In a cutthroat marketplace, knowledge is power. Use these untapped Facebook features to spy on competitors and gather competitive intelligence.

We all know that Facebook makes for a profitable digital marketing tool for your business, especially when it comes to utilizing a Facebook business page. But did you know that there are several ways you can use Facebook to spy on competitors and gather competitive intelligence? I’m not suggesting that Facebook ranks alongside actual competitive intelligence platforms, but for a small business, it may provide enough insight to suggest how you might get a leg up.

Below are three elements that can help you keep a handle on your competition and mimic (or improve upon) what’s working for them.

Businesses to Watch  

This tool is perfect for an entry-level Spying 101 class—it’s an easy way to research competitors without needing to hire consultants. Just be aware that your competitors can spy on you too. While you can prevent them from doing so, the consequence is that Facebook with terminate your access to this tool. (You can’t blame them for trying to maintain a level playing field.)

What to use it for

You can use Businesses to Watch to:

• Determine the types of content your competition is posting
• See when they post and their engagement rate for each period
• Set benchmarks for your KPIs
• Discover popular topics, promotions, or campaign ideas

How to access it

• Open your Facebook Business Page.
• Navigate to Meta Business Suite, located on the left-hand side, lower on your screen.
• Navigate to Benchmarking, located on the left-hand side.
• At the top of the window that appears, locate Business Comparison (which is selected by default).
• Click on Businesses to Watch next to it.

As you add businesses to your list, Facebook with save them to make your competitive tracking more convenient.

Customer reviews and comments

I’ve put reviews and comments together because customers generally use them in the same way and they can both be gleaned for similar information.

Reading customer reviews is a simple way to get insight into how your competitors manage online reviews and what their patrons are thinking and feeling. If you don’t see a Review or Ratings & Reviews tab, it may be because they’ve disabled it (that, in itself, might tell you something), Facebook may limit access based on privacy settings, or you might need to be logged into an account to see them.

Reviews: What to use them for

You can examine customer reviews to look for comments about:

• Customer service: Are they praised for responsiveness or criticized for delays?
• Product quality: Do customers feel they get value for their money?
• Ease of use: Are products/services easy to use, or do clients struggle?
• Results and ROI: Are customers seeing measurable success?

You can also determine if a competitor responds to negative feedback and if there is a pattern among reviews—good or bad.

Reviews: How to access them

• Open either your Facebook Business Page or your Personal Page.
• Navigate to the Search box in the top left of the screen and enter a competitor’s name.
• Under the masthead, in the menu running across the top, click the Review or the Reviews & Ratings tab.

Comments: What to use them for

You can read your competitors’ posts and visitors’ comments to identify:

• What content, products, or services your competitors generally promote
• Whether they are pushing or featuring a particular type of content or post
• What types of content receives the most engagement

Analyze your findings to identify your business’s strengths in comparison and make plans to highlight them in your marketing. Also, look for competitors’ weaknesses that you can leverage as competitive advantages.

Comments: How to access them

• When you visit a competitor’s page, it should default to Posts. If not, you can select the tab from the menu running across the top.
• Review your competitor’s posts to find those that include Comments. Click to read what visitors have written.

Ads Library

I’ve saved the best for last.

The Meta Ads Library is a gold mine of information—you can use it to see what Facebook ads your competitors are running. It’s like being a fly on the wall in their marketing meetings!

What to use it for

• See your competitors’ ads, including watching any video they may have included.
• Check out when an ad starting running. The longer an ad has been up, the more successful you can assume it to be.
• View any additional assets connected to an ad, like links and copy used in a lead-capture form.

How to access it

• Click this link or visit.
• Use the Ad Category drop-down menus to select All ads.
• Enter the name of a competitor.

The takeaway

As is often the case, there is no need to reinvent the wheel—simply gather competitive intelligence and adopt what works for your own business while avoiding what doesn’t. You can hire a company that offers competitive intelligence services, but if you’re a small business, why not start by using  Facebook to spy on competitors? Look at their pages with a critical eye to see what you can steal or improve upon, if there are gaps you can fill or weaknesses you can capitalize on, or whether you’re holding your own.