Understanding your rivals is crucial if you wish to keep forward. This implies getting a nuanced perspective of their strengths and weaknesses—and understanding how your audience perceives them. Aggressive market analysis is the important thing to reaching this. It helps you higher perceive your high rivals and monitor market traits to refine your technique primarily based on knowledge.
Social Listening serves as a robust aggressive evaluation software, extracting focused model insights from widespread on-line conversations throughout social networks. With Social listening aggressive evaluation, you get real-time details about how shoppers act, new traits and rivals’ actions, which you should utilize to shortly pivot methods and keep forward of the sport.
Let’s dive deeper into how social listening for aggressive evaluation provides you an edge.
The advantages of utilizing social listening for aggressive evaluation
Social Listening provides you real-world insights extracted from on-line chatter for a birds’-eye view of the aggressive panorama. These insights make it easier to refine advertising methods to optimize your return on funding (ROI) and innovate throughout your online business.
It’s no shock that 13% of social media leaders have prioritized Social Listening in 2025, with 12% of budgets allotted to it. In case your rivals are gaining a aggressive edge by investing on this space, you danger being left behind by ignoring it.
Aggressive analysis additionally provides you perception into macro-consumer traits such because the affect of elevated client costs on total spending habits and model preferences. Or, the right way to higher goal Gen Z, a demographic recognized for its excessive buying energy and distinctive client conduct.
Aggressive intelligence is very important in social media advertising due to the character of social. As new platforms, options and traits emerge, social groups should maintain aggressive market analysis on their radar to ensure their model stays related.
Social listening provides your social groups swift, complete insights from throughout social networks, evaluate websites and buyer boards—at a fraction of the price and time conventional analysis strategies take. You’re capable of extra simply overcome flux in platform algorithms and face constantly evolving client conduct. You’re additionally higher capable of perceive how your rivals are navigating these shifts and adapting their methods to satisfy them.
Plus, you may analyze sentiment in hundreds of brand name conversations to handle buyer wants extra productively and make sure the competitors doesn’t have an effect on your market share.
6 ideas for social listening aggressive evaluation
Understanding your competitor’s social media technique means you should utilize what’s working and keep away from their errors. Listed below are six ideas for utilizing social listening in aggressive evaluation:
1. Monitor competitor sentiment
Since your viewers usually overlaps with that of your rivals, their buyer suggestions is extremely related to you. A criticism or request that comes again usually exhibits a standard drawback or want. This is a chance to point out your self as your best option for that standard want.
Public sentiment about your rivals is available on social media, offering helpful insights into their strengths and weaknesses. By analyzing this knowledge, you may refine your technique to differentiate your model and showcase its strengths.
For instance, shoppers usually take to social media to debate their favourite fast-food chains. A aggressive evaluation of feedback in Reddit social listening knowledge can present what shoppers love and what they anticipate from their favourite eating places.
Sprout’s instruments for aggressive evaluation make it simple to take a look at buyer suggestions like this from social media. This helps manufacturers perceive how their rivals are seen and the way they will stand out.
2. Determine market gaps
Social media is a goldmine of helpful and unfiltered model data you in any other case wouldn’t discover. With prospects incessantly sharing ache factors, praises, unmet wants and even concepts for brand spanking new options, it’s like having personal entry to your rivals’ focus teams.
By listening carefully, you may spot gaps of their or your choices and use this data to fill the voids. Some suggestions could counsel small quality-of-life enhancements, whereas others may spark game-changing concepts for brand spanking new merchandise.
For instance, Apple’s transition to USB-C ports. For years, iPhone customers have needed a common charging resolution like USB-C. Apple finally responded to buyer sentiment by introducing USB-C ports within the iPhone 15 lineup. This determination solved a long-standing buyer drawback, and confirmed a key lesson for these utilizing social listening: If there’s one thing most of your buyer base needs, seize the chance and provides it to them.
3. Refine content material technique
Analyzing content material that resonates together with your rivals’ viewers reveals efficient methods in your trade. If sure matters, codecs or channels drive considerably increased engagement amongst your shared viewers, you should utilize this perception to tailor your content material for larger affect.
For instance, thermal drinkware Stanley, a model that’s over 110 years previous, spent most of that point advertising to males—particularly flasks for tradesmen and outside staff. Nonetheless, after figuring out a rising demand amongst ladies, and particularly the eco-conscious seeking to reject single-use plastics, they revamped their content material technique to focus on this untapped viewers. They used influencer advertising for his or her new Quencher tumbler on Tiktok, utilizing feminine influencers to showcase the product.
The marketing campaign went viral and result in Stanley redefining its market presence.
4. Observe trade traits
Staying on high of trade traits is important to staying related and forward of the competitors. Social listening helps you to monitor rising matters, shifting client preferences and evolving market dynamics. By figuring out and responding to traits proactively, you place your model as a pacesetter, and meet buyer expectations in a quickly altering panorama.
Nike acknowledged the rising client demand for environmentally accountable merchandise as early as 2019. In response, it launched its “Transfer to Zero” marketing campaign, aiming for zero carbon emissions and nil waste throughout its operations. This initiative contains commitments to make use of 100% renewable vitality by 2025 and to scale back carbon emissions throughout its international provide chain by 30% by 2030.
The marketing campaign was so standard that many manufacturers like The Good Plastic Firm began following Nike’s #movetozero marketing campaign.
5. Measure buyer satisfaction
Evaluating buyer satisfaction ranges on your rivals is a helpful benchmark to enhance your services. Once you perceive the place rivals fall brief, it helps you fill gaps and information your enhancements.
If prospects repeatedly categorical frustration with a competitor’s customer support, chances are high they care about your customer support, too.
For instance, McDonald’s launched the Grimace Shake as a limited-edition drink within the UK after its success within the US. The shake was a success, and lots of took to social media to specific their disappointment when it left the menu. In response, McDonald’s determined to relaunch the Grimace Shake within the UK in December 2024 for a two-week interval. Followers rejoiced, making it viral by sharing pictures on social media.
By utilizing social listening to measure buyer satisfaction, you may proactively tackle ache factors, refine your choices and present prospects that their opinions matter.
Sprout sentiment evaluation instruments allow you to guage buyer satisfaction to establish which areas want enchancment and which resonate most together with your viewers.
6. Benchmark efficiency
Utilizing direct rivals as benchmarks helps establish progress alternatives and areas for enchancment. Because you share an analogous audience, evaluating efficiency reveals what’s working and what’s not.
Monitoring your competitor’s efficiency enhances this course of by displaying the way you stack up on key metrics. For instance, if a competitor is getting constantly excessive engagement on a selected community, it alerts that your viewers is energetic on that platform and you must strive investing extra within the area.
Guarantee your methods stay related in an ever-evolving aggressive panorama by constantly assessing your efficiency. Sprout’s aggressive evaluation instruments allow you to do exactly that. Observe your efficiency towards rivals by way of metrics like viewers progress, engagement and sentiment throughout a number of platforms.
Easy methods to conduct social listening aggressive evaluation in 5 steps
Social listening goes past merely monitoring conversations—it’s about extracting actionable insights to get an edge over powerful competitors. A well-executed social listening aggressive evaluation offers the precious knowledge you have to refine your methods, spot alternatives and strengthen your place out there. Observe these 5 steps to take advantage of your efforts:
Step 1: Outline your objectives
Earlier than diving into social listening, take time to obviously define what you wish to obtain. Are you aiming to enhance your social media engagement? Determine market gaps? Benchmark efficiency towards rivals?
Setting particular, measurable objectives will information your social listening evaluation, guaranteeing you concentrate on the conversations and metrics that align together with your goals.
Step 2: Determine your high rivals
Decide your most important rivals. These could embrace manufacturers who straight compete in your trade, these serving an analogous viewers and even manufacturers you aspire to in the future attain—although it’s vital to maintain your aspirations considerably practical for the sake of actionable evaluation.
By deciding on probably the most related rivals, the info and insights might be extra related and actionable, and higher positioned to assist drive knowledgeable methods.
Step 3: Use social listening to conduct in-depth analysis
Deal with monitoring the metrics and conversations that align together with your clearly outlined objectives. This might contain monitoring mentions of your rivals, analyzing product opinions or figuring out widespread buyer ache factors to uncover helpful insights.
Sprout Social’s aggressive evaluation matter template streamlines this course of by serving to you monitor key metrics like share of voice, engagement and sentiment traits. With customizable templates and actionable visualizations, Sprout helps you establish rising traits, high key phrases and vital trade shifts, offering a deeper understanding of the place rivals are excelling—and the place they’re falling brief.
Step 4: Examine your product and advertising methods
Use the insights gained from social listening to guage how your merchandise and advertising efforts stack up towards your rivals. Analyze key areas corresponding to pricing, promotions and content material methods to establish what’s driving their success. Are there components of their technique that may resonate together with your shared viewers? Use this data to adapt your methods.
To be taught extra about aggressive product evaluation.
Step 5: Consider your aggressive place
Together with your social listening evaluation full, use the outcomes to mirror on the place your model stands out there. Put aside your bias in the direction of your model—acknowledging your weaknesses may be simply as helpful as recognizing your strengths.
Use these findings to refine your methods, bolster your distinctive promoting factors and tackle areas for enchancment. Usually repeat this course of to remain forward of market traits and altering viewers wants. Issues can transfer quick.
Easy methods to use Sprout for social listening aggressive evaluation
Social listening knowledge provides you a deep understanding of your online business surroundings, extending past advertising to different key areas like product enhancement, recognizing progress alternatives and enhancing buyer care.
In line with The State of Social Media Report, 95% of enterprise executives agree corporations should rely extra closely on social media knowledge to tell enterprise selections throughout all areas of the enterprise—not simply advertising.
There’s a transparent motive for this reliance on social media knowledge. The Sprout Social Index ™ revealed, 68% of shoppers observe manufacturers on social media to remain knowledgeable about new services or products. They ask questions, share experiences and talk about product and repair options. This creates a wealth of customer-driven data ready to be harnessed.
Social competitor evaluation instruments allow you to mix inner information and social media intelligence, bridging the hole between the way you assume your viewers perceives your model and their precise sentiment. When these insights are paired with knowledge out of your CRM, product analysis and gross sales knowledge, they offer you an excellent clearer image of the right way to develop market share.
Constructing supplies pioneer James Hardie® makes use of social listening for aggressive analysis. They have interaction in viewers and development evaluation, analysis product sentiment, establish trade influencers and conduct competitor comparisons to construct holistic model methods past advertising.
“Not solely is it good from a model well being and advertising angle, it’s additionally vital data we are able to cross on to our gross sales groups and product groups. We are able to discover traits and customary themes that come up in conversations. We are able to establish not solely our personal model advocates however model advocates for our competitors,” says Bridget Kulla, Senior Digital Advertising and marketing Supervisor at James Hardie.
Right here’s a fast have a look at how you should utilize Sprout for social listening aggressive evaluation.
Determine patterns and correlations
Search for patterns and overlaps between your inner information and what social listening knowledge reveals. Use Sprout to create presentation-ready studies that may assist your group do competitor mapping to contextualize your analysis and aggressive knowledge. This course of will make it easier to establish rivals that weren’t even in your radar earlier than, offering a extra in-depth understanding of your market.
Combine social listening in your workflows
Educate your group on the ability of social listening and show how social insights can seamlessly plug into their workflows. For instance, Sprout’s Model Key phrases functionality zeroes in on X conversations which are related to your model and trade, together with your competitors. You may add key phrases mentioning your organization and merchandise to floor even these conversations the place you’re not tagged straight.
This offers you a direct view of chatter on X the place shoppers point out you in relation to a competitor. This additionally provides you a chance to hitch the dialog and suggest our model.
Observe listening knowledge by matters
Advertising and marketing, gross sales and product groups every prioritize completely different points of the model expertise. To maximise the worth of your social media listening, slender your focus to matters and knowledge that’s really related to your objectives. This focused method helps you to extract insights from hundreds of social conversations with out getting overwhelmed.
Sprout’s Listening resolution allows this sort of detailed aggressive analysis evaluation with ease. Powered by Sprout’s Analyze by AI Help functionality, you may monitor important metrics, hashtags, key phrases, mentions trending in your Matters and even emojis. Get all these insights within the Dialog tab of your Listening Matters.
Additional filter outcomes to get extra insights concerning the time period.
Our built-in, AI-driven Question Builder offers customization choices on your listening, enabling you to incorporate or exclude key phrases. You can too create Matter Themes to additional streamline your social listening knowledge to search out actionable insights.
Turning your social listening aggressive evaluation knowledge into actionable insights
A key a part of social media aggressive evaluation is changing your analysis into insights you should utilize. Sprout helps you obtain this by consolidating your aggressive analysis knowledge right into a single, unified supply, making it simpler so that you can analyze and resolve what actions to take.
Get a complete side-by-side comparability of key metrics, together with whole engagement, potential impressions, model sentiment and share of voice. This permits an easy evaluation of your model’s efficiency relative to rivals. These metrics additionally supply a deeper understanding of which model is main the dialog and the way your audience perceives your model versus the competitors.
Use the templates to:
Discover insights by community
Achieve helpful insights into your content material efficiency throughout networks corresponding to Fb, Instagram and X (previously often called Twitter) with network-specific efficiency and engagement studies. These aggressive studies provide you with a comparative view of which networks your rivals are prioritizing. This, in flip, will help refine your social media technique or spotlight a content material hole you may fill on your viewers.
Additionally use Sprout’s Customized Studies to share related insights throughout departments. These studies assist your groups mix cross-network competitor engagement and listening knowledge for a holistic view.
Spot high trade and competitor traits
Uncover distinguished traits and matters inside your trade and extract insights on quite a lot of elements corresponding to rivals, content material varieties, message kinds and viewers sentiment. Make the most of key phrase filters to refine your search and select a date vary to look at each long-term and short-term aggressive traits.
For instance, listening knowledge can reveal an upward development in client demand for merchandise which are ethically sourced and environmentally pleasant, which might affect your total model technique and differentiate you from the group.
Construct partaking content material
Sprout’s competitor efficiency report exhibits you ways your rivals’ social content material is performing. It highlights key metrics like engagement, publish frequency and viewers progress, in an effort to benchmark towards rivals and establish what resonates together with your shared viewers. Use these insights to refine your content material technique going ahead.
Additionally assess detailed content material efficiency and engagement knowledge throughout Fb, X and Instagram primarily based on the distinctiveness of every social community. As an example, content material that excels on Instagram could not carry out as properly on Fb as a result of variations in format and person conduct.
Determine areas of progress
Analyze suggestions about your product and repair to proactively tackle buyer issues and establish areas for enchancment and progress. You also needs to analyze competitor suggestions, as you may acquire insights that can be utilized to refine your advert messaging and develop extra focused promoting propositions. This method lets you differentiate your model whereas staying vigilant on competitor efficiency.
Combine findings throughout your tech stack
Sprout’s Tableau Enterprise Intelligence (BI) Connector will enhance the worth and actionability of your aggressive evaluation. It helps you to combination insights from a number of programs into dynamic, data-rich visualizations of key metrics all through your buyer journey. Use this software to trace social engagements, common response charges for social buyer care initiatives and your aggressive share of voice.
You can too customise visuals and acquire an immersive view by mapping social engagements and conversion charges to gross sales knowledge.
Use social listening aggressive evaluation for a profitable 2025
Use social listening to conduct an intensive SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, threats) evaluation for your self and your key rivals. This method to aggressive market analysis will give you actionable insights to navigate efficiently by way of 2025 and past.
From analyzing your rivals’ pricing methods and worth propositions to refining your content material technique, use Sprout to establish alternatives and set your model aside.
Able to unlock significant insights? Request a demo in the present day and acquire the aggressive edge your model wants.
