In a landscape that shifts faster than the algorithm itself, staying competitive on social media means outperforming and outsmarting. That’s where social media competitor analysis comes in. It works well on managing a scrappy startup, scaling an established brand, and more.
You have to know your competitors are doing well (and where they’re falling short) because it is your key to building a smarter, more effective content strategy. At Spark Social, social media management is what we do best, and it always starts with insights that are both strategic and actionable.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to do a social media competitor analysis, what to look for, and how to create a social media competitor analysis report that drives results.
Social media competitor analysis is the process of evaluating your competitors’ social presence, content, and engagement to uncover opportunities for your brand. It’s reverse-engineering what works in your industry so you can fine-tune your strategy with clarity.
A strong analysis goes beyond surface stats and dives into:
Social media is a full-funnel marketing channel. Your competitors know that, and they’re using every scroll, like, and share to build brand affinity, generate leads, and drive revenue. If you’re not watching what they’re doing, you’re likely falling behind.
According to the 2025 Sprout Social Index™, 93% of consumers say brands should stay in tune with online trends and competitor activity.
Let’s share our steps on how to get focused with your competitive research.
List out 3-5 brands that compete with you for audience attention. These include:
Direct competitors – brands offering the same product or service
Indirect competitors – brands targeting a similar audience with a different solution
Use search engines, hashtags, or platform searches (Instagram’s “Suggested For You” is a goldmine) to find the accounts your audience also follows.
Every platform has its own rules. Your competitors might be viral on TikTok and still miss out on LinkedIn altogether. Here’s what to look at per platform:
Trands over time reveal the real story, although metrics are a powerful tool as well. We recommend tracking:
Remember to rely on the numbers and percentages at this point so that you can clearly see the difference.
Once you’ve collected the numbers, focus on the story behind your competitors’ content. Look at the themes they emphasize, the formats they use most often, and the tone of their messaging. Are they educational, entertaining, or purely promotional? Are they building real community engagement or just posting to post?
These qualitative insights reveal gaps. You can detect valuable insights: maybe they’re ignoring short-form video, avoiding storytelling, or missing chances to engage. Thus, your brand gets the opportunity to show up stronger and more strategically.
This is often overlooked, but just as important:
If you’re not standing out visually, you’re blending in, and Spark Social’s in-house Spark Studio is built exactly for this reason.
Once you’ve gathered the data, you need to make it usable. A competitor analysis report should include:
Here is how you can write your report down in the example:
Your brand has a follower growth of 2.5%, while Competitor A shows 5.2% growth and Competitor B is at 1.1%.
The average engagement rate for your brand is 3.2%, compared to 5.0% for Competitor A and 2.8% for Competitor B.
When it comes to content, your brand’s top-performing format is Reels, while Competitor A performs best with Carousels, and Competitor B with Stories.
In terms of consistency, your brand posts 3 times per week, Competitor A posts 5 times per week, and Competitor B posts 2 times per week.
We know that analyzing your competitors is just the beginning. The magic happens when you use those insights to create content that converts. Our boutique structure allows us to respond quickly, iterate often, and double down on what works.
We build campaigns that feel anything but generic because we put our expertise in competitive intelligence with creative production from our Spark Studio to make the best analysis possible. This gives you a serious edge in both strategy and execution. Our social media management services are built to help you grow smarter, not just louder.
A social media competitor analysis is the recurrent work to ensure your strategy stays relevant and future-proof. When done right, it reveals what resonates, what flops, and where your brand can take the lead. If you’re serious about taking your social strategy from average to industry-leading, competitive analysis is the step to start with.
Want help turning insight into action? Spark Social specializes in social media management backed by real strategy, in-house creative, and award-winning execution.
Spark Social, an award-winning boutique social media agency, continues to be recognized as an industry leader by several prestigious awards, including the Hermes Creative, Shorty Awards, MarCom, dotComm, NYX, and TITAN Health.
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