Engagement Metrics
Also known as: User EngagementProduct EngagementDAU/MAUStickiness RatioEngagement Rate
💡The Concept
Engagement metrics measure how actively and deeply users interact with your product. The most important is the DAU/MAU ratio (Daily Active Users ÷ Monthly Active Users), also called the 'stickiness ratio.' A 50% DAU/MAU means half your monthly users come back every day. Facebook's DAU/MAU is 66%, making it one of the stickiest products ever built. For SaaS, a 13-20% DAU/MAU is average, 20-30% is good, and 30%+ signals exceptional engagement that predicts strong retention.
⚠️The Trap
The trap is tracking surface-level engagement (page views, sessions) instead of meaningful engagement (core actions completed). A news site with 10 million page views but 2-minute average session time has shallow engagement — users skim headlines and leave. A project management tool with 500K sessions where users create tasks, assign team members, and complete workflows has deep engagement. Vanity engagement metrics (views, clicks) correlate poorly with retention; value-delivered metrics (workflows completed, goals achieved) correlate strongly.
🎯The Action
Define your 'engagement stack' — 3 tiers of user engagement: (1) Passive: user logged in / opened the app. (2) Active: user performed a core action (sent a message, created a document, ran a report). (3) Power: user used advanced features or collaborated with others. Calculate DAU/MAU and track all three tiers separately. Target: at least 40% of MAU should be 'Active' tier. Set engagement alerts: if a user drops from Power to Passive, trigger a Customer Success touchpoint within 48 hours.
⚡Pro Tips
Track engagement by cohort, not just in aggregate. Your overall DAU/MAU might look stable while new cohorts are actually engaging 20% less than older ones — a hidden retention problem masked by a loyal early adopter base.
Define 'active' precisely and consistently. Does opening the app count? Loading a page? Creating content? Slack defines 'active' as sending at least one message — much more meaningful than just opening the app.
Use the 'L7' (days active in last 7) and 'L28' (days active in last 28) distributions. These show engagement depth: an L7 of 5-6 means deeply engaged daily users. An L28 of 4-5 means monthly users who pop in once a week.
🚫Common Myths
✗Myth: “More time in your app means higher engagement”
✓Reality: Time-in-app can indicate confusion, not engagement. If users spend 45 minutes doing a task that should take 10 minutes, that's friction, not stickiness. Measure task completion rate and speed alongside time-in-app.
✗Myth: “Push notifications increase engagement”
✓Reality: Overcommunication destroys engagement. Research by Localytics shows apps sending 4+ push notifications per week see 2x opt-out rates. Strategic notifications (triggered by user behavior, not a schedule) increase engagement 3-4x more than broadcast pushes.
📈Industry Benchmarks
DAU/MAU Ratio
B2B SaaS (daily-use tools like Slack, Notion)Elite
> 40%
Good
25-40%
Average
13-25%
Needs Work
8-13%
Critical
< 8%
Source: Mixpanel 2024 Product Benchmarks
DAU/MAU Ratio
Consumer / Social AppsElite
> 50%
Good
30-50%
Average
15-30%
Needs Work
10-15%
Critical
< 10%
Source: Sequoia Capital Consumer Product Benchmarks
Knowledge Check
Challenge coming soon for this concept.
Related Concepts
Turn knowledge into action
Try our free calculators to apply these concepts with your own numbers.
Try the Calculators →