Facebook remains one of the most influential social media platforms for businesses, brands, and influencers to connect with their audience. With billions of active users and a wide range of features, it provides an unmatched opportunity to build communities, share content, and grow your brand. However, succeeding on Facebook requires more than just posting—it demands a clear understanding of your performance metrics and insights into what works. Tracking key metrics and benchmarking your profile against industry peers provides valuable context, helping you identify what’s effective and where there’s room to improve.

Facebook competitor analysis is an essential part of any successful social media strategy related to this network. By studying the performance, content, and engagement tactics of other brands in your industry, you can uncover valuable insights that drive your own growth. Whether you’re just starting out or managing an established presence, leveraging data-based competitor analysis can help you set benchmarks, discover optimization opportunities, and refine your approach to content creation and community engagement. 

In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of conducting an effective competitor analysis strategy on Facebook. From identifying the right competitors to tracking performance and discovering actionable insights, we’ll cover every step of the process. We’ll also discuss what to look for in a Facebook competitor analysis tool to ensure you have the right capabilities to maximize the benefits of your analysis. Whether you’re a social media manager, a marketer, or a small business owner, this guide will help you make data-driven decisions to elevate your Facebook strategy. 

The Steps to Conduct Facebook Competitor Analysis

In this section, we will walk you through the key steps related to Facebook competitive analysis. Each step in this process builds on the previous one, using data-driven strategies to help you gain deeper insights into your competitors’ performance and refine your own approach all while leveraging Facebook page insights for other pages. The key steps conducting Facebook competitive analysis are as follows: 

1. Identifying your Facebook Competitors
2. Setting Up your Data Sets
3. Creating a Benchmarking Report
4. Undertaking Content Optimization Analyses
5. Applying what your Learned

Step 1: Identifying your Facebook Competitors

Understanding who your competitors are on Facebook is an important first step in conducting a successful analysis. In this context, competitors don’t just mean businesses that offer similar products or services, but also any pages that target the same audience as you. This could include other brands, influencers, or even content creators with a similar focus. Recognizing this broader definition of competition is key to fully understanding your position in the social media landscape.

While you may already have a few competitors in mind, there’s a good chance some aren’t on your radar yet. It is important to take time to uncover all relevant competitors, and similar profiles will help you paint a complete picture of your industry and understand the dynamics of your target audience. By building an extensive list of competitors, you’ll have a diverse and valuable dataset for the analysis process, allowing you to uncover trends and identify strategies that work well in your niche.

One of the easiest ways to identify your competitors is to use a social media research tool designed to find similar pages. Relying solely on manual searches can be tedious and lead to missed opportunities. A specialized tool can help you quickly identify relevant competitors, even in crowded or highly competitive industries, so you can begin your analysis with confidence. Moreover, it is generally important to look for a social media tool that allows you to track an unlimited number of competitors, since this allows you to bring more data points into your analysis.

It is important to point out that there are Facebook competitor analysis tools you can use for free that help you compare your Facebook profile to another across key metrics. Moreover, there are free Facebook competitive analysis reports that you can generate that give you a good starting point for your own optimization activities. While free tools can sometimes help you get started, they often come with limitations in terms of features, insights, and generally don’t allow you to track, monitor, and analyze a large number of Facebook profiles. For a more detailed and accurate analysis, a specialized competitor analysis tool can help you go beyond surface-level comparisons and uncover deeper trends that drive actionable results. In this way, you can confidently identify competitors and lay the foundation for a comprehensive Facebook competitor analysis.

Step 2: Setting Up your Data Sets

After identifying your competitors, the next step is to set up your data set. The more similar Facebook pages you include in your tracking, the better. This is because tracking a large number of competitor profiles provides a large number of data points, which should give you more confidence when analyzing trends. While some tools may offer a free Facebook competitive analysis report for an initial overview, opting for a comprehensive Facebook competitor analysis tool with unlimited profile tracking unlocks a more in-depth view of your competitors’ performance across various metrics. 

Access to historical data is another important element in creating a reliable dataset. For example, focusing on a single month’s data can give you a detailed snapshot of activity during a specific time period, such as a holiday campaign. On the other hand, analyzing data over an entire year provides broader insights into long-term trends and seasonality. The pages you track and the time periods you analyze should align with the goals you’ve set for your Facebook competitive analysis, whether that’s improving engagement rates, understanding growth trends, or identifying content opportunities. 

Before diving into the benchmarking and optimization process, take a moment to clearly define what you hope to achieve. Do you want to discover what types of posts resonate most with your audience? Do you want to set benchmarks for follower growth or engagement? Do you have multiple goals? Being clear about your goals will ensure that your analysis is focused and actionable. With your data set and goals in place, you’ll be ready to dive into the next phases of your Facebook competitive analysis with confidence. 

When going through various benchmarking and content optimization approaches in relation to Facebook competitor analysis, it is generally helpful to give a real-world scenario as to how this works. Therefore, in this article, we will analyze the Facebook pages of leading makeup brands to give you a better idea of how to set up your analyses. Makeup is a staple in many people’s lives, celebrated not only for its practical use, but also for its ability to express creativity and individuality. Facebook, with its wide reach and diverse features, is a powerful platform for makeup brands to showcase their products, connect with their audience, and tell their brand stories.

For this analysis, we will focus on the following 10 well-known makeup brands (in alphabetical order): Anastasia Beverly Hills, Benefit Cosmetics, Charlotte Tilbury, Clinique, Fenty Beauty, Huda Beauty, MAC Cosmetics, Maybelline, NYX Professional Makeup, and Too Faced. We will now walk you through the steps to analyze these competitors effectively and uncover actionable insights using benchmarking and content optimization techniques.

Step 3: Creating a Benchmarking Report

Now that we have identified the profiles to include in our data set, the next step is to create a benchmarking report which can give you Facebook page insights for other pages in terms of their performance. This analysis is essential for understanding how your Facebook page compares to others in your industry, helping you identify gaps and set measurable goals for improvement. A benchmarking analysis allows you to track your performance across a variety of metrics and gain valuable insight into your competitors’ strategies.

First, determine which metrics are most important to your analysis. Common ones include total followers, follower growth rate, engagement rate, and post interaction rate. Depending on your goals, you may also want to look at post frequency, number of likes per post, and overall engagement trends. The table below provides a clear comparison of these metrics (follower growth, post interaction rate, posts per day, engagement, number of posts, likes per post) for the period October 23 to November 19, making it easy to see which profiles are leading in certain areas and where there are opportunities for improvement.

Benchmarking is a critical part of Facebook competitor analysis, as it helps you set realistic and meaningful goals for your performance. For example, you might want to understand if your profile’s engagement rate is above average in your industry. By calculating the industry average for metrics such as engagement rate, you can set benchmarks that align with or exceed the industry standard. Similarly, if you’re focused on growth, comparing the average follower growth rates across competitor profiles can help you determine how fast your own page should be expanding. These calculations become even more insightful when you can adjust for specific timeframes, such as seasonal trends or key campaign periods, using the right benchmarking tools.

Below is an example of benchmark calculations for follower growth rate and post interaction rate. The benchmarks for these metrics were generated by calculating the average follower growth rate and post interaction rate for the profiles listed for the period October 23 to November 19. 

Beyond setting benchmarks, you can conduct additional analyses to uncover trends and deeper insights. For instance, you could examine correlations between metrics like post frequency and engagement rate, analyze growth trends over time, or track individual profiles’ progress to see who’s improving and who’s falling behind. Continual tracking is essential to understand how your competitors evolve and adapt. By regularly monitoring your competitors’ performance, you can identify which strategies are working well for them and adjust your own approach to stay competitive. This ongoing process ensures that your Facebook strategy remains data-driven, dynamic, and effective.

Step 4: Undertaking Content Optimization Analyses

Once you have completed your benchmarking analysis, the next step is to dive deeper into your competitors’ strategies to understand why they are successful. A content optimization analysis focuses on identifying the characteristics of high-performing posts, such as the best times to post, the most engaging content formats, and trending hashtags. By studying various patterns, you can refine your own strategy and improve your performance on Facebook.

Conducting content optimization analysis using data-driven methods is key. While some tools provide superficial insights or quick tips, a robust analytics tool allows you to thoroughly examine which aspects of your competitors’ strategies are driving engagement and growth. Content optimization analyses can help you identify patterns in their publishing schedules, content formats, messaging, and engagement tactics. Therefore, we will highlight some of the data-based approaches you can take in order to optimize your Facebook content. For the various graphs you see below, we have analyzed the data of the profiles, listed above, that we are using in our competitor analysis scenario while using the all-in-one social media tool Fanpage Karma.

One effective approach is identifying the best times to post on Facebook. This involves comparing both your own historical data and your competitors’ posting times to discover when your audience is most active. A best time to post analysis not only improves your chances of reaching your audience but also maximizes interaction rates. The chart below illustrates posting frequency and interaction rates for specific timeframes, where green circles indicate higher engagement and larger circles represent more posts. By scheduling your posts during these high-engagement times, you can maximize your visibility and interaction rates. If you are interested in learning more about how to set up a best times to post on Facebook analysis, you can read more here. 

You can also analyze the best-performing hashtags in terms of engagement rate. Similar to identifying the best times to post, a Facebook hashtag analysis allows you to combine your own data with insights from competitors’ profiles. This enables you to evaluate how individual hashtags perform and identify which ones resonate most with your audience. Additionally, conducting a keyword analysis can help you assess average engagement and interaction rates for posts containing specific words. Keywords often highlight trending topics, providing valuable insights into what themes or discussions are currently popular within your industry.

Another important area to explore is the effectiveness of different content formats. Researching which formats—such as photos, videos, links, or text-based posts—yield the highest engagement rates can guide your content creation strategy. For instance, as shown in the chart below, posts with images tend to outperform other formats in terms of interaction rates during the analyzed period. By identifying these trends, you can focus on creating content in formats that drive higher engagement, maximizing your overall performance on Facebook.

Finally, tagging analysis as part of the competitor analysis for Facebook is a powerful way to examine specific characteristics of posts and uncover correlations between content attributes and engagement. This process involves creating tags to categorize posts based on various factors, such as whether the content features products, the number of people in an image, or even stylistic elements like color schemes or themes. For example, you could tag posts as “product only,” “with people,” to analyze how posts with certain characteristics are performing. Tagging can also be applied to videos, stories, or other formats to gain deeper insight into their impact. 

This approach is especially useful for identifying trends and refining your strategy. A tagging analysis not only helps you understand what is working, but also highlights potential areas for improvement. By using this method, along with your own data and competitive insights, you can create a more informed and effective Facebook strategy that drives engagement and growth. If you are interested in learning more about how to conduct a tagging analysis to explore correlations, you can read our article walking you through the process. 

Step 5: Applying what you´ve Learned

After conducting your benchmarking and content optimization analysis, the final and most critical step is to put those insights into action. Data without execution won’t drive results, so it’s important to adjust your Facebook strategy based on what you’ve learned. For example, if your analytics have revealed specific times when engagement is highest, prioritize scheduling your posts during those optimal times. Similarly, if a particular content format, such as images or reels, consistently outperforms others, focus on incorporating those formats more frequently into your content schedule.  

To streamline implementation, consider using a social media scheduling tool that allows you to automate posting at the ideal times and gives everyone on your team an overview of your posting strategy. Moreover, remember that posting is only part of the equation-active community management is just as important. Engaging with your audience by responding to comments, answering questions, and participating in discussions can strengthen relationships and build loyalty. A community management tool can simplify this process and help you efficiently manage and organize interactions on your Facebook page. By taking these actionable steps, you can ensure that your competitive analysis translates into tangible improvements that boost your overall performance on Facebook.  

Looking for a Facebook Competitor Analysis Tools

If you’re looking to go beyond a simple Facebook page competitor analysis, a social media tool with advanced competitor analysis and benchmarking features can make all the difference. While basic tools can provide initial insights such as follower counts or engagement metrics, a more robust solution is required to gain deeper, actionable insights. Therefore, when researching Facebook competitor analysis tools, prioritize those that offer features that address the steps outlined above. An ideal tool should include:   

1. Unlimited profile tracking to build large, meaningful data sets for in-depth analysis.
2. Research features to identify other relevant Facebook Pages in your niche.
3. Advanced benchmarking capabilities to compare key metrics such as engagement rates, follower growth, and posting frequency.
4. Comprehensive content optimization analytics to discover which strategies resonate most with your audience.

Additionally, consider an all-in-one solution that combines analytics and research capabilities with community management and publishing features. That way, you can act on your insights seamlessly, whether it’s scheduling posts during high-engagement times or efficiently responding to your audience. With the right Facebook competitive analysis tool, you’ll be able to make data-driven decisions that will improve your performance and keep you ahead of the competition.

Conducting your own Facebook Competitor Analysis 

When you are beginning to look for ways to improve your performance, it may make sense to generate a free Facebook competitive analysis report or use a tool that allows you to compare your Facebook profile with another one. However, a powerful analytics tool can help you uncover optimization opportunities while providing a clear comparison between your profile and other similar pages in your industry. At the end of the day, conducting a Facebook competitive analysis is much easier and more powerful when you have the right tools at your disposal. 

If you’re looking to conduct advanced competitor analysis for Facebook, then you should take a look at the all-in-one social media tool Fanpage Karma. This tool gives you the ability to track and analyze an unlimited number of profile and is ideal for generating the large data sets needed for meaningful benchmarking and actionable content optimization insights. It also combines these advanced benchmarking and content optimization features with community management, publishing and research tools, making it an invaluable resource for managing your Facebook strategy. If this sounds interesting to you, keep in mind that Fanpage Karma offers a free 14-day trial so you can try out all the features for yourself.

For additional support, Fanpage Karma offers a free weekly webinar where you can learn practical ways to improve the performance of your Facebook and other social media profiles.