In this article, we\u2019ll cover the product usage metrics you need to track, ways to capture this data, and make use of it.<\/p>\n
What is product usage data?<\/strong><\/h2>\nProduct usage data reflects how customers use your software over a given period of time.<\/p>\n
It captures the following:<\/p>\n
\n- Personal data: <\/strong>the basic demographic details of a user including their age, location, company, role, etc.<\/li>\n
- Engagement data:<\/strong> this tracks how users engage with the product and service team in general.<\/li>\n
- Behavioral data: <\/strong>this captures the user\u2019s in-app behavior<\/a> including their interaction with features at different stages of the customer journey<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why is analyzing product usage important?<\/strong><\/h2>\nA major benefit of tracking product usage is that it eliminates guesswork and allows you to make better, data-informed decisions. Making data-driven product decisions can lead to:<\/p>\n
Improve engagement and enhance customer experience<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnalyzing product usage data helps organizations determine which aspects of a product are most engaging to different segments of their audience. Armed with this information, you can better understand how to personalize <\/a>and enhance the user experience.<\/a><\/p>\nPerhaps your users interact with your product more during certain seasons or times of the day. Knowing this, you can refine your sales, marketing, and product strategies to
\nbetter engage your customers.<\/a><\/p>\nDrive more conversions <\/strong><\/h3>\nBy analyzing how free users interact with your platform, understanding when they typically need more advanced features, and which paid features appeal most to them, you can leverage initiatives that increase conversions.<\/p>\n
For example, once you identify which areas of your product deliver the most value to your paid users, you can give your free trial and freemium users access to those premium features for a limited time. When they experience the added value<\/a> of paid features firsthand, they will be more convinced to upgrade.<\/p>\nExposing freemium users to premium features is called a reverse trial<\/a>. This is a notorious method many product-led<\/a> companies, including Asana use.<\/p>\n![\"asana-freemium-to-premium-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asana-freemium-to-premium-product-usage_196f4efaf3b96da50306b1c20e31917a_800.png\")
<\/picture><\/figure>\nPrevent user churn<\/strong><\/h3>\nProduct usage data can help you identify issues requiring immediate attention across all customer journey touchpoints.<\/a> For example, low feature engagement rates can indicate bugs or usability issues that can cause churn<\/a> if not resolved on time.<\/p>\nWhat are some important product usage metrics to track?<\/strong><\/h2>\nChasing the wrong metrics is a common pitfall that can lead to flawed user behavior analysis. So let\u2019s have a look at some product usage metrics<\/a> that do matter.<\/p>\nTime-to-value<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis is the amount of time it takes a user to realize the value of your product.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like the eureka moment when the benefits of your products get unraveled, leaving your users inspired and willing to stay around to discover more.<\/p>\n
Your goal should be to decrease time-to-value<\/a> as much as you can, otherwise, you risk losing your users to churn.<\/p>\n![\"time-to-value-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/time-to-value-product-usage_9b249bd67c6d5dd36de2157ae115d711_800.png\")
<\/picture>Time to value calculation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nProduct activation rate<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe product activation<\/a> rate determines how many users that began a trial reached the activation milestone.<\/p>\nIn other words, user activation measures the percentage of your users who performed a valuable action and experienced the perceived value<\/a> of your product.<\/p>\nCalculating your activation rate is easy; first, you divide the number of users who hit the activation milestone by the total number of users who signed up to use your product.<\/p>\n
Then, you multiply the figure by 100 to get the overall percentage.<\/p>\n![\"activation-rate-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/activation-rate-product-usage_00e3cc5c6af71f872605f4828f690929_800.png\")
<\/picture><\/figure>\nUsage frequency<\/strong><\/h3>\nA product’s usage frequency indicates how often an individual uses it. A quick glance at this metric will allow you to determine whether users are using your product daily, weekly, monthly, or beyond the necessity.<\/p>\n
To calculate usage frequency, simply set the desired time period and count the number of times a user engages with your app.<\/p>\n
Feature usage rate<\/strong><\/h3>\nBesides user frequency, you can drill down into the interaction users have with a particular product feature. This is known as the “feature user rate“<\/strong> and can give you an idea of the most popular or relevant feature you offer.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s the formula for calculating it:<\/p>\n![\"feature-usage-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-usage-product-usage_ce3db2b939223ffdd2fc7c816e3ac2e8_800.png\")
<\/picture>Feature usage calculation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTime spent in-product<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnother important user metric is time spent on the product. It means the duration of use of your product. While this bears many similarities to usage frequency, they’re quite different.<\/p>\n
Where usage frequency tells you how often, the time spent on the product tells you how long.<\/p>\n
Ideally, your users should spend significant time with your product.<\/p>\n
Product stickiness<\/strong><\/h3>\nProduct stickiness<\/a> measures the number of people that are highly engaged with a product.<\/p>\nA high stickiness rate shows that the product is adopted, and loved by its users.<\/p>\n
It ensures that your product meets customer expectations, has become part of their daily lives, and somewhat guarantees that they will renew their subscriptions<\/a> regularly.<\/p>\n![\"product-stickiness-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/product-stickiness-product-usage_b9037a958646f94f768c85cfc84e2571_800.png\")
<\/picture>Product stickiness<\/a> calculation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHow can you collect product usage data in SaaS?<\/strong><\/h2>\nHere are some of the tested methods of collecting product usage data in SaaS:<\/p>\n
Capture feature usage data to understand engagement<\/h3>\n
You can tag any UI element to track feature usage among various customer segments <\/a>across the user journey. Then you can measure some of the metrics discussed above like feature usage, adoption<\/a>, usage frequency, etc.<\/p>\nAre there any features that are not being used to their full potential? Where are users getting stuck when using your product?<\/p>\n
Once you have answers to these questions, you can conduct usability tests<\/a> to identify the specific issues that prevent users from getting maximum value out of these parts of your product.<\/p>\n![\"feature-tagging-product-usage-analytics\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-product-usage-analytics_f3621ed420901adc11938fb576847f9e.gif\")
<\/picture>Tag features in Userpilot<\/a> to understand how users are engaging with your product.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGauging feature popularity also will allow your product managers to identify killer features of the product, aka the popular ones that make you stand out in the competition and win customers. Then, you direct your energy and resources to further improve them.<\/p>\n
Set and track in-app goals throughout the customer journey<\/h3>\n
Set up milestones in the journey to see if users accomplished what they originally intended, or if they finish an action after they started it.<\/p>\n
These goals could be simple such as a customer using a certain feature.<\/p>\n
Tracking goal completion is very similar to funnel analysis. It lets you identify the drop-off points in the user journey and make improvements<\/a> that increase the odds of them reaching the next stage.<\/p>\n![\"in-app-milestones-product-usage-data\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-milestones-product-usage-data_c2a07a0f0f71984eeb506b181ac659ab_800.png\")
<\/picture>Set and track in-app goals in Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\nHow to use product usage data to drive retention and loyalty?<\/strong><\/h2>\nSo how can you translate product usage data into actions that benefit your company? Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n
Study your power users and replicate their path to success<\/h3>\n
Dive deeper into your power users<\/a>\u2019 behavior and understand their experiences that led them to become loyal.<\/p>\nMaybe what turned them from regular users to loyal customers was a checklist<\/a> that helped them to discover an advanced feature for their use case.<\/p>\nArmed with that knowledge, you can implement those strategies on the rest of your users who share similar characteristics and jobs to be done<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"power-users-product-usage-analytics-dashboard\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/power-users-product-usage-analytics-dashboard_0508701eae0328128e6a02c5df6463c1_800.png\")
<\/picture>Analyze in-app events and identify trends among your loyal users with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRemove friction from the user experience with in-app guidance<\/h3>\n
Product usage data highlights where users get stuck or drop off.<\/p>\n
There are several reasons behind drop-offs. You may be attracting the wrong customers who aren\u2019t a good fit<\/a> for your product, there can be bugs that make it impossible for users to move forward, and so on.<\/p>\nBut it’s often the lack of proper in-app guidance that causes friction.<\/a><\/p>\nIf that’s the case, you can build interactive guides that teach users step-by-step<\/a> how to achieve their desired results.<\/p>\n![\"interactive-walkthorugh-remove-friction-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/interactive-walkthorugh-remove-friction-product-usage_b50c8aebada37888e859147fc7a4a9c6.gif\")
<\/picture>Kommunicate\u2019s interactive guide we created with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nReengage inactive customers and retain them<\/strong><\/h3>\nWith product data, you can identify customers with low engagement levels and take proactive actions to bring them back before they churn permanently.<\/p>\n
First, you need to create a segment of disengaged customers.<\/a><\/p>\nThen, study the segment and understand if there is anything in particular that is holding them back.<\/p>\n
A simple personalized email that reminds customers of the product\u2019s value,<\/a> points to self-help resources<\/a> and encourages them to contact customer success if<\/a> additional help is needed, can go a long way in winning customers back.<\/p>\n![\"reengage-inactive-users-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/reengage-inactive-users-product-usage_be33b059aacce18472cc77b9b58e88ee_800.png\")
<\/picture><\/figure>\nDrive account expansion with contextual prompts<\/strong><\/h3>\nUse product usage analytics<\/a> data to develop personalized in-app strategies to improve conversion.<\/p>\nFor example, if a trial customer has clicked your purchase button but didn\u2019t upgrade, you can prompt a modal to offer them discounts and limited deals. This will create a sense of urgency and convince them to take the deal.<\/p>\n![\"convert-free-trial-users-special-offer-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/convert-free-trial-users-special-offer-product-usage_715d0c6fa56cb046400d7f849d6ec913_800.png\")
<\/picture>A slideout created with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCollect targeted feedback and build better products<\/h3>\n
Product usage data makes it easier for you to evaluate the customer relationships with your product and provides the opportunity to get targeted feedback<\/a> from your most loyal users.<\/p>\nLoyal customers<\/a> who know the ins and outs of your product really well are more likely to send highly-detailed and honest answers that can help you to improve your product.<\/p>\nOnce you\u2019ve segmented your loyal customers, trigger a modal<\/a> to invite them to one-on-one interviews and surveys<\/a>.<\/p>\nJust don\u2019t take them for granted and make sure you offer them some incentive like a gift card or access to beta features.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Create](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/create-modals-in-userpilot_ae932ffde9f82915cfc1547ece410f4b_800.png\")
<\/picture>Create modals like this code-free in Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBest tools on the market for tracking product usage data<\/strong><\/h2>\nNow that you\u2019re familiar with the process for getting product usage data, and how to use this data, you\u2019ll need specialized software to assist you.<\/p>\n
Here are our recommended tools for tracking product usage data:<\/p>\n
Userpilot<\/strong><\/h3>\nUserpilot is a product growth platform that enables you to track user behavior<\/a> on a deep level and create different customer segments for product usage.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s what you can do with Userpilot:<\/p>\n
\n- Create advanced user segments based on product usage and in-app behavior<\/li>\n
- Tag features and track the usage<\/li>\n
- Set up in-app goals and track their completion<\/li>\n
- Create personalized user experience flows with different UI patterns<\/li>\n
- Onboard and<\/span> engage mobile app users by<\/span> creating personalized messaging<\/a>, push notifications, and<\/span> surveys<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And the best part is, you can do all of this completely code-free and with minimal setup effort.<\/p>\n
Pricing packages start at $299\/mo (billed annually). It offers a 14-day free trial so you can actually test it before making a decision.<\/p>\n![\"Userpilot-event-tracking-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Userpilot-event-tracking-product-usage_2a927e0887f8c996312fbc33454bb0bf_800.png\")
<\/picture>Analytics dashboard in Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHotjar<\/strong><\/h3>\nHotjar is a behavioral analytics platform best known for its heat maps and session recordings.<\/p>\n
Heatmaps analyze and record customers\u2019 behavior on a selected URL\u2014mouse movements, hovers, taps, scrolls, etc.<\/p>\n
After that, Hotjar displays a snapshot of the URL in different colors. A page’s most-interacted areas are highlighted in red and orange. The blue color indicates areas with little user interaction.<\/p>\n
Why is analyzing product usage important?<\/strong><\/h2>\nA major benefit of tracking product usage is that it eliminates guesswork and allows you to make better, data-informed decisions. Making data-driven product decisions can lead to:<\/p>\n
Improve engagement and enhance customer experience<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnalyzing product usage data helps organizations determine which aspects of a product are most engaging to different segments of their audience. Armed with this information, you can better understand how to personalize <\/a>and enhance the user experience.<\/a><\/p>\nPerhaps your users interact with your product more during certain seasons or times of the day. Knowing this, you can refine your sales, marketing, and product strategies to
\nbetter engage your customers.<\/a><\/p>\nDrive more conversions <\/strong><\/h3>\nBy analyzing how free users interact with your platform, understanding when they typically need more advanced features, and which paid features appeal most to them, you can leverage initiatives that increase conversions.<\/p>\n
For example, once you identify which areas of your product deliver the most value to your paid users, you can give your free trial and freemium users access to those premium features for a limited time. When they experience the added value<\/a> of paid features firsthand, they will be more convinced to upgrade.<\/p>\nExposing freemium users to premium features is called a reverse trial<\/a>. This is a notorious method many product-led<\/a> companies, including Asana use.<\/p>\nPrevent user churn<\/strong><\/h3>\nProduct usage data can help you identify issues requiring immediate attention across all customer journey touchpoints.<\/a> For example, low feature engagement rates can indicate bugs or usability issues that can cause churn<\/a> if not resolved on time.<\/p>\nWhat are some important product usage metrics to track?<\/strong><\/h2>\nChasing the wrong metrics is a common pitfall that can lead to flawed user behavior analysis. So let\u2019s have a look at some product usage metrics<\/a> that do matter.<\/p>\nTime-to-value<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis is the amount of time it takes a user to realize the value of your product.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like the eureka moment when the benefits of your products get unraveled, leaving your users inspired and willing to stay around to discover more.<\/p>\n
Your goal should be to decrease time-to-value<\/a> as much as you can, otherwise, you risk losing your users to churn.<\/p>\nTime to value calculation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nProduct activation rate<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe product activation<\/a> rate determines how many users that began a trial reached the activation milestone.<\/p>\nIn other words, user activation measures the percentage of your users who performed a valuable action and experienced the perceived value<\/a> of your product.<\/p>\nCalculating your activation rate is easy; first, you divide the number of users who hit the activation milestone by the total number of users who signed up to use your product.<\/p>\n
Then, you multiply the figure by 100 to get the overall percentage.<\/p>\nUsage frequency<\/strong><\/h3>\nA product’s usage frequency indicates how often an individual uses it. A quick glance at this metric will allow you to determine whether users are using your product daily, weekly, monthly, or beyond the necessity.<\/p>\n
To calculate usage frequency, simply set the desired time period and count the number of times a user engages with your app.<\/p>\n
Feature usage rate<\/strong><\/h3>\nBesides user frequency, you can drill down into the interaction users have with a particular product feature. This is known as the “feature user rate“<\/strong> and can give you an idea of the most popular or relevant feature you offer.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s the formula for calculating it:<\/p>\nFeature usage calculation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTime spent in-product<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnother important user metric is time spent on the product. It means the duration of use of your product. While this bears many similarities to usage frequency, they’re quite different.<\/p>\n
Where usage frequency tells you how often, the time spent on the product tells you how long.<\/p>\n
Ideally, your users should spend significant time with your product.<\/p>\n
Product stickiness<\/strong><\/h3>\nProduct stickiness<\/a> measures the number of people that are highly engaged with a product.<\/p>\nA high stickiness rate shows that the product is adopted, and loved by its users.<\/p>\n
It ensures that your product meets customer expectations, has become part of their daily lives, and somewhat guarantees that they will renew their subscriptions<\/a> regularly.<\/p>\nProduct stickiness<\/a> calculation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHow can you collect product usage data in SaaS?<\/strong><\/h2>\nHere are some of the tested methods of collecting product usage data in SaaS:<\/p>\n
Capture feature usage data to understand engagement<\/h3>\n
You can tag any UI element to track feature usage among various customer segments <\/a>across the user journey. Then you can measure some of the metrics discussed above like feature usage, adoption<\/a>, usage frequency, etc.<\/p>\nAre there any features that are not being used to their full potential? Where are users getting stuck when using your product?<\/p>\n
Once you have answers to these questions, you can conduct usability tests<\/a> to identify the specific issues that prevent users from getting maximum value out of these parts of your product.<\/p>\nTag features in Userpilot<\/a> to understand how users are engaging with your product.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGauging feature popularity also will allow your product managers to identify killer features of the product, aka the popular ones that make you stand out in the competition and win customers. Then, you direct your energy and resources to further improve them.<\/p>\n
Set and track in-app goals throughout the customer journey<\/h3>\n
Set up milestones in the journey to see if users accomplished what they originally intended, or if they finish an action after they started it.<\/p>\n
These goals could be simple such as a customer using a certain feature.<\/p>\n
Tracking goal completion is very similar to funnel analysis. It lets you identify the drop-off points in the user journey and make improvements<\/a> that increase the odds of them reaching the next stage.<\/p>\nSet and track in-app goals in Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\nHow to use product usage data to drive retention and loyalty?<\/strong><\/h2>\nSo how can you translate product usage data into actions that benefit your company? Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n
Study your power users and replicate their path to success<\/h3>\n
Dive deeper into your power users<\/a>\u2019 behavior and understand their experiences that led them to become loyal.<\/p>\nMaybe what turned them from regular users to loyal customers was a checklist<\/a> that helped them to discover an advanced feature for their use case.<\/p>\nArmed with that knowledge, you can implement those strategies on the rest of your users who share similar characteristics and jobs to be done<\/a>.<\/p>\nAnalyze in-app events and identify trends among your loyal users with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRemove friction from the user experience with in-app guidance<\/h3>\n
Product usage data highlights where users get stuck or drop off.<\/p>\n
There are several reasons behind drop-offs. You may be attracting the wrong customers who aren\u2019t a good fit<\/a> for your product, there can be bugs that make it impossible for users to move forward, and so on.<\/p>\nBut it’s often the lack of proper in-app guidance that causes friction.<\/a><\/p>\nIf that’s the case, you can build interactive guides that teach users step-by-step<\/a> how to achieve their desired results.<\/p>\nKommunicate\u2019s interactive guide we created with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nReengage inactive customers and retain them<\/strong><\/h3>\nWith product data, you can identify customers with low engagement levels and take proactive actions to bring them back before they churn permanently.<\/p>\n
First, you need to create a segment of disengaged customers.<\/a><\/p>\nThen, study the segment and understand if there is anything in particular that is holding them back.<\/p>\n
A simple personalized email that reminds customers of the product\u2019s value,<\/a> points to self-help resources<\/a> and encourages them to contact customer success if<\/a> additional help is needed, can go a long way in winning customers back.<\/p>\nDrive account expansion with contextual prompts<\/strong><\/h3>\nUse product usage analytics<\/a> data to develop personalized in-app strategies to improve conversion.<\/p>\nFor example, if a trial customer has clicked your purchase button but didn\u2019t upgrade, you can prompt a modal to offer them discounts and limited deals. This will create a sense of urgency and convince them to take the deal.<\/p>\nA slideout created with Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCollect targeted feedback and build better products<\/h3>\n
Product usage data makes it easier for you to evaluate the customer relationships with your product and provides the opportunity to get targeted feedback<\/a> from your most loyal users.<\/p>\nLoyal customers<\/a> who know the ins and outs of your product really well are more likely to send highly-detailed and honest answers that can help you to improve your product.<\/p>\nOnce you\u2019ve segmented your loyal customers, trigger a modal<\/a> to invite them to one-on-one interviews and surveys<\/a>.<\/p>\nJust don\u2019t take them for granted and make sure you offer them some incentive like a gift card or access to beta features.<\/a><\/p>\nCreate modals like this code-free in Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBest tools on the market for tracking product usage data<\/strong><\/h2>\nNow that you\u2019re familiar with the process for getting product usage data, and how to use this data, you\u2019ll need specialized software to assist you.<\/p>\n
Here are our recommended tools for tracking product usage data:<\/p>\n
Userpilot<\/strong><\/h3>\nUserpilot is a product growth platform that enables you to track user behavior<\/a> on a deep level and create different customer segments for product usage.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s what you can do with Userpilot:<\/p>\n
\n- Create advanced user segments based on product usage and in-app behavior<\/li>\n
- Tag features and track the usage<\/li>\n
- Set up in-app goals and track their completion<\/li>\n
- Create personalized user experience flows with different UI patterns<\/li>\n
- Onboard and<\/span> engage mobile app users by<\/span> creating personalized messaging<\/a>, push notifications, and<\/span> surveys<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And the best part is, you can do all of this completely code-free and with minimal setup effort.<\/p>\n
Pricing packages start at $299\/mo (billed annually). It offers a 14-day free trial so you can actually test it before making a decision.<\/p>\nAnalytics dashboard in Userpilot<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHotjar<\/strong><\/h3>\nHotjar is a behavioral analytics platform best known for its heat maps and session recordings.<\/p>\n
Heatmaps analyze and record customers\u2019 behavior on a selected URL\u2014mouse movements, hovers, taps, scrolls, etc.<\/p>\n
After that, Hotjar displays a snapshot of the URL in different colors. A page’s most-interacted areas are highlighted in red and orange. The blue color indicates areas with little user interaction.<\/p>\n
Analyzing product usage data helps organizations determine which aspects of a product are most engaging to different segments of their audience. Armed with this information, you can better understand how to personalize <\/a>and enhance the user experience.<\/a><\/p>\n Perhaps your users interact with your product more during certain seasons or times of the day. Knowing this, you can refine your sales, marketing, and product strategies to By analyzing how free users interact with your platform, understanding when they typically need more advanced features, and which paid features appeal most to them, you can leverage initiatives that increase conversions.<\/p>\n For example, once you identify which areas of your product deliver the most value to your paid users, you can give your free trial and freemium users access to those premium features for a limited time. When they experience the added value<\/a> of paid features firsthand, they will be more convinced to upgrade.<\/p>\n Exposing freemium users to premium features is called a reverse trial<\/a>. This is a notorious method many product-led<\/a> companies, including Asana use.<\/p>\n Product usage data can help you identify issues requiring immediate attention across all customer journey touchpoints.<\/a> For example, low feature engagement rates can indicate bugs or usability issues that can cause churn<\/a> if not resolved on time.<\/p>\n Chasing the wrong metrics is a common pitfall that can lead to flawed user behavior analysis. So let\u2019s have a look at some product usage metrics<\/a> that do matter.<\/p>\n This is the amount of time it takes a user to realize the value of your product.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like the eureka moment when the benefits of your products get unraveled, leaving your users inspired and willing to stay around to discover more.<\/p>\n Your goal should be to decrease time-to-value<\/a> as much as you can, otherwise, you risk losing your users to churn.<\/p>\n The product activation<\/a> rate determines how many users that began a trial reached the activation milestone.<\/p>\n In other words, user activation measures the percentage of your users who performed a valuable action and experienced the perceived value<\/a> of your product.<\/p>\n Calculating your activation rate is easy; first, you divide the number of users who hit the activation milestone by the total number of users who signed up to use your product.<\/p>\n Then, you multiply the figure by 100 to get the overall percentage.<\/p>\n A product’s usage frequency indicates how often an individual uses it. A quick glance at this metric will allow you to determine whether users are using your product daily, weekly, monthly, or beyond the necessity.<\/p>\n To calculate usage frequency, simply set the desired time period and count the number of times a user engages with your app.<\/p>\n Besides user frequency, you can drill down into the interaction users have with a particular product feature. This is known as the “feature user rate“<\/strong> and can give you an idea of the most popular or relevant feature you offer.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the formula for calculating it:<\/p>\n Another important user metric is time spent on the product. It means the duration of use of your product. While this bears many similarities to usage frequency, they’re quite different.<\/p>\n Where usage frequency tells you how often, the time spent on the product tells you how long.<\/p>\n Ideally, your users should spend significant time with your product.<\/p>\n Product stickiness<\/a> measures the number of people that are highly engaged with a product.<\/p>\n A high stickiness rate shows that the product is adopted, and loved by its users.<\/p>\n It ensures that your product meets customer expectations, has become part of their daily lives, and somewhat guarantees that they will renew their subscriptions<\/a> regularly.<\/p>\n Here are some of the tested methods of collecting product usage data in SaaS:<\/p>\n You can tag any UI element to track feature usage among various customer segments <\/a>across the user journey. Then you can measure some of the metrics discussed above like feature usage, adoption<\/a>, usage frequency, etc.<\/p>\n Are there any features that are not being used to their full potential? Where are users getting stuck when using your product?<\/p>\n Once you have answers to these questions, you can conduct usability tests<\/a> to identify the specific issues that prevent users from getting maximum value out of these parts of your product.<\/p>\n Gauging feature popularity also will allow your product managers to identify killer features of the product, aka the popular ones that make you stand out in the competition and win customers. Then, you direct your energy and resources to further improve them.<\/p>\n Set up milestones in the journey to see if users accomplished what they originally intended, or if they finish an action after they started it.<\/p>\n These goals could be simple such as a customer using a certain feature.<\/p>\n Tracking goal completion is very similar to funnel analysis. It lets you identify the drop-off points in the user journey and make improvements<\/a> that increase the odds of them reaching the next stage.<\/p>\n So how can you translate product usage data into actions that benefit your company? Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n Dive deeper into your power users<\/a>\u2019 behavior and understand their experiences that led them to become loyal.<\/p>\n Maybe what turned them from regular users to loyal customers was a checklist<\/a> that helped them to discover an advanced feature for their use case.<\/p>\n Armed with that knowledge, you can implement those strategies on the rest of your users who share similar characteristics and jobs to be done<\/a>.<\/p>\n Product usage data highlights where users get stuck or drop off.<\/p>\n There are several reasons behind drop-offs. You may be attracting the wrong customers who aren\u2019t a good fit<\/a> for your product, there can be bugs that make it impossible for users to move forward, and so on.<\/p>\n But it’s often the lack of proper in-app guidance that causes friction.<\/a><\/p>\n If that’s the case, you can build interactive guides that teach users step-by-step<\/a> how to achieve their desired results.<\/p>\n With product data, you can identify customers with low engagement levels and take proactive actions to bring them back before they churn permanently.<\/p>\n First, you need to create a segment of disengaged customers.<\/a><\/p>\n Then, study the segment and understand if there is anything in particular that is holding them back.<\/p>\n A simple personalized email that reminds customers of the product\u2019s value,<\/a> points to self-help resources<\/a> and encourages them to contact customer success if<\/a> additional help is needed, can go a long way in winning customers back.<\/p>\n Use product usage analytics<\/a> data to develop personalized in-app strategies to improve conversion.<\/p>\n For example, if a trial customer has clicked your purchase button but didn\u2019t upgrade, you can prompt a modal to offer them discounts and limited deals. This will create a sense of urgency and convince them to take the deal.<\/p>\n Product usage data makes it easier for you to evaluate the customer relationships with your product and provides the opportunity to get targeted feedback<\/a> from your most loyal users.<\/p>\n Loyal customers<\/a> who know the ins and outs of your product really well are more likely to send highly-detailed and honest answers that can help you to improve your product.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve segmented your loyal customers, trigger a modal<\/a> to invite them to one-on-one interviews and surveys<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just don\u2019t take them for granted and make sure you offer them some incentive like a gift card or access to beta features.<\/a><\/p>\n Now that you\u2019re familiar with the process for getting product usage data, and how to use this data, you\u2019ll need specialized software to assist you.<\/p>\n Here are our recommended tools for tracking product usage data:<\/p>\n Userpilot is a product growth platform that enables you to track user behavior<\/a> on a deep level and create different customer segments for product usage.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what you can do with Userpilot:<\/p>\n And the best part is, you can do all of this completely code-free and with minimal setup effort.<\/p>\n Pricing packages start at $299\/mo (billed annually). It offers a 14-day free trial so you can actually test it before making a decision.<\/p>\n Hotjar is a behavioral analytics platform best known for its heat maps and session recordings.<\/p>\n Heatmaps analyze and record customers\u2019 behavior on a selected URL\u2014mouse movements, hovers, taps, scrolls, etc.<\/p>\n After that, Hotjar displays a snapshot of the URL in different colors. A page’s most-interacted areas are highlighted in red and orange. The blue color indicates areas with little user interaction.<\/p>\n
\nbetter engage your customers.<\/a><\/p>\nDrive more conversions <\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"asana-freemium-to-premium-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/asana-freemium-to-premium-product-usage_196f4efaf3b96da50306b1c20e31917a_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nPrevent user churn<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What are some important product usage metrics to track?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Time-to-value<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"time-to-value-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/time-to-value-product-usage_9b249bd67c6d5dd36de2157ae115d711_800.png)
<\/picture>Product activation rate<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"activation-rate-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/activation-rate-product-usage_00e3cc5c6af71f872605f4828f690929_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nUsage frequency<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Feature usage rate<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"feature-usage-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-usage-product-usage_ce3db2b939223ffdd2fc7c816e3ac2e8_800.png)
<\/picture>Time spent in-product<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Product stickiness<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"product-stickiness-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/product-stickiness-product-usage_b9037a958646f94f768c85cfc84e2571_800.png)
<\/picture>How can you collect product usage data in SaaS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Capture feature usage data to understand engagement<\/h3>\n
![\"feature-tagging-product-usage-analytics\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-product-usage-analytics_f3621ed420901adc11938fb576847f9e.gif)
<\/picture>Set and track in-app goals throughout the customer journey<\/h3>\n
![\"in-app-milestones-product-usage-data\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-milestones-product-usage-data_c2a07a0f0f71984eeb506b181ac659ab_800.png)
<\/picture>How to use product usage data to drive retention and loyalty?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Study your power users and replicate their path to success<\/h3>\n
![\"power-users-product-usage-analytics-dashboard\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/power-users-product-usage-analytics-dashboard_0508701eae0328128e6a02c5df6463c1_800.png)
<\/picture>Remove friction from the user experience with in-app guidance<\/h3>\n
![\"interactive-walkthorugh-remove-friction-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/interactive-walkthorugh-remove-friction-product-usage_b50c8aebada37888e859147fc7a4a9c6.gif)
<\/picture>Reengage inactive customers and retain them<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"reengage-inactive-users-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/reengage-inactive-users-product-usage_be33b059aacce18472cc77b9b58e88ee_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nDrive account expansion with contextual prompts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"convert-free-trial-users-special-offer-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/convert-free-trial-users-special-offer-product-usage_715d0c6fa56cb046400d7f849d6ec913_800.png)
<\/picture>Collect targeted feedback and build better products<\/h3>\n
![\"Create](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/create-modals-in-userpilot_ae932ffde9f82915cfc1547ece410f4b_800.png)
<\/picture>Best tools on the market for tracking product usage data<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Userpilot<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Userpilot-event-tracking-product-usage\"](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Userpilot-event-tracking-product-usage_2a927e0887f8c996312fbc33454bb0bf_800.png){kind=tracking}
<\/picture>Hotjar<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hotjar_a163dfabe7f228ee7a810c80b240aa32_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\n