dimension, and extra.

market consolidation, market domains, market traffic, market traffic cost, and market size data shown in Market Explorer tool

Subsequent, scroll all the way down to the “Development Quadrant” widget. This breaks down you and your rivals into 4 fundamental classes: 

  • Recreation Changers: Rising companies with excessive progress potential
  • Leaders: Companies with each massive audiences and excessive progress charges
  • Area of interest Gamers: Companies with small audiences and low progress charges
  • Established Gamers: Established companies with massive audiences
growth quadrant in Market Explorer tool, showing game changers, leaders, niche players, and established players

Notice the place every competitor stands and the way their viewers and visitors progress examine to yours. Then, create an inventory of your high 5 rivals.

2. Analyze Audiences and Platforms

Attending to know your rivals’ goal audiences can reveal related segments you aren’t but focusing on. Which may inform adjustments you could must make to achieve and interact related audiences.

To do that, you’ll need to examine traits like:

  • Demographics: Age, gender, location, and many others.
  • Socioeconomics: Training stage, earnings, family dimension, and many others.
  • Psychographics: Pursuits, values, targets, and many others.
  • Behaviors: Habits, preferences, ache factors, and many others.

Use One2Target to take a look at your competitors’s audiences.

Open the software, enter at the very least one competitor’s area, and click on “Analyze.”

One2Target tool search for "dominos.com"

The “Demographics” tab exhibits a breakdown of their viewers by age, gender, and placement. 

demographics dashboard in One2Target tool, showing audience breakdown, by age, gender, and location

Click on the “Socioeconomics” tab to view information in regards to the viewers’s family dimension, family earnings, schooling stage, and employment standing.

socioeconomics dashboard in One2Target tool, showing audience's household size, household income, education level, and employment

Now, click on the “Conduct” tab to be taught in regards to the viewers’s pursuits, system sort utilization, and most-used social media platforms.

behavior dashboard in One2Target tool, showing audience's interests, device type usage, and most-used social media platforms

these insights, we are able to see that this viewers:

  • Is between 25 and 44 years of age, with a better proportion figuring out as male
  • Is situated within the U.S.
  • Lives in a family of three to 4 folks
  • Is working full-time with a decrease earnings
  • Prefers to make use of cell units
  • Predominantly makes use of YouTube, Fb, Reddit, and Instagram

Use this data to tell your messaging. And decide the perfect social media platforms to concentrate on. 

3. Discover Trade Benchmarks

The subsequent step is to establish trade benchmarks to see the way you examine and gauge whether or not there’s room for enchancment in your social media strategy. And enable you set sensible targets.

First, return to Market Explorer. And click on on the “Benchmarking” tab. 

Subsequent, click on the “Natural Social” tab to see how a lot web site visitors rivals drive from their social media advertising efforts.

organic social graph in Market Explorer tool showing how much website traffic competitors drive from their social media marketing

Notice the quantity of natural social visitors every of your 5 foremost rivals will get. And in addition think about the common.

Then, examine these numbers to your personal. You will discover the precise quantity of visitors you get from social media visitors in Google Analytics. 

Subsequent, analyze your rivals’ engagement (likes, shares, and many others.) to know whether or not their content material is resonating with their audiences. And is likely to be price replicating on your target audience.

Use Semrush’s Social Tracker (a part of Semrush Social) to see rivals’ social media engagement charges. 

First, add the businesses you need to analyze.

Then, click on “Begin monitoring firms.”

add companies to track to Social Tracker tool

Within the “Overview” tab, select a platform you need to consider.

facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, linkedin, and pinterest tabs in Social Tracker tool

Then, click on the “Engagement” tab to view particular engagement metrics like reactions, feedback, and shares. 

On this case, you may as well see high reactions. Which helps you perceive viewers sentiment.

Engagement summary data, showing reactions, shares, and comments

The software makes it simple to match your personal metrics to your rivals’ metrics multi functional place. 

Lastly, use a social listening software to uncover conversations about your model and your rivals. And see how sentiment throughout manufacturers compares. 

Use the Media Monitoring app for this.

All it’s a must to do is rapidly arrange monitoring on your firm in addition to your rivals.

First, go to the “Mentions” tab to see precisely what persons are saying about every model. And pay significantly shut consideration to those who come from social media.

mentions dashboard in the Media Monitoring app

Then, go to the “Evaluation” tab for each model you’re focusing on to get a way of how sentiment differs for every.

analysis tab showing a mentions graph, with number of positive and negative mentions

4. Analyze Your Opponents’ Content material and Exercise

Analyze the different types of social media content your rivals share in addition to after they submit it. 

To achieve perception into what works and what doesn’t.

Take into account whether or not their posts are informational, aspirational, entertaining, or promotional. And discover out which of those classes drives probably the most engagement.

Additionally, search for how rivals use content material throughout totally different channels. 

For instance, do they submit the identical story on TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram? Or, do they differentiate between channels? And what affect does this have on their social media efficiency? 

Use Semrush Social’s Social Tracker software to search out out. 

For instance, click on “Fb” to see the chosen rivals’ top-performing posts over a particular time interval.

competitors facebook posts and their metrics shown in Social Tracker tool

Notice what these posts have in frequent. For instance: 

  • What format are they? 
  • What subject do they discuss? 
  • What copy have they used? 
  • Do they embrace a call to action (CTA)? The place does it direct the viewers to?
  • What hashtags do they use?

It’s also possible to discover how rivals use photographs and video on social media. 

Do they use product or way of life visuals? And which of those do folks touch upon probably the most?

Right here’s an instance of a product shot from Fortunate Goat Espresso that exhibits how their product is made:

a product shot from Lucky Goat Coffee posted on their Instagram

Whereas there aren’t many feedback, you may see that it’s obtained effectively over 100 likes. Which signifies it resonated with their viewers. 

And it’s a good suggestion to look into how usually rivals share content material. So you may optimize your personal posting schedule for higher efficiency.

Use Social Tracker to see your competitors’s posting frequency and the times of the week folks interact with their content material.

Social Tracker tool showing competition’s posting frequency and the days of the week people engage with content

For instance, in case you discover a competitor posts constantly all through the week and constantly generates excessive engagement, this alerts the viewers is receptive to common updates. 

Use the insights you acquire from finding out your rivals’ content material and posting cadences to refine your personal social media technique.

5. Do a SWOT Evaluation 

Summarize your aggressive evaluation by conducting a strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, and threats (SWOT) analysis.

Right here’s how one can fill in every quadrant:

Strengths

Determine the areas the place you meet or exceed trade benchmarks. Or exhibit a singular and compelling standpoint. 

For instance, let’s say you will have excessive impressions and attain because of using compelling video content material, interactive social media challenges, and user-generated content (UGC).

Weaknesses

Have a look at your weak factors.

Possibly you discover your follower progress has stagnated over the previous few months. Or, maybe you wrestle to generate genuine engagement on Instagram. 

Alternatives

Discover alternatives to outperform your rivals.

Let’s say the competitors creates localized content material and targets a small section of your audience. 

This might lead you to discover the opportunity of growth and tailoring social campaigns to wider areas. Which might enhance your market share.

Threats

Assess the threats you face.

Like if a competitor usually promotes offers and financial savings through social media to undercut your costs. Or, maybe they spend closely on social media advertising, however you don’t have the identical funds.

Use insights out of your evaluation to regulate your social technique. So you may work to enhance your efficiency.

Now that you just’ve studied what your rivals are doing efficiently, you can incorporate related ways into your social media technique. And see whether or not they drive related outcomes.

Like utilizing platforms you don’t have a presence on however that resonate along with your audience. So long as you will have the time and funds for it.

It’s also possible to use your evaluation to uncover content material gaps that neither you nor your rivals presently deal with.

No matter your findings are, use them to tell your future social media efforts. 

Semrush Social

The Semrush Social app is a one-stop store for operating a social media aggressive evaluation.

You’ll be able to observe as much as 20 rivals and collect insights into their engagement charges, follower and subscriber counts, publication frequency, submit sorts, and extra.

competitors instagram posts and their metrics shown in Social Tracker tool

The app makes it simple to measure your personal efficiency. And features a publishing function to make sure your campaigns at all times keep on observe.

Pair it with Market Explorer to get a fair larger aggressive benefit.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse helps you schedule posts, interact along with your viewers, and analyze social media metrics.

a section of Agorapulse'a page, showing features

Picture Supply: Agorapulse

The software contains competitor exercise monitoring, model point out monitoring, and viewers engagement evaluation. 

It additionally permits you to examine your efficiency in opposition to rivals and observe key metrics over time.

Quintly

quintly allows you to observe your social media efficiency and examine your social media metrics with these of your rivals. 

a section of quintly's page showing the platform

Picture Supply: quintly

Vaizle

Vaizle affords aggressive benchmarking options, permitting you to match your social media efficiency along with your rivals. 

a section of Vaizle's page showing the platform

Picture Supply: Vaizle

It supplies development analyses and efficiency metrics that will help you establish alternatives for progress.

Iconosquare

Iconosquare is a social media analytics and administration platform primarily targeted on Instagram and Fb.

a section of Iconosquare's page showing the platform

Picture Supply: Capterra

Iconosquare affords options for monitoring competitor exercise, analyzing viewers engagement, and monitoring social media metrics.

Get Information-Pushed Insights on Your Competitors

Understanding how one can do a social media competitor evaluation report is crucial for social media professionals in any respect ranges. 

It could actually enable you higher perceive your rivals’ methods, strengths, and weaknesses within the social media panorama. And establish alternatives to enhance your personal method. 

Leverage Semrush’s suite of instruments to streamline your evaluation.


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