If you’re in product, marketing, or strategy, you know the pain of getting blindsided by a competitor’s new product launch. Alerts come late, or worse, not at all. You waste hours trawling press releases, blog posts, and Twitter threads. If you’re tired of feeling behind, this guide is for you. Here’s how to actually track competitor launches in real time using Kompyte—without drowning in noise or gimmicks.
Step 1: Set Up Your Core Competitor List (Don’t Overthink It)
Start simple. Kompyte can monitor a lot, but you don’t want to dilute your attention by tracking every company in your space. Focus on:
- Your biggest direct competitors (the ones your customers mention)
- Any “up-and-comers” that have launched things in the last year
- Anyone your exec team is obsessed with, even if it’s not logical (just to keep the peace)
Pro tip:
Don’t add every startup that’s ever tweeted about your category. You’ll get flooded with alerts about irrelevant “launches” that just waste your time.
Step 2: Add the Right Sources (Where Launches Actually Happen)
Kompyte can monitor websites, blogs, social accounts, press releases, and more. But not all sources are created equal for launch tracking. Here’s what actually matters:
- Official company blogs/newsrooms: Where most launches are announced.
- Product changelogs or release notes: Goldmine for feature launches.
- Press release feeds: Sometimes the first place for major launches.
- LinkedIn company updates: Good for B2B, but beware of fluff posts.
- Twitter/X feeds: Still useful, but increasingly noisy.
Skip these (unless you have a special reason):
- Facebook pages: Mostly recruiting posts and fluff.
- Instagram: Rarely used for serious product launches.
- Glassdoor, Indeed, or generic review sites: Not for launch tracking.
Set up Kompyte to monitor just the sources above for each competitor. Less is more here.
Step 3: Customize Your Alerts (Because Default Settings Are Useless)
Kompyte will happily send you mountains of notifications if you let it. To avoid notification fatigue:
- Set up keyword filters for “launch,” “new,” “introducing,” “now available,” “released,” and your product category.
- Exclude noisy terms like “hiring,” “culture,” “team spotlight,” etc.
- Adjust alert frequency. For launch tracking, you want instant or daily digests—not weekly.
Reality check:
You’ll still get some irrelevant alerts. That’s just life. But tuning your filters will cut out 80% of the junk.
Step 4: Automate Classification (Train the Machine—But Don’t Trust It Blindly)
Kompyte offers AI-based classification that can try to spot “product launches” for you. It’s not magic, but it helps.
- Use Kompyte’s training tools: Mark up a bunch of true launches and false positives so the system learns.
- Create a custom “Product Launch” tag so you can easily group and scan relevant updates.
Honest take:
AI classification is only as good as the examples you feed it. Plan to review and tweak the system every couple months. Don’t trust the AI to do it all—at least, not yet.
Step 5: Build a Simple Workflow (So You Actually Use the Info)
Tracking is only half the battle. The real value comes from acting on what you find. Here’s an easy (non-bureaucratic) workflow:
- Daily/real-time review: Check the “Product Launch” tag or alert in Kompyte. Spend 5 minutes scanning.
- Flag important launches: If something really matters (competitive threat, big feature), flag it or add a note.
- Share with your team: Post a quick summary in Slack/Teams, or forward the alert. Don’t overthink the format—just get the info out.
- Update your docs: If you keep a competitive tracker or battlecard, drop in the key details.
Pro tip:
Don’t create a weekly “competitor launch report” unless someone actually asks for it. Most teams just want a heads-up when it matters.
Step 6: Ignore the Vanity Metrics (Focus on What Moves the Needle)
Kompyte will try to impress you with graphs about “activity spikes” and “engagement.” For launch tracking, these rarely matter. What you care about:
- What got launched?
- Does it affect your customers or roadmap?
- Do you need to respond?
Skip the dashboards unless you’re prepping for a big exec meeting. The raw launch updates are what matter day to day.
Step 7: Tighten Your Feedback Loop (Iterate, Don’t Agonize)
Even if you follow all the steps above, you’ll still miss things and get some noise. That’s normal. Every month or so:
- Prune your competitor list (did someone pivot, die, or become irrelevant? Remove them.)
- Add new sources if you spot a launch elsewhere that Kompyte missed (maybe a new blog or newsletter).
- Tweak your keyword filters based on what’s slipping through or clogging your feed.
Don’t obsess over perfection.
You want to catch 80-90% of important launches, not 100%. The last 10% isn’t worth killing yourself over.
Kompyte’s Strengths for Launch Tracking (and Where It Falls Short)
Here’s the honest rundown:
What Kompyte does well:
- Monitors lots of sources at once—much faster than manual checking.
- Decent filtering and tagging, so you can cut down on noise.
- Simple sharing features to loop in your team.
Where Kompyte struggles:
- The AI classification isn’t magical—you’ll still do some manual review.
- Some “launches” (especially stealthy or unannounced ones) won’t get caught.
- You still need to sanity-check and adjust your setup every so often.
Bottom line:
Kompyte’s great for catching public, announced launches and most feature rollouts. It won’t replace old-school competitor sleuthing for stuff that’s not public.
Summary: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Don’t get bogged down in every bell and whistle Kompyte offers. Pick your top competitors, set up tight filters on the right sources, and check your alerts regularly. Make small tweaks each month, and don’t expect to catch every last launch. Real-time competitor launch tracking is about catching the big stuff fast, not building the perfect system. Stay flexible, keep it lean, and you’ll be ahead of most teams before you know it.