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home / skills / yoanbernabeu / producthunt-skills / ph-competitor-analysis

ph-competitor-analysis skill

/skills/strategy/ph-competitor-analysis

This skill analyzes Product Hunt launches, benchmarks against top performers, and surfaces actionable strategies to improve your own POTD performance.

npx playbooks add skill yoanbernabeu/producthunt-skills --skill ph-competitor-analysis

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md
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---
name: ph-competitor-analysis
description: Analyze competing Product Hunt launches and benchmark against top performers. Use this skill to research similar products, understand competitive landscape on your chosen launch day, and learn from successful launches in your category.
---

# Product Hunt Competitor Analysis

This skill helps you analyze the competitive landscape on Product Hunt, learn from successful launches, and position your product for maximum impact.

## When to Use This Skill

- Researching similar products that launched on Product Hunt
- Evaluating competition for a specific launch day
- Learning from top performers in your category
- Benchmarking your assets against successful launches
- Understanding what makes products win POTD

## Analysis Framework

### 1. Category Research

Identify products in your space that launched successfully:

**Research Sources:**
- Product Hunt search by category/topic
- Product Hunt "Topics" pages
- hunted.space for historical data
- ProductFlair for inspiration

**Data to Collect:**
| Product | Launch Date | Upvotes | Comments | Rank | Tagline |
|---------|-------------|---------|----------|------|---------|
| [Name] | [Date] | [#] | [#] | [#] | [Text] |

### 2. Launch Day Competition Analysis

For your target launch date, research:

**Historical Pattern (Same Day of Week):**
- Average upvotes for #1 position
- Typical number of featured products
- Quality level of competitors

**Benchmark Thresholds (2024-2025 Data):**
| Day | #1 Position | Top 5 | Featured |
|-----|-------------|-------|----------|
| Monday | 500-700 | 300+ | 150+ |
| Tuesday | 600-900 | 400+ | 200+ |
| Wednesday | 700-1000 | 450+ | 200+ |
| Thursday | 600-900 | 400+ | 200+ |
| Friday | 400-600 | 250+ | 150+ |
| Saturday | 300-500 | 200+ | 100+ |
| Sunday | 300-500 | 200+ | 100+ |

### 3. Top Performer Deep Dive

For each successful competitor, analyze:

**Content Elements:**
- Tagline: What makes it compelling?
- Thumbnail: Static or GIF? Style?
- Gallery: How many images? Video included?
- Description: Length, structure, tone
- Maker Comment: Structure, authenticity, CTA

**Engagement Patterns:**
- First hour upvotes
- Comment velocity
- Maker response rate
- Community discussion quality

**Unique Differentiators:**
- What made this product stand out?
- Any special offers or promotions?
- Notable endorsements or hunters?

### 4. Competitive Positioning Matrix

Map your product against competitors:

```
                    HIGH NOVELTY
                         |
                         |
    NICHE           [Your Product?]        MAINSTREAM
    AUDIENCE -------|----------------|---- AUDIENCE
                         |
                         |
                    LOW NOVELTY
```

**Positioning Questions:**
- What's your unique angle vs. existing solutions?
- Why should PH users care about another [category] tool?
- What's your "10x better" story?

## Competitor Analysis Template

### Product: [Competitor Name]
**Launch Date:** [Date]
**Final Ranking:** #[X] of the Day
**Upvotes:** [#] | **Comments:** [#]

**Tagline:** "[Exact tagline]"
- Length: [X] characters
- Style: [Descriptive/Clever/Problem-focused]
- Effectiveness: [1-5 rating]

**Thumbnail Analysis:**
- Type: Static/GIF
- Style: Logo only / Product screenshot / Abstract
- Colors: [Primary colors used]
- Scroll-stopping factor: [1-5 rating]

**Gallery Analysis:**
- Number of images: [#]
- Video included: Yes/No
- Demo style: Screenshots/Mockups/Real usage
- Story flow: [How images progress]

**Maker Comment Structure:**
1. Hook: [First line]
2. Problem: [Pain point addressed]
3. Solution: [How product solves it]
4. CTA: [Call to action]
- Word count: [#]
- Tone: [Professional/Casual/Personal]

**What Worked:**
- [Key success factor 1]
- [Key success factor 2]
- [Key success factor 3]

**What Could Improve:**
- [Weakness 1]
- [Weakness 2]

**Lessons for Our Launch:**
- [Actionable insight 1]
- [Actionable insight 2]

## Competitive Intelligence Checklist

### Before Launch
- [ ] Analyzed 5+ similar products in category
- [ ] Documented top 3 POTD winners in niche
- [ ] Identified common tagline patterns
- [ ] Collected best-performing thumbnail styles
- [ ] Noted average engagement benchmarks
- [ ] Identified gaps/opportunities in positioning

### Launch Day Awareness
- [ ] Checked who else is launching that day
- [ ] Assessed threat level of competitors
- [ ] Identified potential allies for cross-support
- [ ] Prepared differentiation talking points

## Output Format

Provide competitive analysis as:

```
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: [Your Product Category]

TOP 3 COMPETITORS ANALYZED:
1. [Product A] - [Key insight]
2. [Product B] - [Key insight]
3. [Product C] - [Key insight]

BENCHMARK TARGETS:
- Upvotes needed for Top 5: [#]
- Comment target: [#]
- Expected competition level: [Low/Medium/High]

YOUR DIFFERENTIATION:
- Unique angle: [Statement]
- Why you'll stand out: [Reason]

LESSONS TO APPLY:
1. [Actionable lesson]
2. [Actionable lesson]
3. [Actionable lesson]
```

Overview

This skill analyzes competing Product Hunt launches and benchmarks your launch against top performers to improve positioning and outcomes. It helps you research similar products, assess launch-day competition, and extract tactical lessons from winners. Use the output to set concrete engagement targets and refine messaging, visuals, and launch timing.

How this skill works

The skill inspects Product Hunt listings in your category and collects launch metrics (upvotes, comments, rank, launch date). It deep-dives into top performers’ content elements—taglines, thumbnails, galleries, maker comments—and maps engagement patterns like first-hour velocity and comment rate. Finally, it delivers benchmark thresholds, a positioning matrix, and a checklist of actions to apply to your launch.

When to use it

  • Planning a Product Hunt launch and setting goals for upvotes/comments
  • Researching competitors who launched on the same target date
  • Benchmarking your assets (tagline, thumbnail, gallery) against winners
  • Identifying gaps and opportunities in your category
  • Preparing launch-day monitoring and maker response strategy

Best practices

  • Analyze at least five similar launches, including top 3 winners, for pattern detection
  • Measure early engagement (first hour) to predict day outcome and adjust outreach
  • Use concise, problem-focused taglines and scroll-stopping thumbnails (GIFs or bold mockups)
  • Prepare maker comments and CTAs in advance for fast, authentic responses
  • Set concrete numeric targets (upvotes, comments) based on weekday benchmarks

Example use cases

  • Benchmark upvote targets for a Tuesday launch and tailor your outreach to hit Top 5 thresholds
  • Audit a competitor’s gallery and replicate effective demo styles (short videos, sequence screenshots)
  • Map your product on a positioning matrix to define a clear 10x-better angle
  • Create a launch-day checklist: competitor scan, ally outreach, maker comment queue
  • Turn lessons from winners into a condensed launch brief for marketing and community teams

FAQ

How many competitors should I analyze?

Analyze at least five similar products, plus deep-dives on the top three winners for clear patterns and actionable insights.

Can benchmarks vary by weekday?

Yes. Historical data shows different upvote expectations by day; use weekday-specific targets when planning launch timing.