# Competitor signal tracker Human Guide

## What This Is For
Turn scattered competitor information into structured strategic intelligence — not just "what they did" but "what it means for us." It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for competitive research: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Competitor signal tracker agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for competitor signal tracker.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Competitor signal tracker guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Competitor name(s)** and the signals/updates to analyse
- **Your product's current roadmap or strategic priorities** (to assess relevance)
- **Time period** the signals cover (this week, this month, etc.)
- **Product signals:** New features, removals, UX changes, beta programmes
- **Pricing signals:** Changes to tiers, free limits, enterprise terms
- **Hiring signals:** Job postings that reveal strategic bets (e.g., hiring ML engineers = AI investment)
- **Partnership signals:** Integrations, acquisitions, ecosystem moves
- **Messaging signals:** Changes in positioning, target audience, value proposition
- For each competitor update provided, categorise the signal type
- Assess: Is this reactive (responding to market) or proactive (setting direction)?
- Rate strategic threat level: High / Medium / Low / Watch
- Connect to your roadmap: does this accelerate, validate, or challenge any of your bets?

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Required Inputs, Signal Categories to Track, Process, Output Structure, Competitive Intelligence Report — [Date], [Competitor Name], Strategic Summary, Anti-Patterns, Quality Checks.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- [ ] Do not rate a signal as High threat without explaining the specific roadmap item or customer segment it threatens — unjustified threat ratings lose credibility over time
- [ ] Do not treat a hiring signal as definitive proof of a strategic bet — hiring signals require corroboration from product, messaging, or pricing signals before acting on them
- [ ] Do not conflate a competitor's announcement with a competitor's shipped capability — press releases and blog posts often describe aspirations, not production features
- [ ] Do not recommend "accelerate existing initiative" for every High signal — sometimes the right response is to differentiate harder in an adjacent area rather than race the competitor directly

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Competitor signal tracker human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills skill entry for `competitor-signal-tracker`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Competitor Signal Tracker Skill

Turn scattered competitor information into structured strategic intelligence — not just "what they did" but "what it means for us."

## Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:
- **Competitor name(s)** and the signals/updates to analyse
- **Your product's current roadmap or strategic priorities** (to assess relevance)
- **Time period** the signals cover (this week, this month, etc.)

## Signal Categories to Track
- **Product signals:** New features, removals, UX changes, beta programmes
- **Pricing signals:** Changes to tiers, free limits, enterprise terms
- **Hiring signals:** Job postings that reveal strategic bets (e.g., hiring ML engineers = AI investment)
- **Partnership signals:** Integrations, acquisitions, ecosystem moves
- **Messaging signals:** Changes in positioning, target audience, value proposition

## Process
1. For each competitor update provided, categorise the signal type
2. Assess: Is this reactive (responding to market) or proactive (setting direction)?
3. Rate strategic threat level: High / Medium / Low / Watch
4. Connect to your roadmap: does this accelerate, validate, or challenge any of your bets?
5. Recommend a response: Accelerate existing initiative / Deprioritise / Monitor / Investigate further
6. **Validate** — Confirm every High threat has a specific recommended response with an owner. "Monitor" is not an acceptable response for High-rated threats.

## Output Structure

### Competitive Intelligence Report — [Date]

#### [Competitor Name]
**Signal:** [What they did]
**Signal Type:** [Product / Pricing / Hiring / Partnership / Messaging]
**Reactive or Proactive:** [assessment]
**Threat Level:** [High / Medium / Low / Watch]
**Implication for Us:** [Specific connection to our roadmap or strategy]
**Recommended Response:** [Action + owner + timeline]

#### Strategic Summary
[2-3 sentences on the overall competitive landscape shift this period]

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not rate a signal as High threat without explaining the specific roadmap item or customer segment it threatens — unjustified threat ratings lose credibility over time
- [ ] Do not treat a hiring signal as definitive proof of a strategic bet — hiring signals require corroboration from product, messaging, or pricing signals before acting on them
- [ ] Do not conflate a competitor's announcement with a competitor's shipped capability — press releases and blog posts often describe aspirations, not production features
- [ ] Do not recommend "accelerate existing initiative" for every High signal — sometimes the right response is to differentiate harder in an adjacent area rather than race the competitor directly

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Every signal is categorised (not just described)
- [ ] Threat level is justified — not assigned arbitrarily
- [ ] High-threat signals have specific recommended responses (not "monitor")
- [ ] Implications connect to specific roadmap items or strategic bets
- [ ] Strategic summary gives a landscape-level view, not just a list of individual signals