# Practical Competitor Benchmarking Workflows

> Use Kommon Poll day to day to monitor competitors and inform strategy.

> Use competitor dashboards, share-of-voice metrics, mentions, sentiment, and exports to support recurring competitive intelligence.

Competitor benchmarking is not just a chart review. The useful workflow is to compare performance, inspect the mentions behind the differences, and turn those differences into a decision.

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## 1. Monthly Competitor Health Report

Use this workflow for leadership or strategy reporting.

1. Open the competitor project.
2. Set the date range to the month being reviewed.
3. Open the Competitors tab.
4. Review:
   - Volume share of voice.
   - Reach share of voice.
   - Engagement share of voice.
   - Sentiment by brand.
   - Positive and negative competitor mentions.
   - Top engagement competitor mentions.
5. Use timeframe aggregation controls on trend charts when available.
6. Open the Mentions tab and filter by competitor names or topics.
7. Add representative mentions to a report.
8. Export Slides using a competitor-focused Slide Format.
9. Add commentary on what changed and why it matters.

Include both chart movement and examples. Leadership needs the size of the change and the reason behind it.

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## 2. Pre-Launch Competitive Scan

Use this before a campaign, product launch, or major announcement.

1. Set the date range to the most relevant recent window.
2. Review competitor sentiment and volume trends.
3. Check keywords, hashtags, domains, and authors connected to competitors.
4. Filter negative competitor mentions to find recurring complaints.
5. Filter positive competitor mentions to understand what audiences value.
6. Review CTA Type and Post Type charts where available.
7. Use Image Analysis where visual assets or product imagery matter.
8. Ask Kommon Poll AI for a summary of competitor strengths, weaknesses, and recurring topics.
9. Verify AI output against mentions before using it in positioning.

Use the findings to adjust messaging, not to copy competitors. Good competitive listening clarifies market context.

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## 3. Crisis Context Workflow

Use this when your brand is facing a reputational issue and you need context.

1. Set the date range around the incident.
2. Compare your brand's sentiment and volume with competitors in the same period.
3. Check whether competitors faced similar complaints.
4. Review competitor mentions with matching topics, intents, hashtags, or issue terms.
5. Compare reach and engagement to understand whether your issue is unusually large.
6. Tag examples that show useful context.
7. Export a short PDF or Slide report for the response team.

This workflow helps answer whether the issue is unique to your brand, industry-wide, or part of a larger news cycle.

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## 4. Campaign Benchmark Workflow

Use this to compare a campaign against competitor campaigns.

1. Filter to the campaign period.
2. Filter by campaign hashtags, slogans, or product terms.
3. Compare mention count, reach, interactions, and sentiment.
4. Review hashtag growth and influence.
5. Review post type and CTA charts.
6. Inspect high-engagement competitor posts.
7. Add examples from both your brand and competitors to a report.
8. Export Slides for the campaign review.

Keep the query and filters consistent. If one competitor has broader terms than another, share-of-voice comparisons can become misleading.

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## 5. Competitor Mention Review

When reviewing competitor mentions:

1. Sort by engagement to find posts that got audience reaction.
2. Sort by influence to find posts from stronger authors.
3. Filter by negative sentiment to find weaknesses.
4. Filter by positive sentiment to find strengths.
5. Filter by source or platform to understand where the competitor is strongest.
6. Visit original posts for high-impact examples.
7. Tag the examples by competitor, topic, or opportunity.

Do not treat every competitor mention as a strategic signal. Look for repeated themes, high-reach examples, and changes over time.

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## 6. Questions To Answer In Each Report

A competitor report should answer:

- Who had the largest share of voice?
- Who gained or lost reach?
- Which brand had the strongest positive sentiment?
- Which brand had the most visible negative issues?
- Which platforms drove the conversation?
- Which hashtags, topics, or CTAs gained attention?
- Which examples best explain the movement?
- What should the team do next?

The final recommendation should be based on both quantitative movement and mention-level evidence.