Competitor Analysis with Social Listening

Monitoring your competitors in the online space is crucial for 3 main reasons 

1. This is how you will gain extensive industry knowledge. What are hot topics that everyone is talking about? Is there a new approach you can take and are there topics that are ‘so yesterday’?
   
   
2. You can learn what communication strategies are in use. When it comes to your target audience, what works the best? Do they prefer short video content or informative blogposts? See what generates more engagement and positive reactions.
   
   
3. You’ll find out about common mistakes competitors make. Avoid these errors without ruining your own online reputation!
   
   

Which platforms should you use based on your competitors' experience?

The mention map shows you how many mentions your competitors had on each platform, and whether the mood in those mentions was positive or negative. In this case, you can see that Facebook and forums were unfavorable platforms despite their large mention numbers.

How should you talk to your customers on social media?

Do you know what the buzzwords in your audience are? From your competitors’ content you can learn where the conversation is centered and join it if you want. The chart above shows the most common hashtags, and the polarity of their mentions.

Does your audience prefer expert content or a more laid-back approach?

You can always check what the most engaging posts were: these are the ones that got the audience reacting, commenting, and sharing more than anything else. What was successful and why? Can you create something similar?

What is it that the audience doesn't like?

Negative key topics reveal the most problematic areas: this is when users were dissatisfied, either with the type of content, or with the service/product they received. Both are very enlightening and are worth checking out because these are the things that you must avoid at all costs! You can always dig down to individual mentions in case you need to see every last detail.

What kind of public image are your competitors building?

Creating a positive image in the press is not easy, but a well-written recommendation on a widely read site can give a huge push to your brand. Social listening will reveal your competitors' PR and CSR activities, too. In the chart above, you can see the online mood in news articles: you can dig down to discover what made journalists give praise to your competitors, and what got them typing on their keyboards in fury. You’ll see the analysis results of every press release, article or blogpost written about them.

Identify opinion leaders!

Who are the biggest advocates for your competitors? Can you find out why they like that certain competitor so much? The chart above shows the most engaging users on Instagram, but you can check who they are on each platform. Can you even try to win them over with your own brand or product?