Blog

Key performance indicators are the linchpin of a successful organization, measurable values that demonstrate how your business fares in various relevant objectives. They can tell you how much it costs to convert a customer, how many eyeballs are on your product, what kind of friction a user bumps up against, and so much more. 

Collectively, these KPIs help business owners lean into what’s working – and revise or abandon what isn’t – with the ultimate goal being an iterative process that produces a more successful business. 

In this article, let’s focus squarely on mobile app metrics. It doesn’t matter what kind of app business you plan on running – you’re going to need a few fundamental KPIs to serve as a roadmap. Partner with collaborative mobile app development services to ensure that you nail these five essential KPIs. 

Oh, and hopefully, you have a notes app handy – there are plenty of initialisms to learn!

CVR

CVR isn’t exclusive to apps, but it’s certainly an important one to bear in mind. Used traditionally in advertising and marketing, CVR – conversion rate – typically refers to the percentage of users who download your app from the overall number who visit your app store page. However, CVR can also broadly refer to the ratio of users who complete a desired action – book a service, make an in-app purchase, donate to your charity, etc. 

Essentially, this KPI is about understanding how effective your app is at achieving its specified outcomes. Business owners should sit down with their app development team early onto discuss conversion rate optimization. 

DAU/MAU

DAU/MAU is short for daily and monthly average users. It’s fairly self-explanatory: your DAU/MAU expresses the proportion of your monthly users that interact with your app in a day. It’s an incredibly useful KPI for tracking engagement, which is why you’ll often hear developers call it “stickiness.”

ARPU

Short for “Average Revenue per User,” ARPU answers that age-old question: how much are users actually spending on my app? Most commonly associated with subscription-based apps, ARPU is a helpful metric for any app business because it allows you to break down factors contributing to your overall revenue. You can use ARPU to quantify each type of user persona and determine how best to position your product/service. 

UX and Performance Metrics

This isn’t a single KPI, per se; instead, it’s a class of KPIs that track how your app performs from a user perspective. It’s vital in understanding how users interact with your product and what frustrations or problems remain from a technical standpoint. It might include load time, crash reports, screen dimensions and API latency. Don’t worry if you don’t completely understand this one: a quality mobile app developer will take care of your UX KPIs. 

LTV

Lifetime value is the granddaddy of all KPIs, an evergreen metric that all companies use – not just mobile apps. Essentially, it refers to the estimated revenue a user will generate over the course of their relationship with your business. Customers who use your app for a month before abandoning ship have a low LTV; contrarily, users that stick with you through several versions and iterations may generate a high LTV. That’s an oversimplification of a KPI that pulls in everything from acquisition costs to share-of-wallet and churn rate KPIs. In any case, the end goals here are overall customer retention and the targeted segmentation of your most valuable customers. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should serve as a handy launchpad for considering your new app’s KPI. As always, consult with a mobile app development company that has a vested interest in seeing your business succeed; they should be able to walk you through these – and more – relevant KPIs.