The Benchmarks feature is your competitive intelligence tool for social media. It allows you to measure your performance against competitors across multiple platforms, giving you the insights needed to outperform your competition.
Supported Platforms
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
YouTube
TikTok
X (formerly Twitter)
Getting Started
Before you can create your first benchmark analysis, you'll need to prepare your project properly.
Here's what to check:
Add all relevant profiles to your Socialinsider project
Ensure platform consistency in the same project - all profiles you want to analyze must be added to the same project
Verify access permissions for each account you plan to analyze
Once these requirements are met, you're ready to start benchmarking:)
Creating Your First Benchmark Analysis
To begin your competitive analysis, navigate to the Benchmarks section using the left sidebar in your Socialinsider dashboard. You'll see options for each supported social media platform.
Select the platform you want to analyze first. This will open the benchmark configuration screen where you can choose which profiles to compare.
Select the profiles you want to include in the analysis, then choose the specific metrics that matter most to your strategy.
After making your selections, click the Update button to generate your benchmark report. The system will process the data and create a comprehensive comparison of all selected profiles.
Understanding Your Competitive Position
Your benchmark report reveals how you stack up against competitors across several key areas:
Engagement rate comparisons - See whether your audience is more or less engaged than competitors
Audience growth patterns - Discover who's gaining followers fastest and who might be losing ground
Post frequency and timing - Understand when competitors are most active and how often they post
Content performance metrics - Identify which types of posts generate the most engagement for each competitor
Follower acquisition data - Track the rate at which each profile is growing its audience
This data helps you identify gaps in your own strategy and opportunities to stand out when competitors are less active.
Leveraging Advanced Features
The Average Performance Indicator is particularly useful for understanding the broader industry context.
Enable this option in the side panel to compare not just against your direct competitors, but against industry averages.
This helps you identify whether your entire competitive set is performing above or below industry standards. 👇
You can also create custom comparison groups by selecting specific competitors for focused analysis.
This is especially valuable when you want to analyze different competitor tiers separately — perhaps comparing against direct competitors in one analysis and aspirational brands in another.
🙌 Market Research Flexibility: Remember that you don't need to include your own brand in every benchmark analysis. You can compare any combination of profiles for market research purposes.
For example, you might analyze how different brands in your target industry perform against each other to identify market leaders, or compare brands from different sectors to understand cross-industry social media strategies.
Turning Data Into Strategy
The real value of benchmarking comes from translating insights into action. Here are key ways to leverage your competitive data:
Improve engagement rates - When competitors have higher engagement, analyze their content strategy, posting frequency, and timing
Accelerate audience growth - Study faster-growing competitors' follower acquisition patterns, hashtag strategies, and trending topic engagement
Optimize content strategy - Identify high-performing content types and formats used by successful competitors
Perfect your timing - Use competitor posting schedules to find gaps or optimal posting windows
Set realistic benchmarks - Use industry averages and competitor performance to establish achievable goals
Use the export feature ("Download" button) to share these insights with your team and stakeholders.
Regular benchmark reviews — ideally monthly — help you track competitive movements and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Best Practices for Ongoing Success
Organization is key to effective benchmarking. Here are proven practices for long-term success:
→ Project Organization:
Create dedicated projects for different competitive analyses
Group similar competitors together (direct vs. aspirational brands)
Maintain consistent monitoring periods for accurate comparisons
→ Analysis Best Practices:
Compare similar time periods - Holiday performance vs. previous holidays, not off-season periods
Track both competitor types - Direct competitors (same products/audience) and indirect competitors (competing for attention)
Monitor regularly - Monthly reviews help you catch competitive movements early
Focus on trends - Look for patterns over time rather than one-off performance spikes
Troubleshooting Common Issues
If certain profiles don't appear in your benchmark options, here's how to troubleshoot:
Check project inclusion - Verify you've added the profiles to your current project workspace
Confirm platform matching - Instagram profiles won't appear in Facebook benchmarks (create separate analyses for each platform)
Verify access permissions - Some profiles may have privacy settings that limit data availability
Ensure profile accessibility - Make sure the profiles are still active and publicly accessible
❗️Remember: The benchmarking tool only displays profiles that have already been added to your current project.
In the view below, only the profiles that you’ve already added to the project will appear. If you don’t have any Instagram profiles but want to conduct an Instagram benchmark analysis, you will be notified and asked to add the profiles first.
Getting Additional Support
If you need visual guidance, check out the product demo video.
For specific questions or technical issues, the support team is available to help you maximize your benchmarking results.
Remember, competitive benchmarking is most effective when done consistently over time. Set up a regular review schedule to track competitive movements and identify emerging opportunities in your social media landscape.