They say comparison can be the enemy of joy, but when done right, it can be a powerful ingredient for social media success. Performing a thorough competitor analysis provides insights into what resonates with your audience and what to avoid.
Below are the 7 best competitive analysis tools and their alternatives to help you gather detailed data on your competitors, analyze trending strategies, and obtain a comprehensive view of competitor performance relative to your own. If any tool doesn’t fit your budget or requirements, I’ve researched two alternatives for each one.
Introduction to Competitive Analysis
Sometimes, you might not even need a tool for competitor analysis. If you’re in the early stages of developing your social media marketing strategy, focusing solely on what your competition is doing might not be necessary. Concentrate on refining your systems, creating a solid content calendar, and building a community. Analyzing competitor strategies can come later.
Even if you feel the need for a competitor analysis, doing it manually is possible, especially on a tight budget. Identify your top competitors, find gaps in their strategy or products, and fulfill your audience’s needs even better through this simple analysis.
Here’s a more thorough step-by-step guide with a downloadable template on how to do a competitor analysis without any tools.
On social media, everyone is competition – not just the industry leaders. Look beyond your direct competitors and observe marketing strategies from various niches and industries. This can spark creativity and help you stand out.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Competitive Analysis Tool
- Broader Trends and Insights: Choose a tool that provides trends and insights across industries, revealing innovative marketing campaigns and content ideas.
- Multiple Marketing Channels: Opt for tools covering multiple channels, from organic traffic to PPC research, facilitating a comprehensive analysis.
- User-Friendliness: Ensure the tool is easy to use, offering instant access with minimal learning curves.
Best Competitive Analysis Tools
1. vidIQ
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for YouTube
Free plan/trial: Free plan available — limited to three competitors. All paid plans offer a seven-day free trial.
Price: Starts at €16.58/month.
Top features:
- Analyze competitor’s subscriber growth, popular videos, and views per hour.
- Benefit from the Chrome extension for convenient analysis.
- Export competitor keywords with ease.
VidIQ is a YouTube-centric tool designed to help you discover keyword ideas, create video thumbnails, and compare your channel’s performance with competitors. Simply enter competitor channels, and vidIQ provides a list of best-performing videos, allowing you to analyze various metrics.
In the free plan, you can add up to three competitors, whereas paid plans accommodate up to 20. If you aim to grow your YouTube presence, higher-tier plans at €99/month provide 1:1 coaching.
Alternative Competitor Analysis Tools to vidIQ
- TubeBuddy helps grow your YouTube channel and conduct competitive analysis. Pricing starts at $4.50/month.
- Tubular offers insights on social listening for videos, including audience conversations about competitors. Pricing is not publicly available.
2. Competitors App
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for Deep Analysis
Free plan/trial: No free plan. All paid plans offer a 15-day free trial.
Price: Starts at $19.90/competitor/month.
Top features:
- Track competitors’ activities across social media, email marketing, paid traffic, PPC research, and keyword tracking.
- Monitor their reviews to adjust your brand positioning.
- Receive competitor research directly in your inbox.
Competitors App offers comprehensive competitor analysis, covering website changes, PPC campaigns, email campaigns, and keyword rankings. It’s ideal for extensive marketing strategies.
Alternative Competitor Analysis Tools
- Similarweb is renowned for comprehensive data ideal for market research. Pricing starts at $125/month.
- Mention excels in social media monitoring. Pricing starts at $49/month with a 14-day trial.
3. SparkToro
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for Audience Insights
Free plan/trial: Free plan available. It includes five searches per month.
Price: Starts at $50/month.
Top features:
- Discover the content your and your competitors’ audience consumes, including websites, podcasts, newsletters, etc.
- Find advertising opportunities through web-hangout places frequented by your competitors’ audience.
- Identify search keywords used by your audience on Google.
SparkToro provides valuable audience research insights, useful particularly for small and medium businesses. It helps build a robust social media strategy by analyzing competitors’ audience data, useful even when you’re just starting with zero followers.
Alternative Competitor Analysis Tools
- Audisense provides audience research insights similar to SparkToro. Pricing starts at £1199/month.
- YouScan helps identify new competitors and measure market share on social media. Pricing starts at $299/month, billed annually.
4. Semrush
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for SEO
Free plan/trial: No free plan. Paid plans offer a seven-day trial.
Price: Starts at $139.95/month.
Top features:
- Monitor competitors’ social media activity across various channels.
- Apply filters for different types of posts (e.g., links, photos, videos).
- Get insights into individual social networks.
Semrush is the go-to tool for SEO competitor analysis. It provides comprehensive data to benchmark your site against competitors, identify keyword gaps, and analyze competitors’ ads. Semrush also tracks competitors’ social media content and audience growth.
Alternative Competitor Analysis Tools for Semrush
- Ahrefs excels in competitor analysis for SEO, helping monitor organic traffic and identify content gaps. Pricing starts at $129/month.
- Phlanx provides essential metrics for social media competitor analysis along with influencer directory and audit reports. Prices start at $49/month.
5. Brand24
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for Brand Mentions
Free plan/trial: No free plan. All paid plans offer a 14-day trial.
Price: Starts at $149/month for one user.
Top features:
- Analyze competitor mentions and reach.
- Identify top-performing content and trending topics.
- Conduct sentiment analysis on competitor mentions.
Brand24 monitors brand mentions, reach, and best-performing content, offering valuable insights to enhance your marketing strategies, like backlink analysis. Enter keywords, and Brand24 will handle the social media monitoring for you.
Alternative Competitor Analysis Tools for Brand24
- Meltwater offers tools for media relations, social listening, and competitor analysis. Pricing isn’t publicly available.
- Mentionlytics keeps you updated on competitor strategies through brand mentions and social media engagement metrics. Prices start at $69/month.
6. BuzzSumo
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for Facebook
Free plan/trial: No free plan. All paid plans offer a seven-day trial.
Price: Starts at $199/month for one user.
Top features:
- Compare up to nine competitor Facebook pages.
- Track market trends and engagement metrics over time.
- Gain insights into post types, scheduling strategies, and content gaps.
BuzzSumo helps analyze competitor content and identify what works best. Specifically, it excels in Facebook Page analysis, comparing multiple competitor pages and providing insights into audience sentiment, popular post types, and engagement metrics.
Alternative Competitor Analysis Tools for BuzzSumo
- Sprinklr provides competitor analysis and performance benchmarking. Prices start at $249/month/user.
- Brandwatch offers market intelligence features to monitor conversations about competitors and analyze audience sentiment. Pricing isn’t publicly available.
7. RivalIQ
Best Competitor Analysis Tool for Social Media
Free plan/trial: No free plan. All paid plans offer a 14-day trial.
Price: Starts at $239/month for one user.
Top features:
- Get notified every time a competitor posts on social media.
- Compare your social media performance with industry averages.
- Access raw data on market position, including social media bios.
RivalIQ excels in social media analytics and competitor analysis. It provides insights into competitors’ social media activity, from bios to content and
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