What it is

The Competitor Comms Audit is a structured framework for analysing how your key competitors communicate – what they say, where they say it, how they say it, and what narrative they’re building. Unlike a broader competitive intelligence exercise, this template focuses specifically on communications: messaging, tone, channel choices, content types, and narrative positioning.

By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of where competitors are active and vocal, what messages they’re leading with, where gaps exist in the market narrative, and how your own positioning stacks up. This is an essential input to any campaign planning, rebrand, or strategy refresh.

When to use it

Use this template when:

Planning a campaign in a competitive category where positioning matters
Refreshing your comms strategy and wanting an external reference point
Onboarding a new communications agency and they need competitive context
A competitor has made a significant announcement or shifted their narrative
You’re entering a new market or audience segment and want to understand the communications landscape

Don’t use this template when:

You need a full commercial competitive analysis (pricing, product features, market share) – this is comms-specific
You have only one or no real competitors in your space
You’re looking at media coverage rather than owned channel communications (use the Monitoring & Reporting templates instead)

Inputs needed

Before starting, gather:

A shortlist of 3–5 competitors to analyse (be selective – depth beats breadth here)
Their website URLs, LinkedIn profiles, and any other active social channels
Any recent press releases, blog posts, or thought leadership they’ve published
Your own current key messages or positioning statement for comparison
Optional: media monitoring reports or share-of-voice data

The template

Audit scope

Field	Details
Date of audit
Competitors reviewed
Channels reviewed
Time period covered	(e.g., last 90 days)
Conducted by

Competitor profile: [Competitor name]

Complete one block per competitor.

Core messaging

Element	Observation
Primary headline / tagline	What is the single line they lead with?
Brand promise	What do they claim to deliver for customers?
Target audience	Who are they speaking to, explicitly or implicitly?
Key proof points	What evidence or credentials do they use?
Call to action	What do they most commonly ask people to do?

Tone and voice

Element	Observation
Overall tone	(e.g., authoritative, conversational, aspirational, cautious)
Formality level	(Formal / Semi-formal / Informal)
Use of jargon	Heavy / moderate / minimal
Personality traits	3 words that describe how they sound
Notable language patterns	Phrases or words they repeat consistently

Channel activity

Channel	Active?	Frequency	Content types	Engagement level
Website / blog	Yes / No
LinkedIn	Yes / No
Twitter / X	Yes / No
Instagram	Yes / No
Newsletter / email	Yes / No
Podcast / video	Yes / No
Events / webinars	Yes / No

Narrative and themes

What 3–4 overarching themes does this competitor return to repeatedly?

Theme	How they address it	Frequency

Strengths and weaknesses (comms only)

Strengths	Weaknesses

Competitive landscape summary

After completing individual profiles, complete the summary view:

Messaging map

Competitor	Core claim	Primary audience	Dominant tone	Most active channel
[Name]
[Name]
[Name]
Your organisation

Narrative territory map

For each theme below, indicate which competitors are claiming it (and how strongly):

Theme / territory	Who owns it	How strongly	Is it contested?
[Innovation / being first]
[Trust / credibility / heritage]
[Community / people]
[Value / efficiency]
[Purpose / impact]
[Add your own]

Gap analysis

Where is the narrative space that competitors are NOT occupying?

Gap identified	Why it’s unclaimed (hypothesis)	Opportunity for you?
		Yes / No / Maybe

Your positioning assessment

Question	Your assessment
Where do you currently sit in the landscape?
Are you clearly differentiated?	Yes / Somewhat / No
Which competitor is your biggest narrative threat?
Which narrative territory should you own?
What one thing should you change about your messaging based on this audit?

AI prompt

Base prompt

I'm conducting a competitor communications audit for [YOUR ORGANISATION].

Here are the competitors I'm analysing:
[LIST COMPETITORS]

For each competitor, I've gathered the following raw information from their owned channels (website, social, blog):
[PASTE CHANNEL OBSERVATIONS OR NOTES]

Please help me:
1. Identify the core message and primary claim each competitor is making
2. Characterise their tone and voice in 3–4 descriptive words
3. Highlight recurring themes or narrative territories they're occupying
4. Identify any messaging gaps – areas none of them are addressing clearly
5. Assess where our organisation has the clearest opportunity to differentiate

Format your response as a structured competitor summary followed by a gap analysis.

Prompt variations

Variation 1: Tone and voice comparison

I want to understand the tone and voice differences between [COMPETITOR A], [COMPETITOR B], and [COMPETITOR C] in our sector.

Here are examples of their copy:
- [COMPETITOR A]: [paste 2–3 examples]
- [COMPETITOR B]: [paste 2–3 examples]
- [COMPETITOR C]: [paste 2–3 examples]

For each, describe:
1. Their tone (e.g., authoritative, reassuring, provocative)
2. Their audience assumptions (who they seem to be speaking to)
3. Formality level and any notable language patterns
4. How they compare to each other – who sounds similar, who stands apart

Then assess: where is there genuine space for a distinct voice in this market?

Variation 2: Narrative territory mapping

I need to map the narrative territory in [SECTOR / CATEGORY].

The key themes I've observed competitors discussing are:
[LIST THEMES – e.g., innovation, sustainability, trust, value, community]

Here's what I know about each competitor's approach to these themes:
[BRIEF NOTES PER COMPETITOR]

Please help me create a narrative territory map showing:
1. Which competitors are most associated with which themes
2. Which themes are overcrowded (lots of competition)
3. Which themes are underserved or unclaimed
4. Which territory would be most credible and differentiated for [YOUR ORGANISATION] to own, based on [OUR STRENGTHS / VALUES]

Variation 3: Quick competitive scan

Give me a rapid communications comparison of these [NUMBER] competitors in [SECTOR]:
[LIST COMPETITORS]

Based on their public-facing communications, summarise for each:
- Core message (one sentence)
- Tone (two words)
- Dominant channel
- Biggest communications strength

Then in two sentences, identify the clearest gap in how this market communicates.

Variation 4: New market entry

We're entering [NEW MARKET / SECTOR] and need to understand the communications landscape.

Our organisation: [BRIEF DESCRIPTION]
Our offering: [BRIEF DESCRIPTION]
Competitors already present: [LIST]

From their websites and public communications, what can you tell me about:
1. The dominant narrative conventions in this sector (how everyone seems to talk)
2. Any conventions we should adopt to be credible (audience expectations)
3. Any conventions we could break to stand out
4. The audience assumptions embedded in how competitors communicate

Help us identify where we can be distinctive from day one.

Tips for better AI output:

Paste actual copy rather than describing it – the AI will give better analysis with raw material
Specify your sector clearly; without it, the AI may reference irrelevant benchmarks
Include your own current messaging for comparison – the gap analysis will be sharper
Ask follow-up questions to explore a particular gap or territory in more depth

Human review checklist

Recency – Is the channel data from the last 90 days? Comms strategies shift; outdated data leads to outdated conclusions
Like-for-like comparison – Are you comparing equivalent channels and content types across competitors, or comparing their best content to their average output?
Primary sources – Have you gone directly to competitors’ owned channels rather than relying on secondhand accounts or aggregator summaries?
Sample size – Have you reviewed enough content from each competitor to identify genuine patterns, not just one-off pieces?
Subjectivity check – Have you had a colleague review your tone assessments? What reads as “authoritative” to one person may read as “arrogant” to another
Internal consistency – Does your assessment of where you sit in the landscape reflect external perception, not just internal preference?
Actionability – Have you identified at least one clear, specific implication for your own communications based on this audit?
Gap credibility – Is the narrative gap you’ve identified genuinely unclaimed, or is it unclaimed because it doesn’t resonate with the audience?

Example output

Audit scope: Three competitors in the professional services sector, Q1 2026, LinkedIn and website reviewed.

Competitor A leads with credentialed expertise – “proven methodology” language, heavy use of case study data, formal tone. Targets senior decision-makers. Most active on LinkedIn with long-form thought leadership. Strength: credibility. Weakness: inaccessible to mid-market buyers.

Competitor B emphasises speed and simplicity – “results in 30 days” framing, conversational tone, lots of how-to content. Clearly targeting marketing managers rather than C-suite. Active across LinkedIn and newsletter. Strength: accessible. Weakness: thin on proof points.

Competitor C leads with purpose and values – sustainability and people-first narrative. Warm, community-oriented tone. Primarily Instagram and events. Strength: distinctive personality. Weakness: unclear commercial offer.

Gap identified: No competitor is speaking clearly to the operational complexity their clients actually face – the messy reality of implementation. All three are selling outcomes, not acknowledging the journey. This represents an opportunity for a more honest, peer-to-peer voice that addresses the challenge before the solution.

Note: This is an illustrative example. Your audit will reflect your specific sector and competitors.

Positioning Statement Generator – Use audit findings to craft your own differentiated positioning
Channel Strategy Matrix – Map your channels against the competitive landscape you’ve just analysed
Campaign Brief – Feed audit insights directly into campaign planning
Audience Segmentation Worksheet – Cross-reference your target audience with who competitors are speaking to

Tips for success

Narrow your competitor list deliberately Analysing ten competitors produces an unusable report. Choose three to five: your two or three closest direct competitors, and one aspirational benchmark from outside your immediate category. This keeps the audit actionable.

Focus on patterns, not individual pieces One LinkedIn post doesn’t define a messaging strategy. Look for what they return to repeatedly – the themes, phrases, and claims that show up across multiple channels and multiple months. Patterns reveal strategy; one-offs reveal opportunism.

Separate observation from interpretation Complete the observation sections before drawing conclusions. Premature interpretation leads you to find evidence for what you already believe. The gap analysis is more valuable when built on clean data.

Include yourself in the audit The most useful output is a map that includes your own organisation. Auditing competitors without plotting yourself against them misses half the value. Be honest about where you’re genuinely differentiated versus where you’re saying similar things with different words.

Revisit quarterly Competitor communications evolve. A campaign launch, leadership change, or crisis response can shift an organisation’s narrative significantly. A quarterly light-touch update (30 minutes, key channels only) is more useful than an annual deep dive.

Common pitfalls

Confusing aspiration with reality Competitors’ owned channels show how they want to be perceived, not necessarily how they’re perceived. A bold brand positioning statement on a website doesn’t mean audiences have absorbed or accepted that narrative. Where possible, sense-check competitor messaging claims against external sources (media coverage, customer reviews, social comments).

Over-weighting surface-level differences Two competitors may use completely different design aesthetics and still be saying essentially the same thing. Focus on the underlying message and claim, not just the visual or tonal execution. Genuine differentiation is about what you’re saying, not just how you look.

Ignoring channel absence as a signal A competitor who is conspicuously absent from a high-activity channel may have tried and failed there, or may simply not have the resource. Their absence is data – but don’t assume it signals an open opportunity without understanding why they’re not there.

Using the audit to confirm existing decisions The competitor comms audit is most valuable when it challenges your assumptions. If you complete it and find it simply confirms that your current strategy is right, you’ve probably been too generous with your own positioning and too critical of competitors’. Push yourself to find at least one thing that makes you reconsider.

Need help translating this audit into a differentiated communications strategy? Faur works with organisations to develop positioning and messaging that stands apart in competitive markets.

Competitor Comms Audit