If you're running a local business and aren’t keeping tabs on your competitors’ social media, you’re missing out on a goldmine of insights. Social media isn’t just for memes and viral videos—it’s a key battleground where businesses build their brand, engage customers, and promote their services. The trick? Knowing what your local competitors are doing, learning from their successes (and mistakes), and using that intel to improve your own strategy.
Monitoring your local competitors on social media can help you:
Spot marketing opportunities.
Understand how they engage with the local community.
Identify their loyalty-building tactics.
Find influencers they’re working with and target them yourself.
The reality is, even if you think you’re paying attention to what other businesses in your area are doing, there’s probably a lot more you can be learning. Here’s how to dive deeper.
Who Should You Be Monitoring?
Let’s get one thing straight: don’t just monitor your obvious competitors. Sure, the restaurant across the street is worth tracking, but you should broaden your search. Keep an eye on:
Direct local competitors: These are the businesses offering similar services to yours in your area.
Similar businesses outside your area: Even though you’re not in direct competition, these businesses might be killing it with their social strategy. Watch what they do.
Other local businesses: By watching businesses in your area (even if they’re in different industries), you can stay in the loop about local events, trends, and partnership opportunities.
Want to find more local competitors? Do a quick search on Instagram or Twitter using terms related to your city or town, like your county name or a popular local attraction. This will help uncover more businesses to watch. Text Optimizer is also a great tool to help you discover the keywords and locations Google associates with your town.
Expand Beyond the Obvious
Most local businesses don’t have a huge social media presence, so if you limit your search to direct competitors, you might not find enough data. Instead, expand your search to include businesses in your industry from neighboring towns, or even across the country. They might be doing something on social media that’s working wonders for them—and could work for you too.
What Should You Monitor?
Okay, so you’ve found the competitors you want to watch. What exactly should you be looking for? Here’s a breakdown:
1. Your Competitors’ Customers
Happy Customers: How are your competitors engaging with satisfied customers? Are they leveraging social proof to get more reviews on Yelp or Google?
Unhappy Customers: How do they handle complaints? This is your chance to learn what not to do, and to see how you can provide better customer service.
2. Content Marketing Strategy
How are they promoting content on social media? Look at the types of posts they share—blogs, behind-the-scenes videos, promotional offers. Pay attention to the local content they’re creating to engage their community.
3. Influencers and Promoters
Are local bloggers, influencers, or even customers promoting your competitors? Reach out to them and see if you can work together. Use tools like Hunter to find their contact info and start a conversation. Better yet, engage with their posts to build relationships.
4. Loyalty-Building Tactics
What are your competitors doing to keep their customers coming back? Are they using loyalty programs, discounts, or exclusive offers? Pay close attention to their customer retention strategies and see how you can tweak yours.
5. Sales Funnel and Calls-to-Action
Check out their social media CTAs. Are they pushing for direct sales with discount codes or coupons, or are they trying to build an email list? Understanding what they’re promoting will help you figure out where their focus is—and where your opportunities lie.
How to Monitor Your Competitors on Social Media
1. Set Up Social Listening Tools
Start with Awario. It’s a robust platform that lets you monitor competitors by tracking their brand names, handles, and keywords. You can even track conversations across social media platforms, forums, and news sites. Awario's sentiment analysis will help you prioritize mentions, and its influencer identification can highlight key people talking about your competitors.
2. Track Social Media Profiles and Bios
Use Visualping, a change-monitoring platform, to track updates on competitors’ social profiles. Whether they change their bio, launch a new promotion, or update their profile picture, Visualping will send you an alert. This is especially useful during seasonal marketing campaigns.
3. Analyze Facebook Updates
Need content inspiration? Use Buzzsumo to analyze your competitors’ Facebook activity. You can compare several pages, filter posts by type (videos, giveaways, questions), and track engagement metrics like shares and comments. It’s an easy way to spot what’s working for them—and how you can adapt it.
4. Spy on Their Ads
Head over to Facebook’s Ad Library to get the inside scoop on what ads your competitors are running. You’ll be able to see the CTA they’re using, the platform (Facebook, Instagram, or Audience Network), and the keywords they’re targeting. This is like getting a behind-the-scenes look at their marketing playbook.
Conclusion
Monitoring your local competitors on social media is one of the smartest moves you can make to stay ahead of the game. It’ll give you valuable insights into what’s working for others and open up new marketing opportunities for your business.
The key is to consistently track, analyze, and adapt your strategy based on what you find. Set up your monitoring tools, follow your competitors’ moves, and refine your own social media presence to become a local powerhouse.
In a digital world where visibility is everything, GMB Fox ensures your business isn’t just online—it’s the first choice customers make. Let us handle the complexities of digital marketing, so you can focus on what truly matters: growing your business.
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