Active User
An active user is someone who uses your product or services regularly and in a meaningful way during a specified time period. Active users are usually defined and measured based on their active time period, such as:
- Daily Active User (DAU): Users interact with the product/service on a daily basis
- Weekly Active User (WAU): Users interact with the product/service at least once a week
- Monthly Active User (MAU): Users interact with the product/service a few times a month or less.
For example, for an online media publication business, an active user is someone who logs into their account regularly.
Why Measure Active Users?
Acquiring a loyal and sustainable customer base is the goal of every business. Measuring the traffic of your app or website gives a sense of the number of users that are checking out your products, returning after their first visits, and visiting your site regularly.
Each active user on your website is your potential customer. Engaging and retaining these customers are the keys to the success of your business. Keeping a tab on your active users will tell you how many people are looking into your service on any given day, week, or month. But it is your responsibility to engage those users so they will come back every day, week after week.
Once you establish a baseline for your active users, tracking it over time becomes a good benchmark for your business to work on and improve. However, you need to keep in mind that this is not the only metric you should be looking at as you grow. Measuring your DAUs, WAUs, MAUs, and setting goals around them is a simple way to grow your business.
