How to analyze a competitor’s Instagram Reels
What Meta has actually said drives reach, which repeated numbers are invented, and how to rank competitor posts so you learn something.
For creators who are tired of guessing
Never say “the algorithm changed” again.
A post flatlines and you never learn why. Silma researches the niche for you: the competitors you pick, tracked daily, every post ranked by how far it beat that account’s own baseline. So the next one isn’t a guess.
+99
Works with Instagram, TikTok & YouTube
How it works
Every recommendation, with the receipt
Four tools, one loop: know the baseline, understand the winners, score before you post, prove the iteration.
account median
01 / COMPETITOR WATCHLIST
Know the baseline
Per-account medians with 1.5× outlier flagging. When views drop, you see whether the whole niche moved. A benchmark, not a mood board.
Why did this one do 3× our usual?
Pattern-interrupt hook (0:00–0:02), 3-beat structure, cut every 1.8s. Retention held past the 40% cliff.
02 / VISION ANALYSIS
Understand the winners
Silma watches the video and returns why it worked: hook type, structure, pacing, triggers. The recipe, not a vibe.
86
HOOK SCORE
PREDICTED RETENTION
72% past 3s, before you post
03 / CONTENT CHECKER
Know upfront, not after posting
The hook decides everything, and you usually find out which hooks work after posting. The checker reads your draft first: hook score, predicted retention, what to fix.
v1
Talking-head open, logo at 0:00
41%
v2
Cold open on the result, logo cut
67% ↑
04 / VERSION COMPARISON
Prove the iteration
Side-by-side versions with what changed and what it did. Proof it worked, whether you answer to yourself or a boss.
“The hard part is the first second… most people are gone before second two, so the hook decides everything, and you only find out what hooks work after posting. There’s no way to know upfront… everything else is just labor.”
Tracked accounts
See what consistently works for anyone you want to study.
One-tap save
All your content ideas in one place.
Save any post straight from the share sheet with the iOS Shortcut. Your best references stop dying in a camera roll.
product shot: saved library
Brand profile
Content for your customer, not your peers.
Silma learns who actually buys from you and what makes you different. Every idea is judged against that customer, not a generic trend.
YOUR BRAND PROFILE
WHO BUYSPartiers deciding where to go this weekend
DIFFERENTOpen-format sets, no genre loyalty
IDEA FIT“POV: it’s 1am and the DJ finally plays your song”, made for the partier, not the DJ
example profile
The time math
Get your research hours back.
Research is where the week goes: scrolling, screenshotting, benchmarking, post-mortems. Silma does that part every day, so your hours go into making the next post instead of justifying the last one.
Get your content ideaRESEARCH HOURS / WEEK
Without Silma~9h
With Silma~4h
Back in your week
= 5 hours
illustrative. replace with your own numbers
Pricing
Cheaper than another month of guessing
Lite
$9 /mo
200 credits / month
For one person posting steadily who mostly wants a second opinion before publishing.
MOST PICKED
Choose Starter
Starter
$29 /mo
600 credits / month
Adds competitor tracking, so you are learning from other people’s results as well as your own.
Pro
$79 /mo
1,500 credits / month
For people posting daily, or running content for more than one account.
Questions
How is this different from a viral video database?+
Databases show you what went viral. Silma tells you why: hook type, structure, pacing, and how it performed against that account’s own baseline. One gives you something to copy; the other gives you something to say.
I post for a business, not as a creator. Is this for me?+
Yes. The same analysis works whether the account is your face or your brand: which hooks hold your audience, where retention drops, and whether a flop was your video or the whole niche cooling off.
Which platforms does it cover?+
Short-form video across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Watchlists and baselines are tracked per platform, per account.
Can I show Silma’s charts to my boss?+
That’s the point. Benchmarks, outlier flags, and version comparisons export ready to share, so the “is social working” conversation starts from evidence instead of apology.
Are the retention predictions accurate?+
They’re a pre-flight check, not a crystal ball. The score exists so every post goes out with a documented rationale, and so you can compare what you predicted with what happened.
Writing
Sourced notes on why videos work
Every statistic carries a date and a primary source. All posts →
Most Instagram hook advice is made up
We traced the numbers everyone repeats. Most have no source. What Instagram has actually said, and the metric it shipped in 2025.
TIKTOK
What TikTok has actually said about its algorithm
TikTok publishes far less than Instagram, so the advice industry filled the gap. The short list it has published, including the line that contradicts most of it.
Why I built this
I built the system I wish I’d had.
Earlier this year, my part-time job at university was growing a Kick streamer’s Instagram. I posted every single day. Some clips hit 200k. Most died in an hour. And for months, I couldn’t honestly tell you why. So I built the system I wish I’d had. No more delusion.
From a founder who managed social for clients and wanted the brain he never had.Joonas Soininen
Want it done for you?