How to Measure the Product Engagement Stickiness Metric?

Read time: 4 minutes.

Welcome to the 45th edition of The Growth Elements Newsletter. Every Monday, I write an essay on growth metrics & experiments and business case studies.

Today’s piece is for 5,100+ founders, operators, and leaders from businesses such as Shopify, Google, Sage, Hubspot, Zoho, RateGain, Zaggle, Servcorp, Apollo and more.

Happy Monday!

Is Stickiness the right product engagement metric?

‘Stickiness’ refers to the regularity with which users interact with an app/platform or your product.

It’s a measure of the app’s ability to bring users back repeatedly, indicating the formation of user habits around the app.

𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

► It is one such metric that, if interpreted correctly, can provide deep insights into user behaviour.

► Stickiness = DAU/MAU ratio, (Daily Active Users divided by Monthly Active Users).

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?

1. Identify what ‘meaningful engagement’ or ‘Success Trigger’ means for your app.

2. Calculate the Daily Active Users (DAU) for each day of the month.

3. Find the average DAU by dividing the total DAU by the number of days in the month.

4. Determine the Monthly Active Users (MAU) - the unique users who engaged at least once in the month.

5. The ‘Stickiness’ ratio is the average DAU divided by the MAU.

6. For instance, an app with an average DAU of 100 and an MAU of 500 would have a ‘Stickiness’ ratio of 20%.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞

Consider two scenarios to understand how Stickiness can vary across multiple cohorts:

𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 1: 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐀𝐔 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

• Unique Active Users/month = 600 MAU

• Average Unique Active Users/day = 15,600

• DAU = 15,600/30 = 520

• Stickiness = 520/600 = 86.66%

𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 2: 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐌𝐀𝐔 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

• Unique Active Users/month = 4800 MAU

• Average Unique Active Users/day = 11,000

• DAU = 11,000/30 = 366

• Stickiness = 366/4800 = 7.63%

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

► Stickiness sheds light on the NATURAL usage patterns of your app.

► It reveals how different user segments interact with your app.

► Tracking Stickiness over time can inform strategic product decisions.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬

► Stickiness rate of 15% is generally considered favourable across most sectors, while rates above 25% are considered exceptional.

► Aim for a Stickiness that signifies genuine engagement and consistent use.

That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I always appreciate you reading.

Thanks,
Chintankumar Maisuria