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Competitor Research

Competitor Research: Know why their best posts work.

See only the posts that broke out or flopped for the accounts you watch, read why, and turn the best into a draft in your voice.

Start freeSee it in the app
Northfold Coffee Watching 41 coffee creators
HitsFlopsSavedPosted recentlyall accounts
A barista steaming milk4.0×
The 9-second latte@milkandmotion · 96K, usual 24K
Pour-over coffee being made from aboveScoring…3.4×
Pour-over, but you only hear it@roastandco · 412K, usual 121K
A latte with a leaf in the foam2.6×
Latte art, slowed down@thebrewlab · 78K, usual 30K
A small coffee roasting machine4.4×
Inside the roaster@smallbatchco · 33K, usual 7.5K
Why it worked3.4×

Pour-over, but you only hear it

Reading the hook, the beats and the words on screen…

HookSound first, product second
Payoffat 0:21, the first sip
RepeatableYes, it's a technique
Recreate for Northfold →Draft card made in Studio

A sample brand and sample posts. It runs by itself.

Sound familiar?

Tap the ones that sound like your team.

Planning the month

“I scroll competitors for an hour and come away with nothing I can use.”

After a rival's post blows up

“I can see it went viral. I can't see why.”

Briefing the writer

“We copied a trend and it flopped for us.”

A new person joins the account

“Our competitor list lives in a spreadsheet nobody updates.”

Here's how it fixes them.

Each fix, as it works in BrndStreet.

The Competitors feed: six posts, each marked with how far it went past its own account's normal

Every account you watch, cut down to the posts that broke out and the ones that fell flat.

  • Hits and flops, side by sideBorrow what worked and skip what didn't.
  • Filter by platform or rivalStudy one rival without the noise of the rest.
  • New posts as they landFresh posts wait in Posted recently while they climb.

Inside Competitor Research.

The hours of scrolling and note-taking, done before you sit down.

A feed of hits and flopsEvery account you watch, sorted into what broke out and what fell flat.
The full breakdownHook template, the promise and its payoff, and every beat with its time.
THEIRS

“Turn your sound on.”

Kettle, grinder, the pour.

YOURS · NORTHFOLD

“Close your eyes for this one.”

Monday's roast, start to cup.

Draft card · ready for review
Recreate in your voiceTheir structure and your words, with the original beside it.
Growth over timeHow a post climbed in the days after it went up.
@roastandcoWatch
InstagramTikTokYouTube
Every formatReels, carousels, photos, Shorts and long videos.
Works without their face
Paid partnership
Worth recreating?A quick check that also spots paid posts.

Write your first hook from a real hit.

Pick one of their hits, type what your brand does into the gap, and the hook is yours.

Pour-over coffee being made from above3.4×@roastandco · Reel

Their hook, as a template

Turn your sound on for [the one step people rush].

Your hook

Turn your sound on for the first pour of the morning.

Sample hits from sample accounts.

Who it's for.

Pick the one that sounds like you.

Agency

Every client gets its own watchlist.

Each brand follows its own competitors, so planning for a client starts from what's working in that client's niche.

  • One watchlist per client brand
  • The same feed for the whole team
  • Drafts keep a link to the post they came from

Three features that pick up where this one leaves off.

InspirationPosts that worked across every industry, each with a score and a full breakdown.See Inspiration →Script WriterScripts written beat by beat in your brand's voice, with every rule checked as it writes.See Script Writer →AnalyticsWhich of your own posts worked, why they did, and what to make next.See Analytics →

Questions about Competitor Research.

Which platforms can I track competitors on?

Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, including Reels, carousels, photos, Shorts and long videos.

How do I add a competitor?

Paste their handle or a link to their profile. Their posts come in sorted into hits and flops, and BrndStreet also suggests accounts in your niche that are worth watching.

How does BrndStreet decide a post is a hit?

Each post is compared with its own account's normal for the same kind of post. Reaching about twice that normal makes it a hit, and falling under a quarter of it makes it a flop, so a big account's average post never passes for a breakout.

Will competitors know I'm tracking them?

No. It reads public posts only, and nothing is ever sent to the accounts you watch.

Is recreating a competitor's post the same as copying it?

No. Recreate keeps the structure of the post and writes new words in your brand's voice, and any run of six or more words that matches theirs is flagged for you to change.

Can my whole team see the same competitor research?

Yes. The watchlist and the feed belong to the brand, so everyone on it sees the same hits and breakdowns. The posts you save are your own list.

Competitor Research

See what's working in your niche this month.

Add the competitors you already follow, and read why their best posts worked before you plan your next one.

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