How to Use Competitive Benchmarking to Outpace Your Rivals (Without Obsessing Over Them)

TL;DR

• Competitive benchmarking shows you exactly where you stand against your rivals on social media

• Track follower growth, engagement rates, posting frequency, and content performance to identify gaps

• Use Later's Social Listening Benchmarking tool to automate competitor tracking and compare metrics side-by-side

• Smart brands track weekly and adjust their strategy in real-time instead of waiting months

Your competitors are tracking you, and they're probably already three steps ahead. They know what you're posting, when you're posting, and how well it's performing. They've set up alerts for when you launch something new. They're studying your engagement rates, analyzing your content mix, and figuring out what works for you so they can adapt it faster.

The question is: do you know the same about them?

If you're not actively benchmarking your rivals, you're guessing your way through strategy while they're using data. You're posting blindly while they're making informed decisions. That's not a fair fight.

Here's your game plan: track the metrics that actually matter, automate the process so you're not wasting hours every week, and turn competitor insights into content decisions that put you ahead instead of playing catch-up.

In this guide, you'll learn exactly which competitors to track, what metrics to monitor, how to collect data without losing your mind, and most importantly, how to turn benchmarking into action. By the end, you'll have a system that takes 10 minutes a month instead of hours of manual stalking.

Let's break it down.

Why competitive benchmarking matters

If you manage social media for a brand or business, you’ve probably been asked some version of this:

“Are these results good or just average?”

Without benchmarks, it’s almost impossible to answer confidently. Reach, engagement, and growth don’t mean much on their own. Competitive benchmarking gives those numbers context so you can say, “This is strong for our category,” or “We’re underperforming here, and here’s why.”

In 2026, social performance isn’t judged in isolation anymore. Leadership wants comparisons, patterns, and proof. Benchmarking helps you move from reporting numbers to explaining impact.

What competitive benchmarking isn’t

Let’s clear something up early: competitive benchmarking is not about watching competitors all day or copying their content.

It’s also not about chasing every viral post or assuming what works for them will work for you. The goal isn’t imitation, it’s insight.

Good benchmarking helps you understand what’s normal in your space, what’s exceptional, and where you might be over- or under-investing your effort.

Choosing the right competitors

One of the most common mistakes in benchmarking happens right here.

The loudest or biggest brands in your industry aren’t always the most useful comparison points. Instead, look for accounts that speak to a similar audience, publish consistently on the same platforms, and operate at a comparable scale, or slightly above it.

A good rule of thumb is to benchmark against three to five competitors. This gives you enough data for patterns without turning the process into a research project.

Including one aspirational brand is helpful, but it shouldn’t be the only reference point. Otherwise, every comparison will feel discouraging instead of useful.

Which metrics actually matter

This is where benchmarking can either become incredibly helpful or completely overwhelming.

You don’t need to track everything. Focus on a small set of metrics that explain performance rather than inflate it.

Engagement rate is often more telling than total likes, especially when audience sizes differ. Posting frequency helps you understand consistency versus fatigue. Content format mix reveals whether video, carousels, or static posts are doing most of the work. And growth trends over time matter far more than one strong or weak month.

Once you have that context, you can start looking at top-performing posts by theme, not to copy them, but to understand what consistently resonates in your category.

Tools like Later help streamline this by placing your performance next to competitor data, so insights surface faster without juggling spreadsheets.

Want to track all these metrics automatically? Later's Social Listening tool does it for you. Set it up once, check it monthly.

How to spot patterns (not just viral posts)

A single high-performing post doesn’t tell you much. What matters is what keeps working.

Instead of asking why one post went viral, look at trends over time. Are competitors consistently winning with short-form video? Do educational posts outperform promotional ones? Is posting less often actually driving higher engagement?

Patterns like these are where benchmarking becomes strategic. They help you understand what’s repeatable, not just what’s lucky.

Turning benchmarks into better content

Benchmarking should always lead to action.

If competitors see stronger engagement from fewer posts, that might signal quality over quantity. If certain formats outperform across multiple accounts, it’s worth testing them in your own voice. And if gaps appear, topics or angles no one is covering well, that’s often your biggest opportunity.

Benchmarks aren’t goals. They’re signals that help you prioritize what to test, refine, or stop doing altogether.

Common benchmarking mistakes

Even experienced social media managers fall into a few traps.

Benchmarking too frequently can create noise instead of clarity. Comparing brands with wildly different audiences skews conclusions. Treating benchmarks as hard targets can discourage experimentation. And ignoring your own historical performance removes important context.

The most useful benchmarks work alongside your internal data, not in place of it.

Making benchmarking sustainable

The best benchmarking systems are simple enough to maintain.

A lightweight monthly snapshot often delivers more value than a deep-dive that no one revisits. When benchmarks are easy to update and clearly tied to decisions, they become part of your workflow, not another task on your list.

If the process feels exhausting, it usually means you’re tracking too much or benchmarking too often.

Final thoughts

Competitive benchmarking isn’t about chasing competitors or questioning every result.

It’s about understanding where you stand, recognizing what good performance actually looks like in your space, and making smarter content decisions with confidence.

When done right, it grounds your strategy, especially when results are questioned, and helps you focus on progress instead of comparison.

Stop guessing what your competitors are doing. Start tracking with Later's Social Listening tool and get real-time benchmarking data in one dashboard.