How to Spy on Your Competitor’s Influencer Marketing Strategy

There's no shame in observing and learning from your competitors. In fact, it's a smart business practice.

By spying on their influencer marketing programs, you gain insights into what type of influencers resonate with your shared target audience, what types of content and messaging are most effective, and what kind of offers are offered to influencers.

This knowledge can inform your own influencer strategy. It will help you make more informed decisions, avoid costly missteps, and identify emerging trends or gaps that your competitors may have overlooked.

While competitive intelligence is invaluable, there are ethical boundaries that should not be crossed. It's crucial to avoid any practices that infringe upon privacy or intellectual property rights. This means no hacking into private data, pengaging in deceptive practices to obtain information.

Utilizing plagiarism checkers can ensure that all content remains original and respectful of intellectual property laws, further emphasizing the importance of adhering to ethical standards in competitive intelligence gathering.

Let's look at some of the ways to gather insights on your  competitor’s Influencer marketing programs

1— Monitor their social media channels

Brands usually repost influencer-generated content on their channels. So you can get insight into their partnership if you just visit their social media channels.

The goal is to understand the types of influencers they partner with, the content style they prefer, and how their audience responds to these collaborations if you can see the comments.

Look for posts where influencers are tagged or mentioned. Note the influencers' reach, niche, and the nature of their content.

Below is an example of a successful influencer campaign by Olipop. You can notice the engagement and the positive sentiment in the comments. That means this style of posts work.

Occasionally look at who is following your competitors. New influencer partnerships can often be spotted early by monitoring who they start following and interacting with.

For example, Clearstem, the skincare brand follows Alyssa Lynch.

And when you go to Alyssa's profile you can see that she is an ambassador for the brand

If the influencer appears to be a good fit for your brand and isn't exclusively tied to your competitor, approach them for your own influencer marketing efforts.

Go through the influencer’s posts to see how they incorporate your competitor’s products or brand messages into their content. Observe the style of content produced (e.g., videos, stories, posts) and how frequently they collaborate with influencers. Are there patterns in timing, like specific days of the week or times of day?

Depending on the frequency of your competitor’s social media activity, you might want to check their channels daily, or at least several times a week.

2— Visit their website

Visiting a competitor's website is a straightforward yet insightful way to understand their broad social media strategy and in particular their influencer marketing strategy. Here's how to go about it and what to look for:

• Competitors might showcase their top influencers directly on their website. Look for dedicated sections, or blog posts that highlight influencer collaborations.

• Many brands have special pages on their websites where influencers can sign up to promote products. Details of the influencer marketing programs listed there can offer insights into how competitors structure their influencer partnerships and compensation.

For example, Magic Spoon has a dedicated page for its influencer marketing program —

If you don't have an ambassador page like this already created but want to partner with influencers, check out SARAL — an all-in-one influencer marketing platform for influencer marketing where you can find any influencer on the planet, with just a few clicks

• Check for testimonials or product reviews that might be attributed to influencers. This can give you an idea of which influencers have the most sway in terms of consumer trust and brand alignment.

• Analyze the blog or insights section to see if there are guest posts by influencers or content that features them, indicating a deeper collaboration beyond social media.

Here's an example from Gymshark's blog detailing their collab with Whitney Simmons, a social media influencers —

We also suggest you to go through the buying process and actually buy something to check the post-purchase survey.

During the checkout process, customers are asked how they heard about the product. This can sometimes include a drop-down list of influencer names.

3— Check the hashtags

Begin with the most straightforward hashtags, such as #BrandNamePartner or #BrandNameAmbassador.

Try a couple of combinations before you find the right one.

For example, if you search for #olipopambassador you don't find any relevant posts (only 2!)

But if you search for #olipoppartner, you'll get thousands of posts.

Brands might use special hashtags for seasonal campaigns or events, like #BrandNameSummer or #BrandNameEvent. So look for campaign-specific hashtags that might be used for a particular product launch.

Focus on posts from accounts with a significant following or those that are verified, as they are more likely to be influencers. Look at the content of the post to ensure it's relevant to the competitor's marketing efforts and not just a customer mention or unrelated content.

Look for patterns in the posts that have the highest engagement rates. Note the style, tone, timing, and context to understand what resonates with the audience. Check the engagement rate on post and see if certain influencers or content types yield better results than others.

For example, this posts under #olipopambassador has a good engagement rate (16K+ likes). It shows that comparing your product to others can really grab people's attention and highlight why your product is a better choice.

Alternatively, you can use SARAL’s “My Customers Also Buy” search intent to find influencers that promote similar big brands in your space. For instance, if you are a fitness supplements brand, studying Gymshark might be a very good source of insight for you:

Here, you can find influencers that promote Gymshark and reach out to them! Get your free access to SARAL to test this for your industry.

4— Check employee profiles in the marketing department

Check the LinkedIn profiles of employees in the competitor brand's marketing department.

Go to the competitor's company page.

And search for 'influencer marketer' or 'marketing' to filter out.

Sometimes, employees list detailed job descriptions or specific projects they've worked on, which can give you an idea of the strategies and tactics they employ.

Employees may also post about successful campaigns, share case studies, or discuss industry events they've attended, offering clues about their strategic approach.

Compare the size and scope of their influencer marketing team to your own, which can help you benchmark your team’s structure and identify potential areas for development.

Maintain a level of professional courtesy and respect. Use the information to inform your strategies, not to directly poach employees or copy strategies.

5— Signup for their influencer marketing programs

Register for your competitor's influencer marketing or affiliate marketing programs. Brands usually have a special landing page for such programs. Even if you have no intention of becoming an active influencer or partner, this can be a valuable intelligence-gathering tactic.

On their influencer program landing pages, brands will usually have information on how they incentivize influencers, including payment structures, commission rates, or performance bonuses.

Here's an example of ambassador landing page by Lululemon —

By signing up, you may receive a series of introductory emails that can give you insights into how your competitor communicates with potential influencers, the language they use, and the key selling points they emphasize.

You may receive invitations to participate in specific campaigns, which can reveal the types of campaigns your competitor runs, their frequency, and the operations behind these campaigns.

Respect any confidential information you may come across. Using such information unethically could lead to legal repercussions and damage your brand's reputation.

Wrapping things up

It's not just about knowing what your competitors are doing; it's about doing it better and more efficiently. With tools like SARAL, you're equipped to do just that.

SARAL is an all-in-one influencer marketing platform. You can find the best-fit influencer for your brand, & outreach to hundreds of influencers without getting overwhelmed. You can execute any strategy you want — gifting, product seeding, ambassador, affiliate, or simply get UGC made!

Claim your free trial today.