Why is retention analytics important? 

Retention isn't just a metric; retention is the true measure of product value. Think of your product as a boat. If it can't retain a solid user base, it's like having a boat with holes – your business can't thrive. Retention is the ultimate gauge of whether your product consistently delivers value to users.

From a product standpoint, retention is the best indicator of product-market fit. It tells you if customers are genuinely finding ongoing value in your product.

What strategic questions can retention analytics help you answer?

At each stage of the user journey, retention analytics can help answer various strategic questions, providing insights that drive informed decision-making and enhance user engagement.

 

1. Onboarding and Early Engagement

• On average, how many users are still active after x weeks from signing up?
• What actions or behaviors influence retention (positively or negatively)?

Retention analytics helps you understand how effective your onboarding process is at retaining users and pinpoint areas that need improvement.

 

2. User Engagement and Behavior

• How often should I expect users to complete a given action?
• At what point do my users stop getting value or coming back? Where should I focus my attention to address this?

By tracking user behavior, you can identify which actions are critical for user retention and how often users should ideally perform them.

 

3. User Guidance and Experience

• Does your product intuitively direct people to activities that deliver value? Could it be organized differently?
• Are you pointing users to quick wins so that they can see immediate value in your product?
• Could you present information in a different way, such as through guides?

Retention analytics helps you assess the user experience and identify areas where improvements can enhance user satisfaction and retention rates.

 

4. Feature Optimization

• Should you consider deprecating features that are rarely used but make your product more complex?

Learn how to build a retention report →