SaaS Activation Metric Analysis

Analysis Summary

• Total Users: 200
• Retained Users: 120 (60%)
• Activation Window: First 7 days
• Retention Window: Days 30-60
• Candidate Actions: 3

Results

Recommendations

Best Activation Metric: invite_colleague

• Retention lift: +45 percentage points
• Current adoption: 40%
• Strength: Strong

Why this is your best metric:

• Highest retention lift: Users who invite a colleague within 7 days have 88% retention vs. 43% for those who don’t (+45%)
• Relative lift: 2.05x — Users who invite colleagues are more than twice as likely to retain
• Statistically significant: p<0.001 (99.9% confidence)
• Moderate adoption: 40% of users invite a colleague, leaving significant room for optimization

Secondary high-value signal:

1. upload_file (75% retention, 60% adoption)
   • Strong retention signal but lower lift than invite_colleague
   • Good baseline engagement indicator
   • Consider this a prerequisite to prompting for colleague invite

Onboarding Focus:

• Increase invite_colleague adoption from 40% to 65%+
• Make “invite a colleague” the hero moment in onboarding after first file upload
• Reduce friction to completing this action (one-click invite, email templates)
• Show social proof: “Users who invite colleagues get 2x more value”

Recommended activation strategy:

Primary Metric: Invite 1 colleague within 7 days of signup

Implementation approach:

1. After first file upload, immediately prompt: “Want to collaborate? Invite a colleague”
2. Progress indicator: “Complete your setup: Upload file ✓ → Invite colleague (get 2x value!)”
3. Reduce friction: Pre-filled email templates, bulk invite options, address book integration
4. Incentive testing: Consider offering bonus storage/features for first invite

Success targets:

• Current: 40% of users invite a colleague in 7 days
• Goal: 65% (achievable through aggressive onboarding optimization)
• Expected impact: 25% increase in invite rate → ~11% increase in overall retention

Validation approach:

1. A/B test: Variant aggressively prompts for colleague invite after file upload
2. Track cohorts: Monitor if improved invite rates actually improve D30-60 retention
3. Measure causation: Retention improvement confirms causation (not just correlation)
4. Timeline: 60 days to see full impact on D30-60 retention metrics

Caveats:

• Correlation ≠ causation: Inviting colleagues might signal team usage intent, not cause retention alone
• Test with A/B experiment to confirm causality
• Consider if your product is truly collaborative — if solo users are primary, this may not be sustainable
• 200 users is minimum sample; revalidate with 500+ users in 2-3 months

Watch for:

• If retention doesn’t improve with higher invite rates, the metric may measure user intent rather than cause retention
• Balance between pushing invites and user experience — don’t be too aggressive
• Different user segments (solo vs. team) may need different activation metrics