Social Media Monitoring: How to Track Competitors’ Performance

In today’s fiercely competitive world of social media marketing, social media monitoring has become indispensable for brands aiming to stay ahead. Understanding what your competitors are doing—and how effectively their strategies are working—provides insights that can elevate your own social media presence.

By leveraging social media monitoring, brands can not only keep up with the latest trends but also identify market gaps, refine their strategies, and discover unique angles that set them apart.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the essential steps to effectively track your competitors’ social media performance. We’ll cover a bit of everything, from the key metrics to focus on to how to leverage these insights to enhance your brand’s social media strategy.

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Why Tracking Competitors’ Social Media Matters

Monitoring your competitors is more than just keeping tabs on them; it’s about gaining actionable insights that you can use to boost your brand forward. By assessing their content, audience engagement, and overall performance, you can obtain valuable information on:

• Audience Preferences: Understand what resonates with your shared audience to tailor your content more effectively.
• Content Trends: Spot emerging trends early by observing what’s gaining traction among competitors.
• Performance Benchmarks: Measure your metrics against competitors to set realistic goals and objectives.

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Steps to Effectively Track Social Media Competitors

1. Define Your Competitor Set

The first step is to identify competitors whose social media strategies align closely with your business goals. This includes:

• Direct Competitors: Brands offering similar products or services targeting the same audience.
• Indirect Competitors: Brands that attract a similar audience but offer different products or experiences.

Example: If you run a sustainable fashion brand, you should track not only other sustainable clothing companies but also eco-conscious lifestyle brands that engage the same audience.

2. Establish Key Metrics to Track

After identifying your competitors, decide which metrics will provide the most valuable insights. Focus on metrics that offer a holistic view of their social strategy, from content performance to audience interaction.

Top Metrics to Monitor:

• Engagement Rate: Includes likes, shares, comments, and other interactions that indicate audience engagement with different types of content.
• Follower Growth: Track the rate at which competitors’ audiences are growing to identify spikes in interest tied to specific content types or campaigns.
• Content Mix: Analyze the ratio of promotional content to value-based content (educational posts, behind-the-scenes glimpses, user-generated content, etc.) to gauge what resonates with the audience.
• Sentiment Analysis: Understanding the audience’s positive, negative, or neutral sentiments provides insights into public perception and highlights competitors’ strengths and vulnerabilities.

3. Analyze Posting Frequency and Timing

Consistent posting schedules often indicate a well-planned social media calendar, which can be advantageous in building audience loyalty and engagement. Track:

• Posting Cadence: Observe how often competitors post on each platform. Some brands post multiple times daily, while others focus on fewer, high-impact posts.
• Timing Patterns: Timing can significantly affect engagement rates. By monitoring when your competitors post, you can identify optimal days and times that yield the most engagement.

Tip: Align your posting schedule with these insights to test if similar patterns boost your engagement.

4. Identify Content Types and Themes

Content types can range from videos, infographics, and memes to long-form articles, stories, and live streams. Each serves a different purpose and engages the audience differently. Analyzing competitors’ content mix can reveal what’s performing well in your niche.

• Visual Content: Determine if competitors rely heavily on visuals like infographics and videos, especially on platforms where visual appeal is crucial, such as Instagram and Pinterest.
• Content Themes: Observe whether they focus on industry trends, educational content, user-generated content, or collaborations with influencers. This information can guide your own content strategy, helping you create a balanced mix that appeals to various audience segments.

5. Track Top-Performing Hashtags and Keywords

Analyzing the hashtags and keywords your competitors use can uncover trending topics and specific phrases that resonate with your shared audience.

• List Top Hashtags: Note which hashtags frequently appear in their posts. Utilizing popular and relevant hashtags can increase the reach and discoverability of your content.
• Keywords in Captions: Examine the keywords commonly used in their captions to identify themes and topics driving engagement.

Consider integrating some of these hashtags and keywords into your own strategy to capture audience interest and improve your content’s visibility.

6. Monitor Audience Engagement and Sentiment

Understanding how competitors’ audiences interact with their content provides deeper insights into public perception within your niche. Monitoring engagement and sentiment helps identify areas where competitors excel or face challenges.

• Engagement Patterns: Identify which posts receive the highest engagement. This could be linked to specific themes, content types, or posting times, offering clues about what resonates with the audience.
• Sentiment Analysis: Assess the tone of comments and reactions. This can reveal customer pain points and areas of satisfaction, allowing you to tailor your messaging more effectively.

7. Perform a SWOT Analysis on Your Findings

Organize the insights you’ve gathered into a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) framework. This will help you:

• Strengths and Weaknesses: Identify where competitors are excelling or underperforming.
• Opportunities: Uncover areas where your brand can differentiate itself.
• Threats: Recognize areas where competitors outperform you, highlighting aspects that need attention.

8. Adjust Your Strategy Based on Insights

Leverage the insights from your analysis to refine your own social media strategy. This could involve:

• Enhancing Content Types: Incorporate more of the content types that perform well for your competitors.
• Optimizing Posting Times: Adjust your posting schedule to capitalize on peak engagement periods.
• Aligning with Audience Preferences: Use preferred hashtags, themes, and formats that attract the most engagement.

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Our Recommended Tool for Social Media Monitoring: Shortimize

To streamline this process, consider using Shortimize. This tool offers essential features for tracking and analyzing competitors’ social media performance. All you need is to add all the social media account URLs you wish to monitor, and you’ll get near real-time access to all their new posts, views, engagement rates and more.

Try it out for free during 7-days here.

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Additional Resources

For brands seeking even more advanced monitoring capabilities, tools like Mention, Brand24, or Sprout Social can extend your tracking and analytical insights.

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Final Thoughts

Social media monitoring of competitors is an ongoing process that demands diligence, analysis, and a willingness to adapt based on your findings. By following these steps and focusing on the key metrics outlined, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of what works in your industry. This knowledge will empower you to build a more informed, competitive, and customer-focused social media strategy that stands out in the crowded digital landscape.