Your competitors are already spending time and money on marketing, so it\u2019s a matter of checking out what they\u2019re doing with their marketing budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can check: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- How frequently the business is posting on Facebook and Twitter<\/li>
- The number of followers and fans they have on each platform <\/li>
- How they are marketing their website <\/li>
- What kinds of content are they sharing on each platform?<\/li>
- Is there a pattern you can learn from?<\/li>
- What kind of offers do they make, if any at all? <\/li>
- How are they engaging with their customers?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you arm yourself with this information, you\u2019ll be able to discover what works for them and apply it for your own benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, why do you need to conduct competitive research?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, competitive research accomplishes the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Outlines the tactics that are working most effectively for your competitors (as well as what\u2019s getting them attention)<\/li>
- It gives you insight into who you\u2019re up against and how they are marketing to their customers<\/li>
- It shows you where your competitors are investing their time and money. <\/li>
- Allows you to make the best use of your resources<\/li>
- Spark new ideas for your campaign or creative ideas to use social media channels<\/li>
- Uncover new opportunities or niches never exploited before<\/li>
- It helps to guide your plans and future direction<\/li>
- Find out what tactics have worked well for your competitors<\/li>
- Reveal what channels your competitors are focusing on to get a better idea of their marketing strategy<\/li>
- Take a deeper look into your competitors\u2019 marketing strategies and see if you can spot any hole in their armours<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Using social media For Competitive Research<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you have a business, the chances are good that your business success is dependent almost entirely on how popular your website becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, it would make sense to learn about what\u2019s working for other businesses in your niche. In doing so, you should get a better picture of what\u2019s going on in your industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are a few ideas to get you started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Create a competitive analysis doc<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t have to be anything complicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t have to be anything complicated. Just head over to Google Doc or Spreadsheet and create the following setup:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/finestservices.com.sg\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mediaone-image-1024x164.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWrite the name of your competitors in the first column. It helps to start with your brand, followed by your first competitor. After that, you want to create columns for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and any other social media channel you want to track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Facebook, you\u2019ll want to see the number of followers for each competitor under \u2018Likes\u2019 and then highlight their posts that received a lot of engagement over a specific period. You should include how often they post as a column too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which Social Media Channels Are They On?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Before anything, find out which social media channels your competitors are on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simple, visit their website and look for social media icons. However, there are times when a company may fail to update its social media information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you still can\u2019t find any information, the best bet is to search for them on respective social media channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they have a Twitter account, the username will often be their company name. If you can\u2019t find them on Twitter, try Facebook or Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next thing you want to do is record the results in the competitive analysis doc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/finestservices.com.sg\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mediaone-image1-1024x214.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou also want to pay special attention to unexpected social media channels that any of your competitors happen to be highly active on, such as Tumblr, Snapchat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just because one of your competitors is present on a particular social media channel, that doesn\u2019t mean you should be there too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Starting with Facebook, you want to record the number of Likes they have, their number of posts per week\/month, and their posting frequency (once per day, multiple times a day, ad hoc, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, you want to note the posts that received a high number of Likes and comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your competitors have published any Facebook Ads, be sure to include those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, if they\u2019ve been using any organic or paid marketing tactics<\/a>, which you haven\u2019t tried yet (for example, boosted posts), jot those down as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/finestservices.com.sg\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mediaone-image2-1024x401.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFacebook has the \u201cPage\u2019s to Watch\u201d<\/strong> feature within Facebook Insights that lets you keep an eye on your competitors. Note that you need to be the page admin and have at least 100 likes on your page to use this feature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To find this feature, head over to your Facebook page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- On the left-hand sidebar, scroll down until you find \u201cInsights.\u201d<\/li>
- Click on Insights, but stay in the overview section. Now scroll down until you get to \u201cPages to Watch,\u201d found at the bottom of the page.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/finestservices.com.sg\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mediaone-image3-1024x636.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n- Click on \u2018Add Pages\u2019<\/strong> and enter your industry keywords to search for your competitors\u2019 page to spy on.<\/li>
- Click on \u201cWatch Page\u201d for every page you want to track. Click done once you\u2019ve entered enough pages.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
We suggest you select a few local companies and a few industry competitors. That way, you\u2019ll have two different metrics to track<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twitter Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
On Twitter, you want to record the number of followers and their posts per week\/month, including the posts that received a high number of Likes and Retweets (or Favourites).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your competitors run any Promoted Tweets or other paid campaigns, be sure to note those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Twitter, you also want to note their Promoted Accounts and Tweets and the number of Likes and Retweets they got. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Click on \u201cWatch Page\u201d for every page you want to track. Click done once you\u2019ve entered enough pages.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Click on \u2018Add Pages\u2019<\/strong> and enter your industry keywords to search for your competitors\u2019 page to spy on.<\/li>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/finestservices.com.sg\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mediaone-image4-1024x645.png\")
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