If you are looking to up your social media strategy, you should follow your competitors. Your competitors are a great way to see what is working for them and how to make it your own. We are not saying to copy them word for word, image for image. It is, however, a great way to get ideas and help you form a content strategy.
We’re going to give you 5 tips on how you can keep an eye on your competitors.
Before you find out who your competitors are, start by defining your goals. What do you want to achieve with your social media strategy? How do you want to better your company’s visibility? Is it better engagement, sharable content, or increased DMs? Once you know your goals, it will make it easier to find competitors that are doing the same and succeeding at it.
Next, you have to find your competitors. You want to find companies that have similar products or services in your industry that are having the same success, or better, than your company. This will help you see where you want to be and how to get there if you play your cards right.
Find out what platforms they are most visible on and have the most success. Definitely check out the most popular platforms out there, like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. But, don’t forget about the lesser used platforms. Find out what lesser known ones your competitors are on and get your own account there. Your target audience may have a wide range of places they search for products and services.
No matter who your competitors are, you cannot have a successful social media strategy without a content strategy of your own. Get ideas on what your strategy can be by seeing what your competitors’ is. What type of content are they putting out? Which content gets the highest engagement? Use this data to form your content strategy. Pick 3-4 main topics you will use for content creation, then create your own brand of amazing content that will give value to your audience.
Since your competitors are in the same industry and your target audiences are probably visiting social media at a similar time, you want to post around the same time as they are. Start with this and adapt as you see engagement increase or decrease. Each company has a particular time that is best for them.
Hashtags help social media algorithms define your account. Seeing what your competitors are using can help you reach the same audience. Don’t use every hashtag they use. Take a few to see what works and add some of your own.
Watching your competitors is a great way to see what they are doing and what is working for them in terms of social media strategy. It’s an idea goldmine that you can use to inspire your own stories and content strategy, so you provide value and answers for your target audience.
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