Staying on top of what your competitors are doing—and what’s changing at your target accounts—can feel impossible. One day, you’re on top of it. The next, your prospect’s leadership team has changed, your competitor landed a big deal, and you’re the last to know. If you’re in sales, marketing, or founder mode, you know that missing these cues means missed opportunities.
If you want a shot at acting fast (without living in spreadsheets or LinkedIn hell), there are a few tools that promise to help. Datagma is one of them. Here’s how to use it to cut through the noise, spot real changes, and avoid the rabbit holes that waste your time.
Why bother tracking competitor and account changes?
Let’s get one thing straight: this isn’t just about snooping. If you’re selling B2B, you need to know:
- When a key contact leaves or joins an account you care about
- If a competitor’s landed a new client, raised a round, or launched a feature that messes with your pitch
- If your target account just hired a bunch of engineers (maybe they’re ripe for your product—or about to build their own)
You want to act on these signals, not just collect them. But most tools either drown you in alerts or miss the stuff that matters. Datagma claims to help by surfacing changes that actually affect your odds of closing a deal or outmaneuvering competition. Let’s see how.
Step 1: Set up your target accounts and competitors
Before you get any insights, you’ve got to tell Datagma what you care about. This part’s simple, but don’t rush it.
a) Build your list of target accounts
Start with the companies you actually want to sell to—or the ones you’re trying to defend from competitors. You can:
- Upload a CSV of target companies (if you’ve got one)
- Search and add companies right in the Datagma UI
- Pull in accounts from your CRM, if you’ve connected it
Pro tip: Be picky. If you add every company you’ve ever emailed, you’ll get useless noise later.
b) Add your competitors
Datagma lets you track companies you consider direct competitors. Add them by name or website. Don’t overthink it—just pick the ones that come up in actual deals.
What’s worth tracking? - Real competitors (companies you lose to or hear about in deals) - “Aspirational” competitors (who you want to watch, but don’t compete with much yet) - Ignore the big guys who never really overlap with you; you’ll just get distracted.
Step 2: Choose the signals that matter
Datagma tracks everything from new hires to funding rounds to website updates. But more data isn’t better—you need to filter out the noise.
What can you track?
- Personnel changes (hires, departures, promotions)
- Funding events
- Job postings (hints at priorities or new projects)
- Tech stack changes (if they start using a competitor’s tool)
- News mentions
- Website changes (new features, big messaging shifts)
Don’t try to track it all
If you set up alerts for every possible change, you’ll tune them out in a week. Pick what actually matters for your sales motion or market. For most, that’s:
- New execs/leaders in your target accounts (opens doors… or closes them)
- Competitors landing new customers or rolling out game-changing features
- Signs your target account is growing or changing strategy
Pro tip: If you’re not sure, start with the basics (people moves, major funding, notable product launches). You can always add more later.
Step 3: Set up alerts and digests (without drowning yourself)
Here’s where a lot of folks mess up. Datagma lets you set instant alerts or daily/weekly digests. The right setup depends on your tolerance for interruption and FOMO.
How to set up alerts
- Instant alerts: For accounts or competitors you’re actively working right now. Get a ping when something important happens.
- Digest emails: For the rest—get a summary once a day or week.
You can set different alerting rules for each list or type of signal. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
What works best? - Sales/BD folks: Instant alerts for your top 10 accounts and “deals in play,” weekly digest for everything else. - Founders/execs: Weekly or monthly digest. You don’t need to know about every new SDR hire at your competitor.
What to ignore: Avoid “all changes” alerts for entire industries. That’s a recipe for alert fatigue.
Step 4: Actually use the insights (not just admire them)
Getting notified is only half the battle. The whole point is to take action—faster than your competitors.
Example plays:
- New exec joins a target account: Send a warm welcome, reference their background, and (if appropriate) restart the conversation.
- Competitor lands a new customer: Dig into why. Is it a red flag for your existing deals, or just noise?
- Target account posts new jobs for a team you sell to: Reach out. They’re likely facing new challenges.
Don’t overthink it: Most of these moves are about timing and context. Don’t make it weird—just use the info to add value or relevance to your outreach.
Avoid these mistakes
- Paralysis by analysis: If you wait to act until you’ve “fully researched” every change, you’ll miss your window.
- Generic outreach: “Saw you joined ACME Corp—let’s chat” isn’t enough. Use what you know to be specific.
- Getting distracted: Not every competitor win is a disaster. Focus on your pipeline.
Step 5: Review and tweak
Your first setup won’t be perfect. Every few weeks, look at:
- Are you getting any alerts you actually act on?
- What’s just noise?
- Are you missing signals you care about?
Datagma lets you adjust filters, add/remove accounts, and change alerting frequency. Don’t be afraid to ruthlessly cut out signals that aren’t helping.
Pro tip: Ask your team what insights they actually used. If nobody remembers, it’s time to prune.
What Datagma does well—and where it falls short
Let’s be honest: no tool is magic, and Datagma’s no exception.
Where it shines
- Quick setup: You’ll be tracking accounts and competitors in under an hour.
- People intelligence: Change detection for hires and departures is better than most.
- Noise control: More granular filters than a lot of “all-in-one” platforms.
Where you’ll want more
- Integration depth: It’s not going to replace your CRM or marketing automation tools. It’s a supplement.
- International coverage: Like most data tools, it’s better in the US/EU than elsewhere.
- Context: Alerts tell you what changed, but you’ll need to dig for the “why.”
What to skip
- “All companies” monitoring. Unless you have a research team, you’ll drown in data.
- Tracking changes just for the sake of it. If a signal doesn’t tie back to your goals, cut it.
Keep it simple, stay sharp
Competitor and account monitoring shouldn’t be a full-time job. Set up Datagma with a short, high-impact list. Focus on signals that you’ll actually act on. Ignore the rest.
Start small, review often, and remember: the goal isn’t to know everything. It’s to know enough—fast enough—to make a move when it counts. The rest is just noise.
Now get your lists set up, pick your signals, and go win some deals.