DemandSense Competitor Monitoring helps you understand how other brands advertise on LinkedIn, identify notable changes in their advertising activity, and discover creative strategies worth exploring.
Instead of manually checking competitors’ LinkedIn ads, you can monitor their activity from one place, explore advertising trends, discover potential winning creatives, and organize brands into groups for ongoing research.
With Competitor Monitoring, you can:
- Track competitor activity: See which brands are advertising and how their activity changes over time.
- Discover winning creatives: Explore ads identified as Winners or Best Performers based on observable advertising patterns.
- Monitor competitor signals: Identify new winners, activity surges, creative format shifts, and other notable developments.
- Find creative inspiration: Browse LinkedIn ads from different industries and discover brands worth following.
- Organize your research: Group competitors and other advertisers into folders and compare their advertising activity.
1. Access Competitor Monitoring #
- Log in to your DemandSense account.
- From the left navigation menu, go to LinkedIn Ads Optimization → Competitor Monitoring.
- The Competitive Intelligence Overview page will open.
Competitor Monitoring is organized into four main tabs:
| Tab | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Feed | Review a summary of recent competitor activity and notable creatives. |
| Signals | Explore detected changes in competitors’ advertising activity. |
| Ads Library | Browse LinkedIn ad creatives organized by industry. |
| Folders | Organize monitored brands and review their advertising activity. |
2. Feed: Your Competitive Intelligence Overview #
The Feed tab provides a centralized overview of notable advertising developments across the brands you’re monitoring.
It brings together competitor insights, activity metrics, recent signals, and advertising creatives so you can quickly understand what’s happening without reviewing each competitor individually.
At the top of the Feed, you’ll find This Week’s Briefing.
This section summarizes important developments identified across your monitored brands during the reporting period.
For example, the briefing may highlight:
- Newly identified winning ads.
- Creatives that remained active longer than other variations.
- Competitors showing notable advertising activity.
- Patterns emerging across tracked brands.
The briefing is designed to help you quickly identify which competitors or creatives deserve closer attention.
Example: If a competitor has several newly identified winning creatives, you might review those ads to understand whether the company is experimenting with a new message, offer, or creative format.
Competitor Activity Metrics #
Next to the briefing, you’ll find three metrics that summarize the broader competitive landscape.
Market Velocity
Shows the volume of advertising activity detected during the current reporting period, including a comparison with the previous period.
Use this metric to understand whether overall advertising activity is increasing or decreasing.
Activity Trend
Shows the percentage change in advertising activity compared with the previous reporting period. A positive trend indicates increased activity, while a negative trend indicates a decrease.
Top Competitor This Week
Highlights a competitor with notable advertising activity during the reporting period. Use this information to identify brands that may be worth investigating more closely.
Signal Feed #
The Signal Feed displays a selection of recent competitor events detected across your monitored brands. Each signal provides information about a specific advertiser and an observed change in its advertising activity.
Depending on the event, a signal may include:
- The advertiser’s name.
- The type of competitor event.
- A short description of what happened.
- Supporting activity information.
- When the event was detected.
The Feed highlights selected signals rather than displaying the complete history.
To explore additional events, click View All or open the Signals tab.
This Week’s Gallery #
This Week’s Gallery showcases notable LinkedIn ad creatives from monitored brands. You can switch between two categories:
Winners
Winners are creatives identified by DemandSense’s monitoring and winner-detection logic as having outlasted competing ad variations or demonstrated other qualifying activity patterns.
These ads can provide useful examples of creative approaches that advertisers have continued using.
Best Performers
Best Performers are creatives that have remained active for an extended period, with the product specification using more than 90 days of activity as the qualifying threshold.
Long-running ads may be useful examples of messaging, formats, or offers that advertisers continue to invest in.
An ad may qualify for both categories.
Important: Winner and Best Performer labels are based on observed advertising activity and DemandSense’s classification logic. They do not mean that DemandSense has verified a competitor’s conversions, return on ad spend, or actual campaign profitability.
Use the gallery to explore:
- Advertising messages and headlines.
- Visual styles and creative formats.
- Calls to action.
- Offers and content themes.
- Examples of ads maintained over longer periods.
Tracked Brands #
Further down the Feed, the Tracked Brands section summarizes advertising activity across your monitored companies. The table includes information such as:
- Brand: The advertiser being monitored.
- Activity (7D): A visual overview of recent advertising activity.
- New Ads: Newly detected creatives during the reporting period.
- Winners: The number of identified winning creatives.
- Status: An indicator of the brand’s advertising activity.
Use this section to quickly identify active competitors and determine which brands deserve further investigation. Click View All to explore more detailed brand information.
3. Signals: Monitor Important Competitor Changes #
The Signals tab provides a more comprehensive view of detected competitor events. While the Feed highlights selected developments, Signals lets you explore the broader history of available events, with the newest signals appearing first.
Each signal is associated with a specific brand, helping you understand exactly which advertiser is responsible for the observed activity.
Understanding Signal Types #
You can filter the list using the signal categories displayed at the top of the page.
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| New Winner | A creative has been newly classified as a Winner. |
| Activity Surge | A brand has significantly increased its advertising activity compared with its usual pattern. |
| Format Shift | A brand has changed its advertising format mix, such as increasing its use of video or carousel ads. |
| New Landing | A brand has started directing ads toward a landing-page theme that was not previously prominent in its monitored activity. |
| Best Performer | A creative has qualified as a Best Performer based on sustained activity. |
How to Filter Competitor Signals #
- Open the Signals tab.
- Select a signal category, such as New Winner or Activity Surge.
- Review the matching events.
- Use Clear All to remove the selected filters and return to the full list.
You can use these filters to answer specific questions.
For example:
- New Winner: Which competitors have recently introduced potentially promising creatives?
- Activity Surge: Which brands are increasing their advertising activity?
- Format Shift: Are competitors changing the types of ads they use?
- New Landing: Are advertisers promoting new offers, trials, demos, or content?
- Best Performer: Which creatives have remained active over longer periods?
Tip: Reviewing signals regularly can help you identify emerging advertising patterns before they become widespread across your competitive landscape.
4. Ads Library: Discover LinkedIn Advertising Inspiration #
The Ads Library provides a browsable collection of LinkedIn ad creatives organized by industry. Unlike the Feed and Signals tabs, which focus on monitored brands, the Ads Library helps you discover advertising examples from a broader range of companies.
This makes it particularly useful when you’re looking for creative inspiration or researching unfamiliar advertisers.
Browse Ads by Industry #
At the top of the Ads Library, select an industry to explore relevant creatives. The available categories shown in the interface include:
- B2B SaaS
- Marketing Services
- IT Services
- Business Services / Consulting
- Financial Services
Selecting an industry updates the displayed creatives. You can switch between industries to compare different messaging approaches, visual styles, and advertising offers.
Explore Advertising Creatives #
Each ad card displays the creative and available information about the advertisement.
Depending on the ad, you may see:
- The advertising creative or image.
- Ad copy and headline.
- The advertiser’s name.
- The ad format.
- A call-to-action button.
- An option to track the advertiser.
Use these examples to explore how companies communicate their value propositions and encourage prospects to take action. For example, you might compare how different SaaS brands promote:
- Free trials and product demos.
- Educational resources and industry reports.
- Customer success stories.
- Webinars and events.
- Product features and benefits.
Track a Brand from the Ads Library #
If you discover an advertiser you want to monitor:
- Find the relevant ad in the Ads Library.
- Click Track This Brand.
- Follow the available prompts to add the advertiser to your monitoring list.
Once added, the brand can become part of your ongoing competitor research. This allows you to move from discovering an interesting advertisement to following the advertiser’s broader LinkedIn activity.
Note: The Ads Library is a curated collection, not a real-time or exhaustive archive of every LinkedIn ad. Its contents are refreshed separately from the monitoring data.
5. Folders: Organize and Manage Monitored Brands #
The Folders tab is the main workspace for organizing brands and reviewing their advertising activity.
Folders let you group advertisers based on your research goals, making it easier to compare relevant companies without mixing different types of competitors or inspiration sources.
For example, you could create folders for:
- Direct Competitors: Companies offering similar products or targeting the same customers.
- Industry Leaders: Established brands whose advertising strategies you want to study.
- Creative Inspiration: Advertisers known for interesting messaging, visuals, or campaign ideas.
- Emerging Competitors: New or growing companies entering your market.
Folders Overview #
At the top of the Folders tab, you’ll find a summary of your Competitor Monitoring workspace. The dashboard includes:
Folders: The total number of folders created in your workspace.
Active Ads: The number of currently active ads identified across the monitored data shown in the workspace.
Winners: The number of creatives classified as Winners.
Non-US Market Coverage: An indicator of advertising coverage outside the United States.
This metric provides additional geographic context for the monitored advertising data. It should not be interpreted as a competitor’s market share or advertising spend.
Create a New Folder #
To organize your competitor research:
- Click Add Folder on the top right side of your screen.
- Enter the relevant folder information.
- Complete the folder creation process.
Use a descriptive name that reflects the purpose of the group, such as Closest Competitors, Industry Inspiration, or Marketing Technology Brands.
Once created, the folder can be used to organize related advertisers.
Add Brands to Your Monitoring Workspace #
You can add brands directly from the Competitor Monitoring interface.
- Click Add Brand on the top right side of your screen.
- Search for or select the company you want to monitor.
- Complete the available brand selection steps.
- Add the brand to the appropriate folder.
You can also use the Add Brand action within an existing folder to expand that group.
Organizing brands into folders helps keep your monitoring focused on the companies most relevant to your goals.
Review Advertising Activity Within a Folder #
Each folder contains a table of monitored brands and their advertising activity. The available information includes:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Brand | The company being monitored. |
| Updated | When the brand’s monitoring information was last updated. |
| Active/Total | The number of active ads compared with the total ads recorded for the brand. |
| Date Added | When the brand was added to the monitoring records. |
| Winners | The number of creatives classified as Winners. |
| Top Formats | The advertising formats represented in the brand’s creative activity. |
| 7D Activity | Recent advertising activity over the last seven days. |
| Avg Lifespan | The average observed lifespan of the brand’s ads. |
| Non-US Coverage | The available indicator of advertising coverage outside the United States. |
| Win Rate | A calculated indicator related to the proportion of creatives identified as Winners. |
| Look-Alike | An action for discovering similar brands. |
| Actions | Available controls for managing the brand entry. |
The folder summary also displays aggregated information, including brand counts, active and inactive ads, and activity-related metrics.
Use this table to compare advertisers within the same group. For example, you might investigate:
- Which competitors have introduced the most new creatives.
- Which brands have the largest active advertising presence.
- Which advertisers have more identified Winners.
- Which creative formats are most common.
- Whether competitors tend to maintain ads for longer or shorter periods.
These comparisons can help you identify differences in advertising strategies and prioritize further research.
Find Similar Brands with Find Look-alikes #
The Find Look-alikes action helps you discover additional companies related to a monitored brand.
To use it:
- Open the Folders tab.
- Find the brand you want to research.
- Click Find Look-alikes.
- Explore the available suggestions.
This can be particularly useful when you want to expand your competitor research beyond companies you already know.
For example, you might use Find Look-alikes to discover other advertisers operating in a similar market or representing potential sources of creative inspiration.
6. How to Use Competitor Monitoring in Your Marketing Strategy #
Competitor Monitoring is most valuable when you use the insights to guide research and testing rather than simply copying competitors’ advertisements. Here are several practical applications.
- Identify New Creative Ideas
Explore the Winners and Best Performers galleries to find examples of ad formats, messaging approaches, and offers that other advertisers have continued using. Use these observations to develop hypotheses for your own creative tests.
- Monitor Changes in Competitor Strategies
Review Signals to identify sudden increases in advertising activity, new landing-page themes, or changes in creative formats.
These developments may indicate that competitors are experimenting with different approaches or promoting new initiatives.
- Compare Direct Competitors
Create a folder containing your closest competitors. Review their advertising activity, creative formats, and identified winners to understand how their strategies differ.
- Discover New Advertisers
Browse the Ads Library and use Find Lookalikes to discover brands outside your existing monitoring list.
This can help you uncover new competitors, emerging market participants, or useful sources of creative inspiration.
- Build a Regular Competitor Review
Use the Feed for a quick overview, Signals for more detailed developments, and Folders for comparisons between brands.
A regular review can help you identify changes over time and keep your creative research organized.
7. Understanding Data and Performance Indicators #
Competitor Monitoring analyzes available LinkedIn advertising information and observed creative activity. It’s important to understand what this data can—and cannot—tell you.
What Competitor Monitoring helps you understand:
- Which monitored brands are advertising on LinkedIn.
- Which creatives have been detected.
- How long ads have remained active within the observed data.
- Which brands are introducing new creatives.
- How advertising activity changes over time.
- Which ads qualify as Winners or Best Performers under DemandSense’s classification logic.
- Which creative formats and messaging approaches competitors are using.
What it does not directly reveal:
- A competitor’s exact advertising budget.
- Private click-through or conversion rates.
- Actual cost per lead or customer acquisition cost.
- Verified campaign revenue or ROAS.
- Whether a specific creative generated profitable results.
A long-running ad or a Winner classification can be a useful research signal, but it should not be treated as proof of commercial success.
Conclusion #
DemandSense Competitor Monitoring brings LinkedIn competitor research into one workspace.
Use the Feed to understand recent developments, Signals to investigate important changes, Ads Library to discover creative inspiration, and Folders to organize and compare monitored brands.
Together, these features help you stay informed about competitors’ LinkedIn advertising activity, discover new opportunities, and make more informed decisions about your own campaign strategy.