Growth tacticS

Using Data to Identify and Improve User Activation

Activation

Learn how to use data to identify key user activation metrics and use them to improve user engagement and retention.

Using Data to Identify and Improve User Activation

Facebook's growth can be attributed to their focus on user behavior data. By analyzing cohorts of users, they identified markers of user success and used those markers as North Star metrics to guide their product decisions. One of the clearest indicators of retention was whether or not users connected with 7 friends within 10 days. Once Facebook had identified their activation metric, they crafted the onboarding experience to nudge users up to the magic number. By focusing on a metric that correlates with stickiness, your team can take a scientific approach to growing engagement and retention, and measuring its progress.

How to implement
  1. Identify key user activation metrics that correlate with user engagement and retention.
  2. Analyze cohorts of users to determine which metrics are most important.
  3. Craft the onboarding experience to nudge users up to the identified activation metric.
  4. Monitor user behavior data to measure progress and adjust the onboarding experience as needed.