3 Reasons to Follow Your Competition on Social Media

You know that you need to pay attention to conversations about your business on social media, but have you neglected the competition? Knowing how your competitors interact with their target audience (which likely has at least some overlap with your audience) can yield surprising fruit. If you're not paying attention to your competitors on Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms, consider starting today.

1. You Might Learn About a Strategy That You Can Employ

Social listening is a powerful tool that allows you to monitor activity on social platforms without any manual involvement. Whether it's a script you run on your website or an external software program, it operates quietly in the background while you attend to your daily to-do list.

However, you'll want to check your social listening technology on a regular basis to analyze the data and draw conclusions. You might learn that your competition has created a new product that might further divide your audience or discover that a competitor is using a new social media platform that you haven't considered for your business.

Essentially, you're looking for ways to get the jump on your competitors. You can also mimic their activities and test them on your audience. Since they've already made themselves guinea pigs, you can also analyze their data to learn whether a particular tactic will become valuable for your business.

2. Learn About Your Competitors' Influencers

You don't have to undergo training with the CIA to spy on your competition.

Every business has influencers, whether they're active or not. If you pay attention to your competitors' influencers, you'll learn how they're spreading the word about those businesses (and perhaps steal strategies that can help you get your company on the map).

Since social media influencers can have a powerful impact on their tribes, you don't want to discount them as potential ambassadors for your business. Knowing who is tooting your competitors' horns can illuminate potential paths for your company to follow.

3. Look for Ways to Develop Your USP Unique Selling Proposition

You can also spy on your competitors' social media activities to identify how they're doing it wrong. Maybe one of your strongest competitors fails to deliver timely or effective customer service on Facebook. They don't respond to consumer complaints or attempt to put out the small fires that inevitably ignite on social media.

If you know your competitor has dropped the ball in a particular area, you can pick up that ball and run with it. Add customer service to your USP and start actively engaging in that practice on social media. Respond to customers immediately and find ways to pacify their concerns.

Social media isn't just for posting dramatic pictures of your product or announcing your latest blog post. You can use it to keep tabs on the competition and to super-charge your own strategy. If you're not sure how to harness technology for social listening, contact us to learn about our efficient, effective digital marketing services.

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