How to research competitor video ads without copying them

A competitor's video can give you a useful question to investigate: why did they open with that problem, show that screen or ask for that next step? It cannot tell you, by itself, what will persuade someone to buy your app.

For a founder with limited time, the useful output of competitor research is a brief you can act on. Start with one buyer problem, inspect a small set of relevant videos and finish with an original message supported by your own product.

Choose references that share a buyer problem

Write the question you want the research to answer before opening a feed. For a meal-planning app, it might be: “How do other products explain the jump from choosing recipes to preparing a shopping list?”

Look at direct competitors, but also consider a digital template or another tool that addresses the same task. Similar visual styling matters less than a shared situation. A polished recipe inspiration video may offer little guidance if your buyer already has recipes and struggles to organize the ingredients.

Start with three references you can actually watch. This is a manageable research limit, not a statistically representative sample. Save the source URL, account or advertiser name, date viewed and whether the item is an ad or an ordinary post when that is identifiable. If you only have a caption or thumbnail, record that limitation rather than describing a video you have not seen.

Record the creative before interpreting it

Watch each reference once for the overall message, then again to record the opening, the product action, the evidence shown and the requested next step. Note where these happen so you can revisit the relevant moment.

Keep observation and interpretation in separate notes. “The video opens on a shopping list before showing the recipe picker” is an observation. “The creator wants to emphasize the finished result” is an interpretation. “This opening will increase paid signups” is a hypothesis that the reference does not establish.

Record missing information too. If the video claims to simplify shopping but never shows how the list is created, that is an unanswered product question. It is not evidence that the feature fails; the video may simply omit it.

A short note written this way is more reusable than “great hook.” It tells the person writing the next script which choice caught your attention and why it could matter.

Keep attention and business results separate

Views, comments and other visible engagement can help you choose what deserves a closer look. They do not establish purchases, retention or profit. Likewise, seeing an ad marked active does not tell you whether it is meeting the advertiser's goals.

Even a repeated creative pattern needs interpretation. Several ads with the same opening could reflect testing, a reusable production template or a deliberate campaign theme. You cannot identify the reason from repetition alone.

If you have no conversion evidence, write “performance unknown.” Then state the question the reference suggests for your own audience. For example: “Would showing the finished shopping list make the app's purpose clearer than opening on its recipe library?” That question is specific enough to guide a brief without pretending the answer is already known.

Build an original brief from your own product

Consider a fictional app called PantryPath. In this example, it lets users choose recipes, combine ingredients into a shopping list and manually remove items they already own. It does not inspect the fridge or automatically know what is in the cupboard. These are invented product facts for the example, not Personify capabilities or a customer case study.

Suppose a fictional reference opens with the frustration of planning dinner, then shows a completed list. The transferable idea is to connect a familiar moment with a visible result. You do not need its wording, presenter, music or sequence of shots.

PantryPath's brief could focus on a different, specific situation: someone has selected meals for the week but still needs to work out what to buy. The product evidence would be a real recording of selecting recipes, opening the combined list and removing an ingredient already at home.

An original script might read: “Picked your meals, but still need the shopping list? Choose your recipes in PantryPath, open the combined ingredient list, then remove anything you already have. See the sample meal plan to check how it works.”

That script follows the example product's actual steps. It also preserves the manual work. Replacing the final step with “it knows what's in your kitchen” would make a stronger-sounding promise that the fictional product cannot support.

Check the reference against the finished brief

Before making the video, put the reference notes beside the new brief. You should be able to explain the buyer question you learned from the reference and the product facts that shaped your own execution.

If the new script is mostly the same sentences with your app name substituted, return to the buyer's situation and write from a blank page. Use your own product media. A competitor's screenshot, customer quote or result is not evidence for your offer.

Then check the next step. If the video invites someone to view a sample meal plan, the destination should make that sample easy to find. A useful reference can inspire an opening, but your own offer determines what the viewer should do next.

Keep the research note after publication. Record what you changed and what evidence you collected, separating comprehension feedback, engagement and any measured conversion. This turns the next research session into a continuation of your learning rather than another search for a supposedly winning ad.

Bring the findings into Personify

Bring your audience, verified product details and the question raised by your research into Personify. Use that context to develop angles and refine an editable script. Personify offers free ideas and scripts; generating a video requires a paid plan and your approval.

For an app demonstration, plan the authentic screen recording needed to support the narration, and check how you will assemble the final video. Review the output before sharing it. The aim of competitor research is a clearer decision about what your own audience needs to see—and a brief your product can deliver on.