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Ask HN: How do you monitor competitors in your industry?
Hello everyone, I'm looking for effective ways to track competitors in my role as a Chief Product Officer at a start-up. We have several competitors, and I'd like to keep tabs on their progress and product updates. Currently, I just have their apps installed on my phone and occasionally visit their websites for new information. I feel there must be more efficient methods to stay informed. What tools or strategies do you recommend?
- joezydeco 2y agoDoes your product sector have a trade show or annual convention? Are there any journals or magazines that cover your field?
- tnsrig 2y agoNope, it doesn’t. It's relatively speaking niche.
- amazingtonyb 2y agoHello! I'm working for a B2B SaaS so it might be different for you, as I understand you do mobile apps. - Regular review of won / lost deals, the best info about our competitors was the one gleaned through the eyes of the customers, as it helps assess whether the actual users think their product/features are good or not - #competitors channel on Slack. Sales / PM/ Marketing share interesting news/articles or questions when they are dealing with a customer objection. - I always sign up for their product, and receive competitor newsletters. It's the best way to get informed of their news / product launches. - For monitoring competitor plans and features, I setup custom alerts to get a notification when they change their pricing page. - Google Alerts with your company and competitor names. - Periodic review of their product with credentials shared among our product team, when we needed to check out how they built a particular feature. - Check out their reviews on the stores + Trustpilot regularly It can be time-consuming, but yields great insights for my roadmap and marketing positioning. I have now built my own tool to automate everything: https://peerpanda.app https://peerpanda.app . Would love to get your feedback on it!
- tnsrig 2y agoThat seems interesting, I will take a look.
- CharlotteSophie 2y agoHi! For social post tracking you can monitor their brand / social handles. Google alerts doesn’t pick up on non indexed social updates on x, LinkedIn, Reddit and co. Either manually or tools like Octolens.com (disclaimer: it’s my company).