I was recently listening to my favorite comedy podcast, when business icon Robert Herjavec from ABC's "Shark Tank" came into the studio to tell of his rags-to-riches tale. And while Herjavec was discussing competitive analysis in the business world, he said something so insightful that I've carried it with me each day here at Likeable Media.
"The quality of your company is based on the quality of your competitors."
Sure, when most social media agencies take a look at their client's competitors, quantity certainly matters - they look at the number of followers a competitor's Facebook Page has, how many retweets their last quippy millennial-focused tweet received, or the number of video views on their latest B2B focused content. But I challenge you to go a little deeper with your analysis.
The best way I can explain how to achieve quality insight is just to "START."
S: Sentiment
Different tools can, and should, be used to investigate a competitor's sentiment on social media.
Do a large portion of their social mentions contain positive, negative or neutral affiliation?
Sure, it looks great to have a large percentage of mentions on Twitter, but what are people actually saying?
Sentiment analysis can reveal more about a company's performance than basic numbers - it's worth putting them to the test to see what you come up with.
T: Types of Content
It is SO important to look at what types of content a competitor's fans are relating to the most.
Is the brand relying heavily on video content to convey their messaging?
Are they're getting great engagement on link posts to their blog?
Before a brand can be advised on what they can do better, they need to understand what's currently working best.
A: Audience
This may seem obvious, but a lot of companies assume that their competitors are speaking to the same audience. Taking a closer look at the demographics of who is actually interacting with their content can be a great key to success for your own channels.
Are they excluding a huge target that you could capitalize on for improved ROI?
R: Response Time
Facebook has a great tool that now publishes a brand's response time on their Page. Using this as a guide, ensuring that your engagement with your fans exceeds what's being provided by competitor's can benefit you immensely.
Consumers want to know that they're being listened to - but more importantly, that they're actually being heard.
T: Timeliness
Real-time content is a huge opportunity for brands to connect with their audiences.
Are competitors monitoring trending topics and creating relevant content to join in the wider conversation?
Or a better question - are you?
The timeliness of your content can play a significant role in it's subsequent performance.
Competitive analysis is more than just a numbers game, and conducting more in-depth, relevant analysis is an essential piece of the social media marketing puzzle.
Just as Robert Herjavec said:
"The quality of your company is based on the quality of your competitors."
So how do you stack up?
This blog was originally featured in the Likeable Media Blog.