YouTube Competitor Evaluation: How I Do It in 5 Simple Steps

YouTube competitor evaluation is important to your video content material technique this 12 months. Take it from me — I lead HubSpot’s YouTube progress technique, overseeing content material technique, development monitoring, efficiency reporting, and competitor evaluation.

As of 2024, YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform and the second-biggest social media on the earth, with over 2.70 billion customers. And consider me, it’s not slowing down anytime quickly, the variety of YouTube’s international customers is estimated to achieve 2.85 billion by 2025.

With this ongoing video progress on the horizon, it’s essential to evaluate your competitors.

Desk of Contents

• What’s a competitor evaluation on YouTube?
• Why is a YouTube competitor evaluation essential?
• Learn how to Do Competitor Evaluation on YouTube

What’s a competitor evaluation on YouTube?

Competitor evaluation on YouTube includes finding out the content material created by rivals in your required area of interest or material space. These insights aid you perceive your rivals’ strengths, weaknesses, and methods.

This evaluation might be performed on a month-to-month, quarterly, or annual foundation. Your aim is to be taught what rivals are doing nicely and to emulate it in your personal type.

You’ll additionally wish to determine what they aren’t doing so you are able to do it and stand out within the aggressive YouTube panorama.

Why is a YouTube competitor evaluation essential?

Competitor evaluation helps you perceive the aggressive panorama in your goal market.

That is essential in my function as a result of it permits me to realize precious insights into what different manufacturers are doing on the platform.

By understanding rivals’ methods, content material efficiency, viewers engagement ways, and general presence on YouTube, I can determine trade tendencies and pinpoint areas the place content material gaps exist.

I may also uncover alternatives for enchancment, and make knowledgeable selections to remain forward.

This evaluation will aid you higher perceive your viewers and create a complete YouTube content material technique.

Learn how to Do Competitor Evaluation on YouTube

Step 1: Create a listing of your prime rivals.

It is best to begin your competitor evaluation by figuring out 5 to 10 YouTube channels which might be rivals.

These rivals might be based mostly in your particular trade (e.g., cosmetics), area of interest (e.g., clear, cruelty-free cosmetics), and/or audience (e.g., environmentally aware cosmetics shoppers).

In my expertise right here at HubSpot, I’ve realized the artwork of choosing a various vary of rivals.

This considerate method acknowledges the presence of area of interest rivals inside subjects we cowl whereas aligning seamlessly with our channels that will discover broader topics.

I discover these rivals by looking for particular subjects I wish to cowl on YouTube and by discovering the top-ranking movies for every search consequence on YouTube.

Within the instance beneath, you’ll be able to see the top-ranking outcomes for the subject “Instagram advertising,” based mostly on the outcomes, Adam Erhart and Be taught With Shopify could be the present key rivals for this subject.

You may as well use YouTube Shorts to determine key rivals.

Begin by looking for the main focus key phrase and clicking the “Shorts” tab.

For instance, the present top-ranking Shorts rivals for the key phrase “Instagram advertising” are Vanessa Lau and Adam Erhart.

Remember to go to the YouTube creator’s account to assessment the movies they’ve posted previously 12 months to make sure that the subjects they cowl align with the general content material pillars or subjects that you just intend to cowl in your channel.

Step 2: Analyze competitor YouTube movies.

When you’ve recognized 5-10 rivals, it’s time to research the content material your rivals have printed for the 12 months.

For instance, I simply performed a 2024 competitor evaluation for HubSpot analyzing all of the movies created by our rivals in 2023.

I like to recommend contemplating the next issues when finishing a competitor evaluation:

• What subjects are your rivals discussing?
• What kind of movies are they making (tutorials, vlogs, critiques, and so on.)?
• How typically are they publishing content material?
• How lengthy are their movies?
• What are their hottest movies from the previous 12 months?
• Do rivals have a video collection or recurring theme?
• Are rivals utilizing interactive parts reminiscent of polls, clickable hyperlinks, or end-screen options?

Let’s proceed with the Instagram advertising instance from Step 1.

Under are examples of information and knowledge chances are you’ll discover out of your evaluation of top-ranking Instagram advertising rivals:

• Matters mentioned: Basic Instagram advertising, Instagram updates/tendencies, Instagram advertising instruments, Instagram advertising technique
• Kind of movies: Ideas, how-to tutorials, explainers
• Publishing cadence: As soon as per week
• Size of movies: 10-20 minutes
• Well-liked movies: “Instagram Advertising for Enterprise” / “Learn how to Create a Instagram Content material Planner Calendar”

Professional Tip: I prefer to discover how rivals manage their playlists and video collection. I assess the technique behind grouping sure movies and making a seamless viewing expertise.

And don’t skip out on thumbnail analysis. I take note of the visible type of our rivals’ common video thumbnails. I additionally determine tendencies in design, colour schemes, and parts that seize consideration.

When you’ve aggregated this knowledge, you should use it to determine and make observe of any recurring themes.

These insights might be instrumental in crafting your content material technique as a result of it can permit you to create content material that resonates together with your audience and ensures your channel is aggressive with different creators in an analogous panorama.

Step 3: Establish search engine optimisation key phrases and methods.

Subsequent, it’s time to look at your competitor’s video titles, descriptions, and tags.

This may permit you to perceive how your rivals are optimizing their movies for YouTube search.

You should utilize competitor analysis together with search engine optimisation instruments like TubeBuddy and VidIQ to assessment the month-to-month search quantity of the key phrases your rivals are utilizing.

Video Titles

For video titles, look at how every competing video is structured and determine any frequent key phrases/phrases. These titles talk what key phrases resonate together with your viewers and inform their searches on YouTube.

This evaluation will inform the way you form your titles to incorporate key phrases or phrases that your audience desires to see.

In our Instagram advertising instance, the title within the top-ranking video says: “The Full INSTAGRAM FOR BUSINESS GUIDE (Reels, Tales, Verification, Instagram Procuring & Extra!)”.

This title consists of the main focus key phrase “Instagram for enterprise” in all caps, it signifies that it’s the full information, and provides a preview of what is going to be mentioned within the video.

Video Descriptions

For video descriptions, analyze your competitor’s video description based mostly on construction, if/the place they embody related key phrases, hyperlinks, and extra context. This may assist develop the framework in your video descriptions.

In our Instagram advertising instance, an outline from a top-ranking social media advertising competitor could say: “Instagram For Enterprise Tutorial: Develop your Instagram and use it to drive your on-line gross sales.”

This means that the competitor is utilizing the first focus phrase (“Instagram for enterprise”) throughout the first sentence and tells the viewer precisely what to anticipate within the video.

Video Tags

For video tags, make observe of any tags rivals use to boost discoverability.

Video tags assist categorize your content material and point out to your viewers what your movies are about.

Utilizing the suitable video tags in your video will greatest permit YouTube to share your content material with viewers who’re focused on that content material.

In our Instagram advertising instance, video tags from a top-ranking Instagram competitor could also be: #instagramtutorials #instagramforbusiness.

This communicates to YouTube and the viewer that they may obtain details about Instagram, a tutorial, and particularly for companies.

Professional Tip: Past content material evaluation, I dive into rivals’ viewers interactions. I determine recurring key phrases in feedback and observe how rivals interact. Pinned feedback provide precious insights into favored phrases. I then leverage these findings to tailor my engagement technique.

Step 4: Observe group engagement and viewers suggestions.

On this step, I like to look at how rivals interact with their YouTube group and the way the viewers responds to their content material.

Neighborhood Engagement

Neighborhood engagement can assist a creator join with their viewers.

You’ll wish to look into how your rivals are utilizing group options on YouTube to interact with their viewers.

I search for patterns in how rivals reply to feedback, run polls, and tackle suggestions.

Additional, you’ll wish to maintain a detailed eye on whether or not your rivals are partnering with different creators to create their content material. This may permit you to refine and adapt your group engagement technique.

For instance, beneath the “Instagram for enterprise” video a viewer left a remark asking for readability about part of the video. Be taught with Shopify responded and supplied further sources for the viewer.

This means to the Channel’s viewers that Be taught with Shopify is actively reviewing feedback and seeking to reply questions and supply instructional sources for his or her viewers.

That is one thing you’ll wish to make observe of and incorporate into your technique.

Conversely, in case your competitor has a number of questions beneath their movies which might be left unanswered, that will function some extent of differentiation in your movies.

You could wish to create movies about these unanswered questions, and/or create an enticing presence in your feedback to harbor a better sense of group together with your viewers.

Viewers Suggestions

Analyzing the viewers interplay on competitor movies reminiscent of likes may even permit you to perceive how the viewers acquired the video.

For instance, if I discover {that a} video has numerous views and ranks #1 for the subject, nevertheless it has restricted likes, this will counsel that the viewers didn’t benefit from the content material that was delivered.

Reviewing feedback on competitor movies may give you numerous useful perception too. Viewer feedback could inform you precisely what they favored or disliked in regards to the video, what they wish to see subsequent, and what they wished was included.

These feedback can set the stage for what it is best to embody or keep away from in your movies.

Within the instance beneath, beneath the “Instagram for enterprise” video, viewers left a number of optimistic feedback about how a lot they loved the video. This can be a nice indicator that the video efficiently delivered worth to viewers.

You’ll be able to take inspiration from this video by analyzing how the video is structured, how data is offered, the size of the video, together with different insights.

Bear in mind, taking inspiration from a competitor doesn’t imply copying. You wish to create authentic content material that delivers worth to your viewers independently and initially.

Viewers don’t want one other video like this, they want one thing distinctive.

Additional, there’s a remark requesting a step-by-step information on tips on how to create movies. This remark signifies that there’s a want for such a video.

If it suits your content material technique, this can be a video that you could create in your viewers.

Step 5: Establish content material gaps and use them to face out.

It’s time to take the entire competitor insights you’ve discovered and switch them into content material methods in your YouTube channel.

You’ve evaluated and made observe of what your rivals are doing nicely and the place they’re falling brief. You’ll attempt to use what they’re utilizing nicely as inspiration.

The areas the place your rivals are falling brief are referred to as content material gaps.

To spherical out our Instagram advertising instance, let’s say I seen that rivals are making lengthy movies with out outlined chapters.

This is able to be an important probability to not solely undertake their profitable parts however to additionally improve the viewer expertise by incorporating clear chapter markers.

This strategic differentiation is your key to standing out amidst rivals and delivering extra refined and fascinating video content material.

Professional Tip: I prefer to discover how rivals use captions and transcriptions. I additionally assess whether or not they present participating supplementary content material. For instance, HubSpot offers its viewers with free content material provides on the HubSpot Advertising Channel as supplementary instructional content material.

Stage up your content material technique with a competitor evaluation.

YouTube competitor analysis can assist take your content material technique to the following stage.

Competitor analysis and evaluation function a compass for guiding your content material technique, providing insights into tendencies, viewers engagement, and content material gaps for alternative.

These insights lay the muse for a robust well-informed content material technique.

The digital panorama is repeatedly evolving and with that it requires us to each stay vigilant and versatile. These competitor insights lay the groundwork in your content material technique, however they’re meant to evolve with rising tendencies, viewers preferences, and platform modifications.

Whereas adhering to the framework you’ve outlined from competitor analysis, it is best to proceed to experiment and check new methods.

With the mixture of competitor insights, experimentation, and monitoring tendencies, you’ll know tips on how to create content material that your viewers desires to see.

That’s all from me for now — good luck together with your analysis.