Competition is nothing new in business. It has existed for as long as humans have traded and sold goods to one another, and it certainly won’t be going away any time soon.
As a business owner, competition can often cause stress. The thought of rivals undercutting prices and stealing clients isn’t pleasant, but it’s an unavoidable part of doing business. However, competition can also offer a number of opportunities. Competitor analysis can teach you a lot, particularly when it comes to social media B2B strategies. Let’s find out more;
Analyse Competitor Activity
A successful social media strategy is all about remaining active and consistent. This should be one of the first things you look at when analysing the competition.
Look at how often your competitors post. Do they post weekly, monthly, or several times per day? Look at what content they post too; are they posting blog posts? Images? Videos? Or a mixture of all three?
You should also study what social channels your competitors use. Each social media platform attracts different demographics, so focusing on the right ones is crucial. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok all offer something different, so it’s important you clarify which are being favoured by your business rivals.
Assess Engagement
After you’ve analysed the social media activity of your rivals, the next step is to assess the engagement they are seeing across platforms.
Posting content regularly across multiple channels is important, but it won’t count for much if nobody is engaging with it. Pay close attention to how many likes, comments, and shares your competitor’s content is generating. This can give you an idea as to how effective their content and overall approach is.
Look at how they respond to engagement as well. Do they interact with clients in their social feeds, or do they take a hands-off approach? Modern-day consumers have come to expect a degree of engagement with brands and businesses, so pay attention to how well your rivals are meeting this demand.
Using this Information
At its core, competitor analysis is all about identifying your rival’s strengths and weaknesses. After you have collected the information we’ve detailed above, you can begin to analyse the data and pinpoint what your competitor has done right and what they’ve done wrong.
For example, they may be posting too infrequently, or favouring a particular platform or channel too favourably. On the other hand, they could be maintaining a positive, consistent presence across all of the major platforms, with a uniform brand message and tone of voice. This will be reflected in the engagement you see, and it is something you should strive for in your own social strategy.
Essentially, competitor analysis should give you the information you need to outperform your rivals. Let them make the mistakes for you; you can analyse their strategy to ensure you avoid making the same errors. Similarly, emulate and improve upon what they’ve done correctly to stay one step ahead.
Conclusion
There’s a lot you can learn from analysing the social media strategies of your competitors. Doing so can help you see better success in your own business.