Product marketing metrics are key for understanding and optimizing the performance of your product.
They help you measure success, identify areas for improvement, and align your product management strategies with your overall business goals.
That said, let’s explore the most critical product marketing metrics to track, along with the latest benchmarks in 2024:
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What are product marketing metrics and why are they important?
Product marketing metrics are specific data points used to assess the performance of a marketing campaign. These metrics illustrate how well your product is resonating with users, how users are engaging with it, and where there might be opportunities for improvement.
As a product marketer, product metrics are a crucial element of a robust product management and marketing strategy, as they arm you with empirical evidence to make smart, informed decisions.
That said, tracking product marketing metrics is important for multiple reasons:
- They help you understand user behavior and apply tactics that increase customer satisfaction.
- Actionable insights from these metrics enable data-driven decision-making to eliminate the guesswork from the equation.
- These metrics can highlight opportunities for improvement that lead to a more polished user experience.
- Ultimately, they help you drive customer retention and product growth as you start making data-driven strategies that align with your business goals.
Product marketing metrics vs product marketing KPIs vs product marketing OKRs
Product marketing metrics, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are all similar ways to measure performance, but they serve different purposes to product marketers and operate at different levels.
Unlike product metrics, KPIs are higher-level indicators that measure the success of your product marketing strategy. For instance, a KPI might be the overall customer retention rate, which is composed of metrics like month 1 retention rates and churn rates.
OKRs, on the other hand, are a goal-setting framework your product marketing team can use to define a goal and measure its progress. They follow a structured approach to achieving specific marketing objectives (such as increasing user engagement or expanding market share) and measure the key results to show the effect of your initiatives on achieving the objective.
Key product marketing metric #1: User activation rate
User activation rate measures the percentage of users who take a specific set of actions that signal their initial success with your product. It indicates how effectively your onboarding process is converting new users into active, engaged users.
Tracking activation is essential to:
- Indicate successful onboarding: A higher activation rate suggests that your onboarding process is effective in getting users to experience the core value of your product.
- Predict user retention: Users who activate are more likely to stay engaged and continue using your product, which is essential for long-term retention.
- Highlight potential improvements: Monitoring this metric helps identify areas in your onboarding process that may need optimization to improve user experience.
User activation rate formula.
User activation rate Benchmarks 2024
The benchmarks highlight significant differences across industries. For instance, the AI & ML sector shows a high activation rate, likely due to advanced technologies and sophisticated onboarding processes that quickly demonstrate value.
In contrast, the HR, FinTech & Insurance sectors have lower activation rates, which may reflect more complex onboarding processes or higher r to initial user success.
Key product marketing metric #1: User activation rate
Time-to-value (TTV) is the amount of time it takes for a new user to realize the value of your product after they start using it. The quicker a user sees the value, the more likely they are to continue using your product.
There are many reasons why TTV is important:
- Improves user satisfaction: Reducing TTV ensures that users quickly see the benefits of your product, leading to higher satisfaction.
- Boosts retention rates: Users who quickly realize value are more likely to stay and become long-term customers.
- Enhances onboarding processes: Monitoring TTV helps identify areas where the onboarding process can be streamlined or improved.
Time to value benchmarks 2024
These benchmarks show that industries like AI & ML, CRM & Sales, and Healthcare have relatively short TTV, which indicates efficient onboarding processes that quickly demonstrate the product’s value. Conversely, the HR industry has a longer TTV, possibly due to more complex workflows or higher customization requirements.
Key product marketing metric #3: Month 1 retention rates
Month-1 retention rate measures the percentage of users who continue to use your product one month after signing up. It helps you understand the initial satisfaction and engagement levels of your users, making it important to:
- Indicate product-market fit: A higher retention rate suggests that users find value in your product and that it meets their needs.
- Help forecast growth: Retention rates provide insights into future growth potential and user loyalty.
- Identify churn risks: Low retention rates highlight areas where users might be dropping off, allowing you to address potential issues early.
Month 1 retention benchmarks 2024
These benchmarks indicate that the FinTech & Insurance sector excels in retaining users, possibly due to the essential nature of financial services and high user dependency. On the other hand, Healthcare shows a lower retention rate, which may reflect challenges in user engagement or satisfaction.
Key product marketing metric #4: Core feature adoption rate
Core feature adoption rate measures the percentage of users who adopt the key features of your product. This metric is vital for understanding how well users are engaging with the core functionalities that provide the most value, making it insightful in many ways:
- Indicates user engagement: A high adoption rate means users are actively engaging with the main features of your product.
- Shows feature value: It reflects the value users find in your core features, guiding future development and improvements.
- Affects retention and satisfaction: Users who adopt core features are more likely to stay and be satisfied with the product.
Core feature adoption rate benchmarks 2024
The benchmarks show that the HR sector has a higher core feature adoption rate, which might indicate more streamlined and user-friendly feature sets. Conversely, Healthcare, FinTech, and Insurance sectors have lower rates, suggesting room for improvement in feature adoption.
Key product marketing metric #5: Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures user loyalty by asking customers how likely they are to recommend your product to others on a scale of 0 to 10. NPS is a critical metric for understanding customer satisfaction and potential growth through word-of-mouth.
NPS is important for several reasons:
- Measures customer loyalty: A higher NPS indicates strong customer loyalty and satisfaction.
- Predicts growth: Loyal customers are more likely to promote your product, driving organic growth.
- Identifies promoters and detractors: NPS helps you understand your biggest advocates and critics, allowing you to make tactical improvements to your product.
NPS benchmarks 2024
These benchmarks reveal that industries like MarTech, FinTech & Insurance, and HR have higher NPS, reflecting strong customer loyalty and satisfaction. AI & ML and Healthcare have lower NPS, indicating potential areas for improving customer experiences and engagement.
For more insights, check out the complete product metrics benchmark report for 2024.
Key product marketing metric #6: Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses. It’s used to calculate the efficiency and effectiveness of your marketing efforts, making it essential to:
- Assess marketing efficiency: Lower CAC indicates more efficient marketing strategies.
- Guide budget allocation: Helps in optimizing budget distribution across different marketing channels.
- Evaluate profitability: High CAC can reduce profitability, making it essential to balance acquisition costs with your returns.
Key product marketing metric #7: Customer lifetime value
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) estimates the total revenue a business can expect from a single customer over their entire relationship with the company. This metric calculates the long-term value of customers, and along with CAC, you can determine the profitability of your marketing strategies.
LTV is important because:
- Predicts long-term revenue: Higher LTV indicates more profitable customer relationships.
- Informs marketing spend: Just like CAC, it helps determine how much you can spend on acquiring new customers.
- Enhances customer relationships: Focusing on increasing LTV leads to better customer engagement and retention strategies.
Key product marketing metric #8: Free trial conversion rates
Free-trial conversion rate measures the percentage of users who convert from a free trial to a paid subscription. It reflects how effective your trial period and sales team are in driving paid sign-ups, making it important for many reasons:
- Assesses product value: High conversion rates suggest that users find significant value during the trial period.
- Optimizes trial processes: Helps identify and improve elements of the trial process to increase conversions from your target audience.
- Drives revenue: Directly impacts revenue growth by converting free users into paying customers.
Key product marketing metric #9: Customer churn rate
Churn rate measures the percentage of customers who stop using your product over a specific period. It’s the opposite of user retention, and it serves to indicate issues with your product that you might not be aware of.
The reasons for tracking churn are many:
- Indicates retention issues: High churn rates suggest problems with user satisfaction or product value.
- Guides retention strategies: Helps develop strategies to reduce churn and improve customer loyalty.
- Affects revenue: Reducing churn directly impacts revenue growth and profitability.
Key product marketing metric #10: Customer satisfaction score
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures how satisfied customers are with your product or service. This metric is typically gathered through surveys asking users to rate their satisfaction on a scale, bringing many benefits:
- Keeps track of satisfaction levels: Directly reflects how happy customers are with your product.
- Identifies improvement areas: Highlights specific aspects of your product that are not meeting customer expectations.
- Boosts loyalty: Higher satisfaction scores are linked to better customer retention and loyalty.
Key product marketing metric #11: Average revenue per customer
Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPC) measures the average revenue generated from each customer over a specific period. It tracks the revenue contribution of each user, making it useful for multiple reasons:
- Reflects profitability: Higher ARPC indicates more revenue generated per user, contributing to overall profitability.
- Guides pricing strategies: Helps you develop pricing models where you can determine how many customers you need to acquire in order to achieve growth goals.
- Informs product development: Makes it possible to figure out which features or services generate the most revenue.
How to track key product marketing metrics with Userpilot
Userpilot is a product management tool that not only helps you watch over your data but also provides multiple ways to collect both behavioral data and user feedback.
Here’s what you can get from Userpilot:
- Robust survey analytics to measure metrics such as NPS and CES.
- Tag NPS responses to find common keywords among detractors or promoters.
- Feature tags and event-tracking to monitor user behaviors. As well as feature heatmaps to understand product adoption.
- Look at individual profiles to analyze when and for how long they log into your app.
- Trend reports can tell what strategies are bringing value to your user base.
To streamline your analytics process, Userpilot allows you to create dashboards, add different types of metrics, and customize its appearance. Learn how to create customized dashboards with Userpilot step-by-step.
Conclusion
We’ve explored 11 crucial product marketing metrics along with their benchmarks.
By monitoring these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into your product’s success, identify areas for improvement, and align your marketing strategies with your business goals.
To get started, book a Userpilot demo to see how you can track all your metrics in one place.
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