Revenue is the number everyone talks about. It’s loud, it’s shiny, it’s easy to point to. But I’ve been around enough products to know it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Your app or SaaS platform might be pulling in big bucks, but if users are slipping away or just not feeling it, you’re in trouble down the road.
I’m not saying revenue is useless— it’s just not enough. If you’re running a digital service, a mobile app, or anything in between, you need metrics that show what’s really going on: are users sticking around? Do they actually like your product? That’s the stuff that keeps a product alive.
Good news? It’s not as complicated as it sounds. I’ve got eight metrics that’ll help you see the full picture of how your product’s doing.
Let’s check them out.
1. User Engagement: The Pulse of Your Products
Picture your product as a healthy being with user engagement as the heartbeat, where steady rhythms signal health, while erratic patterns may hint at deeper issues. Engagement is beyond logins — it answers how often do users interact, what features they touch, and how long they stay?
Meta understands this to perfection. The giant once revealed that daily active users (DAUS) on Facebook
2. Customer Retention Rate
Acquiring users is hard; retaining them is harder, albeit more rewarding. Retention rate is a metric to love like a bride on honeymoon. It tells how many users stick around after they sign up. A 5% increase in retention can boost
Meanwhile, retention is the most accurate test of product-market fit. If people leave after the first week, it's not always a marketing issue; it’s likely a value problem. Tools like cohort analysis identify drop-off points, while surveys can surface why users churn. Don't chase new acquisitions, invest in retaining existing users for longer periods. Because growth built on leaky buckets doesn’t last.
3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
While revenue reveals how much users pay, NPS points to how much they care. This simple metric: “How likely are you to recommend us?” gives insight into loyalty and word-of-mouth potential.
Scored from 0 to 10, responses are grouped into Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), and Detractors (0–6). Your NPS is the percentage of Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors. A score above 50 is considered excellent; Apple, for example, averages 72, while Tesla reportedly achieves a score of 96.
You can't fake advocacy. Hence, NPS matters. A rising NPS often signals product-market fit. A falling one suggests deeper issues, such as a clunky user experience, unmet expectations, or unclear value.
NPS is a diagnostic tool to tell what is wrong by reviewing user comments to gain insight. Slack refined its onboarding process based on the feedback, leading to more loyal users and faster growth.
4. Activation Rate
On first date, you bring all aura and ambience to ensure leave a lasting impression on your partner. Treat onboarding the same way. If the first time experience doesn’t impress, there’s unlikely to be a second. According to Appcues, activation rates increase by up to 25% when onboarding flows are enhanced.
Activation rate measures how many users reach a product’s value point early— the “Aha!” moment. It’s the difference between users who sign up and those who stick because they get it. This differs according to businesses. For Slack, it might be sending five messages, and for Dropbox, uploading one file. Measure how many users hit that milestone within the first session or week. Then A/B test the onboarding experience to boost that percentage.
5. Feature Adoption Rate
You may launch a new product, but get no users. The Feature Adoption Rate helps you measure whether users are discovering, using, and deriving value from specific product capabilities.
For instance, if your app adds a sleek new calendar integration but only 5% of users ever touch it, was it truly a success? Probably not. Intercom redesigned its in-app messenger after noticing that only 23% of customers used the customization features. The adoption rate puts your roadmap under the spotlight, revealing which features resonate and which ones gather dust.
To calculate it, divide the number of users who use a feature by the total number of eligible users. A rate of 20–40% is standard for new features; however, benchmarks can vary depending on the industry and feature complexity.
6. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) indicates whether users would recommend your product, while the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) reveals their level of satisfaction after specific interactions. You can use this simple format: “How satisfied were you with your experience?” followed by a 1–5 scale. Despite its simplicity, CSAT is a powerful pulse check. Companies with high CSAT scores (above 85%) tend to retain more customers than those with lower ratings.
Additionally, CSAT provides product managers with real-time feedback at the micro level. For example, after rolling out a redesigned checkout process, a CSAT survey can quickly reveal friction points you might have missed during testing.
7. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
Imagine acquiring two types of users. One uses your product once, never returns, and incurs a $10 acquisition cost. The other uses your product weekly for a year, refers two friends, and purchases add-ons worth $100. CLTV tells you which users matter more and how to attract more of them.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) is a forward-looking metric that reveals the total value a single user brings to your product throughout their journey, from sign-up to churn. It reflects whether your product delivers enduring value that keeps users engaged, satisfied, and continues to spend.
A high CLTV typically indicates strong retention, efficient onboarding, successful monetisation, and sustained customer satisfaction. HubSpot noted that increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%, which directly impacts Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV). If your CLTV is too low compared to your CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), it’s a warning sign: you're spending more to acquire users than they’re worth.
You can set CLTV benchmarks based on product type and pricing model. For a SaaS platform, a healthy CLTV: CAC ratio is often around 3:1. Monitor CLTV alongside churn and engagement metrics to get a complete picture of your product’s long-term viability.
8. Customer Support Ticket Volume & Trends
According to Zendesk, companies that actively reduce support tickets through proactive product updates experience
Another thing: trends matter more than raw volume. Are tickets decreasing after a feature release? Are the same issues popping up repeatedly? These patterns reveal where users are struggling, where documentation falls short, or where the product simply isn't intuitive. Analyze this data alongside qualitative feedback, and you will see blind spots that even metrics like NPS might miss.
Conclusion
Revenue tells a story, but it's rarely the whole one. For modern product managers, success lies in how engaged your users are, how often they return, and how passionately they advocate for your product.
Tracking deeper metrics, such as activation rate, retention, and support ticket trends, provides real product intelligence. These key performance indicators (KPIS) highlight what is happening and why.
