Analyzing Instagram Competitors with Third Party Tools

When you scroll through Instagram and look at the endless stream of posts, reels, and stories, have you ever wondered, "What are my competitors up to?" 

It is quite easy to get lost in the feed once you start scrolling, but if you are running a business profile, it is important to know what others in your niche or industry are up to. Understanding your competitors’ Instagram strategy can give you the edge you need to stand out and thrive in the competitive and crowded Instagram space. 

In today's era, where every decision is driven by data, it is important to monitor your competitors' performance. The good thing is you do not have to do it manually. Thanks to various third-party tools, competitor analysis is now more accessible, easy, efficient, and insightful. 

Let’s look at how you can analyze your Instagram competitors with these powerful tools. But first, let’s explore why you should be analyzing the competition and what metrics to consider in this regard.

Why Should You Care About Your Instagram Competitors?

When you start out on Instagram, you may think, "Why bother? My content speaks for itself". But here is the thing—even the most successful brands do not operate in isolation. The social media landscape is always evolving, and staying on top of your competitors' strategies can be quite helpful. Here's how!

Understand Their Strategy

Whether you are on Instagram or any other platform, you are not the only brand trying to get the audience’s attention. Whether you are selling makeup, food, or fitness equipment, your competitors are all vying for the same target audience as well. 

So, when you analyze their strategy, you can see what is working for them and what is not. Are they posting daily? What kind of content are they sharing? Are they using Instagram's features effectively? Knowing these things may help you work on your strategy to improve it, too. 

Learn More About Your Audience

When you are on social media, you are not just posting content, you are interacting with your audience too. So, it helps to know what type of content gets engagement and what does not. When you analyze your competitors' content, you can learn what your target audience responds to. Maybe your competition is using humor, inspiring quotes, or other unique forms of content that appeals more to your audience.

Stay on Top of Industry Trends

Keeping an eye on the competition does not just mean watching the local players! It also means checking out the industry leaders—on a local as well as global level. When you observe how bigger brands engage with their audience and adopt new trends, it can provide you with valuable insights into what is coming next. The sooner you are able to adapt, the more you can prepare yourself and strengthen your position as an industry thought leader. 

Understand Your Position in the Market

Are you ahead of the curve, or do you have some catching up to do? By comparing your Instagram metrics with those of the competition, you can assess how well you are doing and where you need to improve. This gives you a clear benchmark for success and enables you to identify areas where you can outperform others. 

Get Creative Ideas

As you monitor the competition, you can get new ideas for content as well. It could be a fresh spin on a popular post or something very unique. Instagram competitor analysis can serve as a valuable source of inspiration. You do not have to copy what they do, but you can take cues from their successes or failures and shape your content strategy.

Key Metrics to Assess for Competitor Analysis with Third-Party Tools

If you want to get a real sense of how well the competitors are performing, here are some key metrics you should be tracking.

Follower Growth and Audience Insights

It is highly important to assess how fast the competitors are growing. With third-party tools, you can track the number of followers they gain over time. This enables you to see how their audience is expanding. If you notice a sudden spike in follower count, you can investigate what strategies they used during that time; like influencer partnerships, some contests, viral content, etc. 

Engagement Rate

Engagement is Instagram's golden metric! It does not suffice to have thousands of followers if they are not interacting with your posts. Third-party tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social can calculate engagement rates based on the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves. This tells you how well your competitors’ followers are connecting with their content, thereby giving you ideas for improving your own engagement. 

Content Performance

Third-party tools enable you to look closely at which types of posts are performing best for the competition. Are they posting videos, static images, or carousels? Which ones get the most likes and comments? This analysis helps you optimize your content strategy by showing you which formats and themes are liked more by the audience.

Hashtag Analysis

Hashtags are important for increasing visibility on Instagram. Tracking your competitors’ hashtags can help you see which ones drive more engagement. With third-party tools like SEMRush or BuzzSumo, you can discover high-performing hashtags and use them in your posts to expand your reach.

Advertising Strategy

Instagram ads are a very effective means of increasing visibility and driving sales. However, it is not always easy to figure out what your competition is spending on ads. Some tools like SEMRush enable you to track ad performance metrics like impressions, click-through rates, and cost-per-click. This helps you understand their advertising strategy so you can adjust your budget accordingly. 

Third-Party Tools for Competitor Analysis

Let’s first talk about how you are analyzing your competitors right now! If you are like most Instagram users, you might be manually scrolling though competitors’ profiles and taking mental notes on what they are doing. While this is a start, it is not the most effective or comprehensive approach. There are two main issues with this approach.

Firstly, it is time-consuming. Tracking the performance of multiple competitors via a manual process takes considerable time. You may have to remember details like how often they post, which hashtags they use, and what their engagement rate is— and that too, without any real-time analytics. 

Secondly, there is the issue of lack of insights. Scrolling through Instagram feeds does not give you the full picture. You might see a post with a few likes and comments; however, without deeper analytics, it is hard to know how effective that post really was. 

This is why we highly recommend the use of third-party tools. These tools take the guesswork out of competitor analysis by providing you with valuable insights, metrics, and data that you can act on. They help you monitor everything—from follower growth to engagement rates and even the ads performance—all in one place. 

Now that you have an idea of what to track and how third party tools can help, here are some top third-party tools that can help you analyze your Instagram competitors. 

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media management platforms. It offers powerful competitor analysis tools that enable you to benchmark your performance against others. From tracking follower growth to post engagement, Hootsuite provides a comprehensive view of your competitors' Instagram activity. Moreover, it integrates well with other social media platforms, thereby giving you a holistic view of your online presence.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another very well-known platform that provides an in-depth competitor analysis via its myriad of features. This tool can help you track a variety of metrics—from engagement rates to audience demographics, etc. 

An aspect that sets Sprout Social apart from others is its premium analytics tool, which lets you customize reports and interactive charts. It also features an advanced listening tool with which you can find out what your target audience is saying about your competition’s products or services. If you are serious about optimizing your Instagram strategy, Sprout Social is certainly worth giving a try. 

SEMRush

SEMRush is a great tool for tracking your competitors’ SEO, but it also offers great Instagram competitor analysis features.

You can use it to monitor your competitors’ backlink performance and social signals as well. This will help you understand how your competition is driving traffic to their Instagram profiles or other social media platforms. You can also track their keyword usage to assess and refine your content strategy.

Phlanx

If you are looking for a simple tool to get a snapshot of your competitors’ Instagram engagement, Phlanx is a great option. It calculates engagement rates by comparing an account’s followers to the number of likes and comments that their posts get. This quick insight can help you determine how well your competitors are able to connect with their audience. 

You can also use it to track the effectiveness of influencer collaborations that your competition is investing in. This can help you identify influencers that would be a good fit for your brand in terms of reach, values, and demographics. 

Kompyte

Kompyte is a well-known competitive intelligence tool that automates the process of tracking your competitor updates. It pulls data from various channels, including Instagram, and creates easy-to-read reports that can help you stay ahead of the competition. It offers AI-powered insights with which you can derive real-time updates on your competitors' strategies and make quick adjustments to your own as well. 

Final Thoughts

Marketing on Instagram continues to evolve and become competitive over time. If you want to keep up, you need to keep an eye on what others in your industry are doing. 

Third-party tools make it easier to analyze competitors' Instagram profiles and help you get insights that you can use to improve your own strategy. You can track key metrics like follower growth, engagement, and content performance to adjust your approach and stay ahead. So, start today! Your competitors are already using these tools—why not level up your Instagram game and get ahead?