Identifying Content Gaps to Enhance Your LinkedIn Strategy with Social Media Gap Analysis

You're tracking metrics in spreadsheets, guessing what your competitors are up to, and hoping it all works out, only to find your LinkedIn strategy is underperforming.

Sound familiar?

That's where a social media gap analysis comes in. It’s your roadmap to understanding what's missing from your LinkedIn content strategy and uncovering what your competitors may be nailing.

The challenge? LinkedIn makes this process far from easy, with no direct competitive benchmarking, incomplete data, and manual tracking headaches galore.

This guide walks you through a step-by-step approach to conducting a LinkedIn content gap analysis. Plus, we’ll share scalable solutions to help you turn that insight into action, saving time and boosting your competitive edge.

Understanding Social Media Gap Analysis

A social media gap analysis evaluates the difference between your current performance and the goals you’re aiming to achieve. It can also compare your strategy to that of your competitors’ to identify opportunities you may be missing.

On LinkedIn, this means pinpointing content types, formats, or themes that you’re not covering but could be. It’s about discovering areas where you could outshine others or engage your audience better.

Common Areas Analyzed in LinkedIn Gap Analysis:

• Content Benchmarking: Comparing content themes and results with competitors.
• Engagement Performance: Identifying gaps in reactions, comments, or shares.
• Format Variety: Exploring underutilized post formats like carousels, videos, or articles.

Key Takeaway

A LinkedIn gap analysis shines a light on unexplored opportunities and overlooked improvements, allowing you to work smarter, not harder.

What is Social Media Gap Analysis?

A social media gap analysis identifies missing or underperforming areas in your current strategy by comparing it to your goals or competitor activity.

Manually Recording LinkedIn Analytics

LinkedIn is a powerful platform, but when it comes to gap analysis, its native analytics fall short. Here’s why:

LinkedIn’s Native Limitations

• No Competitor Benchmarks

LinkedIn doesn’t allow you to directly compare your performance with your competitors. You’re left guessing.

• Fragmented Data Visibility

You can only see impressions and engagement metrics for your own content. Competitor data? That’s locked away.

• Tedious Historical Data Compilation

Want to analyze performance over the last three months? Be prepared to scroll post by post, logging data manually.

Stat to Consider

If you’re analyzing 3 competitors across 3 months, at an average of 20 posts/month, that’s at least 180 posts to manually review.

What Most Teams Do Today

To compensate, many social media teams resort to ineffective methods:

• Screenshot tracking
• Endless spreadsheet logging
• Gut-check decisions for what 'works' versus data-driven proof

A Step-by-Step Guide to LinkedIn Gap Analysis

Conducting a LinkedIn social media gap analysis doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Use these steps to simplify the process and uncover actionable insights.

Step 1. Identify Key Competitors

Select 3-5 competitors or peers within your industry, including aspirational brands. They’ll serve as your benchmark.

Step 2. Gather Their Recent Content

Catalog the last 30-90 days of their LinkedIn posts. Track:

• Post topics and themes
• Content formats (e.g., text posts, videos, images, carousels)
• Post frequency and timing (day and time of posts)

You can do this manually or use a tool to streamline the process.

Step 3. Estimate Engagement Metrics

Calculate engagement for each post by tracking:

• Reactions (likes, claps, celebratory emojis)
• Shares
• Comments
• Engagement rate = Total engagement ÷ Impressions (if available)

This will reveal which posts resonate most with their audience.

Step 4. Categorize Content by Theme or Topic

Group both competitor and your own content into categories, such as:

• Thought leadership
• Company updates
• Product education
• Industry news

Look for themes competitors dominate and areas where your presence is thin.

Step 5. Compare Competitor Content to Yours

Analyze your own LinkedIn content with the same metrics and categories. Ask:

• What themes are you missing?
• Are your competitors achieving higher engagement with specific formats or topics?

Step 6. Prioritize Gaps

Rank opportunities based on:

• Ease of Implementation: How quickly can you create the content?
• Strategic Relevance: Does it align with business goals?
• Engagement Potential: Will it resonate with your audience?

From Guesswork to Data How Stack Rank Simplifies Gap Analysis

Manually tracking engagement metrics is labor-intensive and prone to error. Enter Stack Rank, a tool designed to automate LinkedIn competitive intelligence.

Why Stack Rank Saves Time

• Tracks competitor content and engagement automatically.
• Auto-categorizes posts by format and theme.
• Provides customizable reports with clear visuals.

Instead of manually tallying likes, Stack Rank showcases which content drives the most impact for competitors. Use that insight to refine your own strategy.

With Stack Rank, social media managers reclaim their time while achieving deeper insights. Want to save hours of spreadsheet pain? Explore Stack Rank today.

Turning Insight Into Action

Once you’ve identified content gaps, it’s time to put your findings into motion.

• Plan fresh content themes to fill the gaps you uncovered.
• Replicate competitor tactics that work, ensuring they align with your brand voice.
• Refresh underperforming posts by tweaking tone, length, or visuals based on competitor benchmarks.
• Set a recurring schedule (e.g., quarterly) to reassess and refine your strategy.

Pro Tip

Remember, successful content is rooted in your audience’s needs, not just your competitors’ successes.

Your Competitors Are Showing You the Way Are You Watching

LinkedIn gap analysis offers more than just a clearer strategy. It provides clarity, focus, and the competitive edge you need in today’s saturated digital landscape.

Manually comparing engagement, topics, and post styles is possible, but the effort involved can cost your team valuable time and resources. If you’re ready to move beyond spreadsheets and start focusing on impactful insights, Stack Rank could be your new secret weapon.

Take the next step. Don’t just follow your competitors, outrank them.

Explore how Stack Rank can transform your LinkedIn strategy today.