| name | competitor-content-audit |
| description | Analyze a competitor's recent social content — extract what's working, what's not, their posting cadence, content mix, and voice patterns — feeds directly into brand-voice-system, content-pillars, and cadence-timing. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | Hermes (hermes-agent.nousresearch.com) |
| maintainer | Gokul (github.com/gokulb20) |
| license | MIT |
| homepage | https://crewm8.ai |
| tags | ["social","research","competitor-analysis","content-strategy","intelligence"] |
| related_skills | ["social-profile-discover","brand-voice-system","content-pillars","cadence-timing"] |
| inputs_required | ["competitor-name","competitor-social-handles","audit-period-days"] |
| deliverables | ["competitor-content-report-with-strategic-insights"] |
| compatible_agents | ["hermes","claude-code","droid","cursor","windsurf","openai","openclaw","generic"] |
| execution_tier | 1 |
| required_tools | ["web_search","web_extract","browser_navigate"] |
| required_env_vars | ["FIRECRAWL_API_KEY"] |
| glossary_terms | ["engagement-rate","content-pillar","cadence","hook"] |
Competitor Content Audit
Analyze a competitor's social media content to understand their strategy, identify what's working, and find gaps you can exploit. This is competitive intelligence that feeds directly into your own strategy.
Purpose
Your competitors are already testing what works. Instead of guessing, learn from their data. This skill systematically reviews their last 30–90 days of content, extracts patterns, and translates them into actionable insights for your own brand.
When to Use
- Before defining content-pillars for a new brand
- When engagement drops and you need fresh angles
- Entering a new niche where competitors are established
- Quarterly competitive review
- After a competitor launches a product or campaign that gained traction
Inputs Required
- Competitor name (required)
- Competitor social handles (at least one platform — required)
- Audit period (default: 30 days, range: 7–90 days)
- Platforms to audit (default: X + LinkedIn + Instagram)
- Your brand positioning (optional — for gap analysis)
Procedure
Step 1: Inventory competitor's social presence
Use social-profile-discover to find all competitor profiles, or search directly:
firecrawl search "site:x.com \"{competitor_name}\" OR \"{competitor_handle}\""
firecrawl search "site:linkedin.com/company \"{competitor_name}\""
firecrawl search "site:instagram.com \"{competitor_handle}\""
Step 2: Extract recent content
For each platform, extract the last 30 days of posts:
X (Twitter):
firecrawl search "site:x.com \"{competitor_handle}\" since:2026-04-01" --limit 20
firecrawl scrape "https://x.com/{handle}" --format markdown
LinkedIn:
firecrawl search "site:linkedin.com/posts \"{competitor_name}\"" --limit 15
Instagram:
firecrawl search "site:instagram.com \"{competitor_handle}\"" --limit 15
Step 3: Categorize content
For each extracted post, classify:
| Category | Description | Examples |
|---|
| Education | How-to, tips, frameworks | "5 ways to...", "Here's the formula..." |
| POV / Opinion | Contrarian takes, hot takes | "Most people get X wrong..." |
| Proof / Social | Case studies, testimonials, wins | "Client results:", "We just hit..." |
| BTS / Process | Behind-the-scenes, building in public | "Day in the life:", "What we're working on..." |
| CTA / Promo | Product mentions, launches, offers | "New feature:", "Link in bio..." |
| Engagement | Polls, questions, community | "What do you think?", "Poll:" |
| Trend / News | Reacting to industry news | "Just saw the news about..." |
Step 4: Analyze performance signals
For each post, estimate engagement level (low/medium/high) based on:
- Like/comment/repost counts visible on the post
- Reply depth (long threads vs. none)
- Whether it was reshared by others in the niche
Step 5: Extract patterns
Content Mix:
- What percentage is Education vs. POV vs. Proof vs. BTS vs. CTA?
- Is there a dominant pillar? A missing pillar?
Format Patterns:
- Threads vs. single posts on X
- Carousels vs. images vs. video on LinkedIn/IG
- Short-form vs. long-form
Hook Patterns:
- How do they open posts? (Question, stat, story, contrarian claim?)
- Which hook style gets the most engagement?
CTA Patterns:
- What do they ask the audience to do?
- Do they drive to newsletter, product, or community?
Posting Cadence:
- How many posts per day/week?
- Consistent schedule or sporadic?
- Best-performing days/times?
Voice Patterns:
- Formal or casual?
- First-person (I/we) or brand voice?
- Emoji usage, humor, controversy level?
Step 6: Identify gaps and opportunities
Compare against your brand:
- What they do well that you don't: (e.g., "They post 3 educational carousels/week — we do 0")
- What they neglect that you can own: (e.g., "They never show BTS — we can be the transparent brand")
- Where their engagement is weak: (e.g., "Their POV posts get 2x engagement but they only do 1/month")
- Audience questions they leave unanswered: (scan comments for repeated questions)
Step 7: Generate actionable recommendations
Turn insights into specific actions for your content strategy.
Output Format
# Competitor Content Audit: {Competitor Name}
## Overview
- **Audit period:** {date range}
- **Platforms analyzed:** {list}
- **Posts reviewed:** {count}
- **Competitor social presence score:** {score}/10
## Content Mix (Last 30 Days)
| Category | Count | % of Total | Avg Engagement |
|----------|-------|-----------|----------------|
| Education | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
| POV / Opinion | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
| Proof / Social | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
| BTS / Process | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
| CTA / Promo | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
| Engagement | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
| Trend / News | {n} | {n}% | {low/med/high} |
## Top 3 Performing Posts
1. **{Platform}** — {topic} — {why it worked}
2. **{Platform}** — {topic} — {why it worked}
3. **{Platform}** — {topic} — {why it worked}
## Bottom 3 Performing Posts
1. **{Platform}** — {topic} — {why it underperformed}
2. ...
## Cadence & Timing
- **Posting frequency:** {n} posts/week on {platform}
- **Most active days:** {days}
- **Consistent schedule?** {Yes/No}
## Voice & Format Patterns
- **Voice:** {formal/casual/first-person/brand}
- **Dominant format:** {threads/carousels/images/video}
- **Hook style:** {pattern}
- **CTA style:** {pattern}
## Strategic Gaps & Opportunities
1. **Gap:** {what they miss} → **Opportunity:** {what you can own}
2. **Gap:** {weak area} → **Opportunity:** {where to differentiate}
3. **Gap:** {audience need} → **Opportunity:** {content to create}
## Recommendations for Your Brand
1. **Immediate (this week):** {action}
2. **Short-term (this month):** {action}
3. **Long-term (ongoing):** {action}
Done Criteria
The skill is complete when:
- At least 20 posts reviewed across platforms
- Content mix percentages calculated
- Top 3 and bottom 3 posts identified with reasoning
- Cadence, voice, and format patterns documented
- At least 3 strategic gaps identified
- Specific recommendations generated
Pitfalls
- Assuming engagement = quality (viral ≠ good for business)
- Copying competitor voice instead of differentiating
- Only auditing one platform (competitors often have different strategies per platform)
- Ignoring comments (audience questions in comments reveal unmet needs)
- Over-analyzing old content (focus on last 30 days for current strategy)
Verification
Can you answer: "What's one specific thing this competitor does that we should do differently?" If you can't, the audit is too surface-level.
See Also
- references/platform-specs.md — platform dimensions and benchmarks
- skills/research/social-profile-discover/SKILL.md — finding competitor profiles
- skills/strategy/content-pillars/SKILL.md — defining your own pillars
- skills/strategy/brand-voice-system/SKILL.md — developing differentiated voice
