No matter the size of your business you can always get some really valuable insight from whatever is happening on the social media account of your competition. Do not go there and just whine about the number of followers that they have accumulated. Go there to actually gain some insights that can positively impact your business as well.
Please note that this article is not about you copying what your competition is doing. It’s about looking at your neighbour, understanding what works and picking a leaf. I also have to mention that there are a few things that are new under the sun but if you have competitors, you’re probably not doing something new, so do not reinvent the wheel, just redesign it.
So here are the key insights you can look out for when doing your research.
- Understanding the qualities of your shared customer.
Once you go to your competitors page, check out the people following them and see if you can get an idea of their customer. See if you can track their engagement with the account, do they leave comments and if they do, what is the context? Is it just hype or there are some questions being posed in there? Do your products answer that question; how can you then fill in that gap with your content, on your social media page.
- The quality of posts.
Sometimes you can hit a creative block and have no idea what to post. Head over to their page to see which content is popular on their page, try using the same concept on your page and then see how your audience responds to it.
- Presentation of the product.
How have they presented their product on the page? Is there a pattern that they are following which is better than your presentation of your products? Also, take the time to check out how international brands are presenting their products or even go to pinterest to get ideas on how you can better your presentation.
- Products:
I’m not so keen on recommending that you look at the products because there is something special about you and your products that puts you on the market. But, if you must look, focus on seeing which products are their best sellers, the seasons that they are sold in and the branding, and what people love about them.
That’s it! Those are the 4 places you should be looking in order to get valuable insights. However, nothing beats the insights that you can get from your own audience. So, at some point, stop looking at your neighbour and start looking inward. Send out surveys to your current audience via your newsletter or text and get all the information you need and serve them better.
What are you always looking at when you go to your competition’s social media? Let us know in the comments.
