Activation - the pirate metric that could lead your startup to success

User activation is often neglected, although it is a jumping-off point to better user engagement and product led growth. Activation is a beautiful metric because it's a leading indicator of your user's behaviour thus defining your product's success.

The key challenge lies in acknowledging that such a metric needs to be defined and measured. The second challenge then is to define it for your product. Once you have solved for these 2 challenges, you can track activation rates of a) specific user cohorts b) different acquisition channels c) different onboarding flows d) product value proposition e) positioning f) communications g) landing pages to identify areas of optimisation thus improving this metric.

WHAT IS PRODUCT ACTIVATION?

Product Activation is defined as the "aha" moment when a user understands the value that they will derive from a product. It is often a leading indicator that can guide the sales, marketing and growth teams on where and why to focus. The key thing to recognise is that it represents true value to the user. The more you attract users, the activation rate will decrease until you find ways for them to discover value.

HOW IS IT MEASURED?

Product activation is defined as percentage of users who reached the activation milestone amongst the those that were acquired.

FRAMEWORK TO DEFINE ACTIVATION METRIC FOR YOUR PRODUCT?

1. Make a list of all the key actions that users can take in your product

2. Identify the actions that can be quickly completed

3. Understand if there is any correlation between these actions & conversion

4. Figure if these actions are predictive of retention

5. If these actions lead to higher conversion or retention, define as activation metric

EXAMPLES OF ACTIVATION METRICS FROM DIFFERENT VERTICALS

Few examples of companies that could define their activation metrics are:

• Social Media Network : Adding/Following 7 friends in 10 days

This is based on the hypothesis that once a user adds 7 friends, there is a significant value that they gain out of the network.

• Dating App : Matching with 5 profiles in 7 days

This is based on the hypothesis that once a user engages and interacts on the platform, they develop trust on the platform.

• Food Delivery App : Ordering at least 4 times in 1 month

This is based on the hypothesis that once a user orders for 4 times, the friction to use the platform is removed.

• B2B workplace communication : Sending 20 messages in 10 days

This is based on the hypothesis that once a user starts sending messages, more users derive value from the platform.

• Video conferencing : Completing a meeting within 7 days of signup

This is based on the hypothesis that once a user completes a meeting, they are more accustomed to the platform.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR PRODUCT ACTIVATION METRIC ?

Now that you have identified what, why and how of your activation metric; you should start looking into activation rates of a) specific user cohorts b) different acquisition channels c) different onboarding flows d) product value proposition e) positioning f) communications g) landing pages to identify areas of optimisation thus improving this metric.