How to Conduct Competitive Analysis Using Social Search Tools

Social media has completely revolutionized the internet landscape in the last decade. Today, keeping your finger on the pulse means being “extremely online.” If you’re scrolling through multiple news feeds in background tabs while reading this post, you might be extremely online too.

When it comes to evaluating a brand’s perception in the eyes of the public, social media gives us a fair approximation. That’s why social search tools have become such an important part of any competitor analysis for marketing.

In this post, we look at some of the most useful social search tools available online and share how you can use them for competitor analysis.

1. BrandMentions

Social media sites see millions, if not billions, of new posts made every day. Without a powerful tool to navigate this morass of content, you will find it hard to extract useful information. BrandMentions is a service that lets you choose brands, products, or topics you want to follow. It then sends you real-time notifications whenever any of your topics are mentioned on any social media platform or comment section. By sparing your team the hassle of scrolling through endless pages of content, BrandMentions simplifies the process of competitive analysis.

2. Twiangulate

To conduct a comprehensive competitive analysis, you need to accurately measure your competitors’ sphere of influence. That means going beyond monitoring their social media pages. It also involves gathering data on who follows their channels, interacts with their content, and mentions them in their own posts. Twiangulate gives you the ability to do just that. The service lets you determine your rivals’ reach, which is a very important factor in competitive intelligence.

3. FollowerWonk

In competitive analysis, learning your competitors’ follower count is merely scratching the surface. You need to be able to analyze the behavior and activity patterns of those followers to be able to glean any useful insights. FollowerWonk is one of the best tools for carrying out deep dives into a competitor’s follower list. It gives you data on a brand’s most influential followers, its most active and engaged time zones, and detailed breakdowns of follower demographics. If knowing about your rivals’ audiences is important to you, FollowerWonk is the perfect tool for you.

4. SocialGist

To get the best competitive intelligence, you need to cast a wide net. This means crawling through many different social media platforms. Luckily, SocialGist saves you some effort by bringing those platforms to you. It allows you to create a customized feed that tracks topics across the biggest social media sites on the internet. The platform’s content partnerships with sites like Reddit, Disqus, and Quora, among others, make it an incisive tool for tracking public opinion on a certain brand. Incorporating it into your competitive analysis is a good way to monitor multiple sites at once.

Social media engagement is an indispensable arsenal in any marketer’s toolbox. To truly understand your competitor’s edge and harness it, you need to understand the tactics they’re employing on various social media channels. Top competitive intelligence tools like Brand Mentions, Twiangulate, FollowerWonk, and SocialGist make it easy by spoon-feeding you information so you can focus on your analysis and strategy.

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