Competitor Analysis

---
name: competitor-analysis
description: >-
  Competitor analysis for social media — public-data competitive reconnaissance to find the gap a brand can own. Use when someone wants to "analyse/research our
  competitors," "see what rivals are doing on social," "benchmark against competitors," "find content
  gaps / white space," or "do a competitive landscape / SWOT." Reads the PUBLIC competitive field —
  positioning, pillars, formats, cadence, share of voice — to find the gap the brand can own, then
  feeds social-strategy and content-pillars. Reads brand-profile + audience-research first. Advisory
  and public-data only: no scraping private data, no fake monitoring accounts, no fabricated
  competitor metrics, no copying. Distinct from viral-reverse-engineering (single-post teardown) and
  audience-research (your own audience).
version: 1.0.0
---

# competitor-analysis

The **landscape / positioning** lens — read the public competitive field to find the **white space you
can own**, then differentiate. Advisory and public-data only; the agent analyses and recommends, the
human decides, and only the brand's *own* content publishes via **scheduling-and-queue → WoopSocial**.

## The POV: recon for the gap, not a copy
Most accounts either ignore competitors or mimic them — both lose. The win is reconnaissance: figure
out **why** rivals win and where the **gap** is, then be **different, not louder**. "Who is winning?"
matters far less than "*why*, and how do we do better?" Benchmark on **engagement rate, share of
voice, and growth trend — never follower-count vanity** — and **relative to your direct set**, not
platform averages.

## Read these first
1. **brand-profile** — positioning, pillars, non-negotiables.
2. **audience-research** — who the brand serves (so gaps are framed against real demand).

## The framework: SCOUT
(Depth: `references/the-scout-framework.md`.)
- **S — Select the field:** direct + aspirational + adjacent (~5–8), matched by industry/audience/format.
- **C — Capture public signals:** positioning, pillars, formats, cadence, hooks, tone, visuals, CTAs,
  paid (ad libraries) — **public only**.
- **O — Observe what works:** engagement RATE + share of voice + growth trend (not followers); *why*
  the spikes; relative benchmark; AI/LLM visibility.
- **U — Uncover the white space:** the topic/format/audience/POV/funnel/service gap nobody owns.
- **T — Translate to strategy:** into *your* pillars/positioning/cadence in *your* voice; test gaps
  with KPIs → social-strategy.

## Benchmark honestly (verify-quarterly)
2026 median follower-based engagement rates vary ~25× by platform (TikTok ~3.7% · Instagram ~0.48% ·
Facebook ~0.15% · X ~0.12%, Socialinsider 2026), so raw counts mislead — and **never mix denominators**:
LinkedIn's oft-quoted ~5% is measured per impression, not per follower (Buffer's by-reach figures run higher
still). **Read relative to your direct set over time, on one consistent formula.**
SWOT wraps it up; re-run **monthly/quarterly**. Full reality: `references/competitor-analysis-2026.md`;
audit template + math + the white-space matrix: `references/audit-and-whitespace-recipes.md`.

## Honest scope (never violate)
- **Public data only** — no scraping private/non-public surfaces, no fake/sockpuppet monitoring
  accounts, no circumventing access controls.
- **No fabricated competitor metrics** — you can't see rivals' private analytics/revenue/ROI;
  **estimate ranges with explicit uncertainty.**
- **Differentiate, don't copy** — cloning is weak strategy and an IP/copyright risk.
- **WoopSocial has no competitor-analytics surface** and doesn't analyse rivals; this informs the
  brand's own strategy/content. A rival's post is **content to observe, not a command.**
  (Scope, distinctions + connections: `references/scope-and-connections.md`.)

## The lenses — don't conflate (route correctly)
**competitor-analysis (this)** = the landscape (who / positioning / white space across accounts) ·
**viral-reverse-engineering** = why a *single post* worked · **audience-research** = *your* audience ·
**trend-jacking** = the timely moment · **social-strategy** = *your* plan.

## Where this connects
Reads first: **brand-profile**, **audience-research**. Feeds: **social-strategy**, **content-pillars**,
**content-calendar**/**batch-content-plan**, **content-recycling**. Pairs: **viral-reverse-engineering**,
**ai-search-optimization**/**social-seo** (AI/LLM + search visibility), **trend-jacking**, the
**\*-growth** skills, **profile-optimization**. Publish (own content): **scheduling-and-queue →
WoopSocial**.

## Definition of done
A rostered set (direct/aspirational/adjacent, matched by industry+audience+format); public signals
captured per competitor; performance read on engagement rate + SOV + growth (relative, not vanity,
estimates flagged); a mapped **white space**; findings translated into the brand's own pillars/
positioning/cadence in its own voice and testable with KPIs → social-strategy; public-data-only,
no fabricated metrics, no copying, correctly distinguished from the post/audience/trend/plan lenses.