How to analyze a competitor on Instagram

Competitor analysis is an essential activity in defining the Social Media Strategy , in this article we will mainly focus on the analysis of the competition on Instagram.

First, however, a clarification is necessary, namely that this type of analysis must be integrated within a broader analysis that also includes the other social and digital channels where the reference target is present and must also take into consideration other elements such as the positioning and user experience of the website.

So remember that observing what others are doing does not mean imitating them, but rather taking a cue from their strategies to identify strengths and weaknesses and to grasp unsatisfied needs and potential customers.

Starting point: SWOT analysis

Before starting the competitor analysis it is good to analyze yourself, this step may seem obvious but it is not. Having carried out a SWOT analysis of your company is used to identify the Unique Selling Proposition, that is, that element that makes the difference compared to competitors and attracts users rather than making them go to the competition .

Another fundamental step is the identification of the type of competitor to analyse, there are in fact the direct competitors represented by those companies similar to yours that solve your same problems and then there are the indirect competitors that at first glance would seem distant from yours reality and instead solve the same problem and/or need.

Create a business account and study the competition

Well, now we can proceed with the search, luckily in 2023 the Internet comes to our rescue and offers us all possible means to get information about "rivals". However, it is good to remember that just as we can find information about them, they can find it about us.

One piece of advice I can give you is to create a work account (different from your personal profile) and look for information on specific topics of interest to you (for example, do you manage the social networks of a sandwich shop? Start following the profiles of other people on Instagram sandwich shops), in this way you will avoid using your personal profile and being distracted by photos of friends and relatives.

A good method may be to dedicate about ten minutes a day for 30 days to this activity, collect ideas and ideas in a document and study the strategies that have convinced you the most . If there's interesting content that sparks your creativity, try replicating it and observing the audience's engagement rate.

What are the elements to analyze of your competitors?

Let's put some order. What are the elements you need to consider on your competitor's social networks:

1. Frequency

It is important to evaluate how often the analyzed profile publishes posts and stories. This way, you can understand if they are investing a lot of resources in content production and if they are trying to maintain a constant presence.

2. Formats

There are now several options for publishing content: photos, reels, carousels, stories. By analyzing which formats your competitor uses, you can understand if they are experimenting with new trends or if they are focusing on more traditional formats.

3. Address books

Many profiles have fixed sections, a kind of weekly or monthly "appointments" dedicated to specific topics. By observing if your competitor uses this type of strategy, you can understand what his main topics of interest are and which topics are more relevant to his audience (and therefore also to yours!).

4. Engagement rate

This is an important indicator for understanding which content generates the most interest and interaction among the public. By analyzing the posts with the highest engagement rate, you can understand which types of content work best and what your audience's needs and tastes are.

5. Collaborations

If your competitor works with influencers or sponsors, you can understand which partnerships are the most important and how they position themselves against the competition.

6. Hashtags

The choice of hashtags used in posts can indicate which topics your competitor is interested in and which keywords are used for his strategy. Don't forget to consider the reach of hashtags to identify those with small, medium and large coverage.

7. Types of content

Analyzing the types of content your competitor posts, such as tutorials, a set of stories, product reviews, can help you figure out which formats work best. For that kind of target, thus allowing you to get ideas and adapt some macro contents to your needs.

8. Graphic identity

By analyzing elements such as the logo, the colors used and the style of the contents, it is also possible to easily understand the branding strategy that the competitor uses.

It may seem like a very long list but I assure you they are all useful points to analyze, which will allow you to have a more complete view of your "opponents". If it will seem difficult to do it at the beginning, as you carry out this type of analysis the individual steps will come naturally to you. It's just a matter of practice, as always.

But that's not all: the analysis must be constant

We have bad and good news: the bad news is that once you have completed all the previous phases you are not finished, you will have to continue monitoring your competitors to observe what they are doing, remember the importance of creating vertical accounts and continuing to follow them on social networks (and not only!). The beautiful one? It's fun if you do it in the right spirit!

Bonus tips: main tools for carrying out competitor analysis

Everything I told you above can be a "method" to do competitor analysis and also to get your hands dirty, but I don't deny that there are some very useful tools that can help you in this activity. I list a few (they are all free for some features and paid for other more specific ones):

• Semrush - allows you to monitor the profiles of your competitors, analyze their marketing activities and strategies, and gather insights into their audience.
• Hootsuite : has the same features as Semrush in studying the competition and analyzing competitor strategies, also useful for planning and publishing content.
• Not Just Analytics : focused on insights, especially post interactions and the most used hashtags, it provides graphs and reports on profile growth. Useful in the free version, very useful in the paid version (especially if you want to impress customers who ask "how are we doing?" at the end of the month)
• Later - Content planning tool that allows you to analyze your audience and compare your performance against your competitors.
• BuzzSumo - Analyze your content, engagement, influencers, and other key metrics. It can also be used to analyze the most popular and shared content on Instagram and to discover new market trends.
• PostPickr : Italian platform, with which we have been collaborating for a few years, which, in addition to the content and column planning tool, also allows you to analyze your audience and, recently, the monitoring of competitors is being tested.

Conclusions

Why is it important to analyze competitors on Instagram? Because we can understand what worked for them and what didn't and therefore we can also avoid making their own mistakes. And then because they are an inexhaustible source of ideas and ideas, we must not copy but at best replicate more successfully!