Friday, August 21

✍️ What Are Your 2027 Professional Goals?

Now that we're into Q3, ask yourself: “What’s something new that I want to learn next year?”

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⚡️ Today’s Headlines ⚡️

🗑️ Microsoft Ads is removing Max CPC from new campaigns. Starting October 1, Max CPC will no longer be available when creating new non-portfolio campaigns using Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value or Maximize Clicks.

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🧰 Google is adding new AI Max testing and planning tools. The new tools are an expansion of AI Max for Search campaigns including multi-campaign A/B testing, experiments that support brand and location controls, and new Performance Planner capabilities.

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📅 LinkedIn added AI-powered event highlights. The new features include AI-powered recommended clips and chapters for live event video recordings, which will automatically highlight the best parts to re-use and showcase.

💡 Today’s Insight 💡

How to do a regular social media competitive analysis in 2026

🗞 TL;DR - The one-time competitor audit is outdated. The problem is that it only gives you a snapshot and social competitors don’t stay still long enough for that snapshot to stay accurate. Instead, competitive intelligence should be an ongoing process. Later explained a process for regularly analyzing your social media competitors, and we’ve listed the highlights below.

💡 Insight - Here’s Later’s suggested process for making your social media competitive analysis a regular part of your routine:

1. Define your real competitive set. Get specific about who you should be watching. Include direct competitors (same product/audience) and indirect ones (different product, same audience), add at least one brand outside your category that’s winning your audience’s attention, keep the list to 5 or fewer competitors, and revisit the list twice a year as competitive sets shift.

2. Audit content pillars, formats, and posting cadence. Look at what your competitive set is doing, not just how often they post. Map each competitor’s content pillars, note which formats they lean on (and which ones they’ve deprioritized), and track posting cadence by platform.

3. Benchmark engagement rate, not follower count. A competitor with fewer followers but a stronger engagement rate can out-execute a bigger account. Compre engagement rate first then follower count, track follower growth rate over time (not just current total), and watch posting activity alongside engagement.

4. Spot the whitespace. The real value here is in finding what nobody in your space is doing well yet. Look for a content pillar every competitor is ignoring that your audience would likely respond to, check for a platform where competitors have weak or inconsistent presence, and note formats competitors use poorly (low engagement despite frequent posting).

5. Make monitoring continuous instead of quarterly. Set a lightweight monthly check-in instead of a full quarterly audit, flag anything that changes fast (ex. a competitor’s posting frequency) for immediate review, and treat competitive monitoring as an ongoing input to planning.

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