How to Track SAAS Customer Engagement

Tracking customer engagement is essential for SAAS companies. Knowing how and when your customers engage with your services can improve your product, create new products, and keep your customers happy. Not tracking customer engagement is a huge missed opportunity, and it’s a surefire way to fall behind other SAAS companies with similar products.

But exactly how can you track SAAS customer engagement effectively? In this article, we’ll show you.

Use Customer Engagement Software

It’s one thing to get a customer to sign up for your service, but it’s quite another to keep them using it on a regular basis. That’s where customer engagement software comes in. This type of software provides valuable insights into how customers are using your product, what features they find most useful, and where they may be encountering issues.

In addition, customer engagement software can help you identify which customers are at risk of churning, so you can take steps to keep them engaged. By tracking customer engagement, you can ensure that your SAAS business is on the right track and moving forward.

Top 7 Customer Engagement Metrics and How To Track

Of course, the software is just one piece of the puzzle. Within the software, some metrics and pieces of information are more pertinent than others. Below are seven of the most important metrics to track.

Acquisition Channel

Where are your customers coming from? Which marketing efforts are returning the best investment for your company? Knowing which channels are most effective at acquiring new customers can help you focus your efforts and budget accordingly. It can also help you save money on those that aren’t helping.

To track this metric, look at how many customers you acquired through each channel over a given period. This could be a month, a quarter, or a year. Once you know which channels are most effective, you can put more emphasis on those that are working and cut back on those that aren’t.

You can track this metric manually or track it much easier with the help of customer engagement software.

Retention/Churn Rate

This is one of the most important customer engagement metrics to track. Your retention rate will tell you how many customers are sticking around and using your product on a regular basis. A high retention rate means that people find your product useful and stick with it. A low retention rate could mean that people are having trouble using your product, not finding it useful, or encountering too many issues.

To track this metric, look at the number of customers you have over a given period and compare it to the number of customers you had at the beginning of that period. The difference will give you your retention rate.

Feature Usage

How are people using your product? What features do they find most useful? Knowing which features are used the most can help you prioritize creating new ones, which will help your retention rate even more.

To track this metric, look at how often each feature is being used, including how much time is spent and what actions are being taken within the features.

Conversion or Activation Rate

What percentage of people who sign up for your product become paying customers? This metric will give you an idea of how effective your product is and whether or not people are actually using it after signing up.

To track this metric, look at the number of people who sign up for your product and compare it to the number of people who become paying customers. The difference will give you your conversion rate.

Ideally, you want as high a conversion rate as possible, but some customers will never convert, and it’s essential not to chase those who were just window shopping or didn’t need your product after all.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer engagement metric that tells how likely people will recommend your product to others. A high NPS means that people are happy with your product and would recommend it to others, while a low NPS means that people are unhappy with your product and wouldn’t recommend it.

Over time, improving this number will improve your product or service and reduce your churn rate.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

How much is each customer worth to your business? This metric tells you how much revenue you can expect to generate from each customer throughout their time with your product.

By understanding your average customer LTV, you can create a more precise marketing budget and better understand how much it takes to acquire and retain customers. It can also inform you of when it’s time to let some customers go through attrition.

To track this metric, look at the total revenue generated by each customer and divide it by the number of months they’ve been using your product. Of course, you’ll want to track these numbers over time and eventually develop an average lifetime value number as well.

Daily/Monthly Active Users (DAU/MAU)

How many people are using your product each day or month? This metric is important because it tells you how well your product is being received and used. A high DAU/MAU means that people are using your product regularly, while a low DAU/MAU could mean that people are losing interest in your product or finding it difficult to use.

To track this metric, look at the number of unique users who log into your product each day or month. You can also track the number of active users by looking at how many people are taking specific actions within your product.

How to Improve Customer Engagement

Once you have an understanding of customer engagement metrics and where your baselines are for each, it’s time to start improving your overall numbers.

Let’s take a look at some ways to improve customer engagement.

Take Customer Feedback

Data matters, but you can also learn a lot by speaking to your customers directly. Ask them why they signed up for your product, what their experience has been like so far, and what could make their lives and work easier.

You can also ask customers for feedback on specific features or areas of your product. This will help you identify their pain points and make necessary changes. Fortunately, feedback can be collected at various steps of the customer relationship.

Make Product Tutorials

One way to improve customer engagement is by making product tutorials. These can be short video clips, GIFs, or even text-based walkthroughs that show customers how to use your product.

Product tutorials are important because they help people understand how to use your product and get the most out of it. They also reduce frustration and improve the overall experience.

You can place tutorials throughout your product or in specific areas where people might need help. You can also create a dedicated section on your website or blog for product tutorials.

Improve Onboarding

Your onboarding process is critical to customer engagement. This is the process of introducing new users to your product and getting them started.

A good onboarding experience will help people understand your product, set up their preferences, and start using it effectively. A bad onboarding experience, on the other hand, will cause people to give up on your product and look for alternatives.

To improve your onboarding process, start by streamlining it and making it as simple as possible. Then, add tutorials and other visuals to guide people through the process. 

Finally, offer customer support in case people run into any problems.

You can also consider offering a free trial or discount to people who go through your onboarding process. This will help them see the value in your product and stick around for the long term.

Incentivize Customers

Another way to improve customer engagement is by incentivizing customers. This could be in the form of referral bonuses, discounts, credits, freebies, or even gifts (like these from Gilded Box).

Incentives are a great way to show people that you value their business and appreciate their loyalty. They can also encourage people to use your product more often and recommend it to others.

When creating incentives, make sure they’re relevant to your product and audience. You also want to make sure the rewards are valuable enough to people that they’ll actually be motivated to take action.

Create Content 

Content is a great way to improve customer engagement. This could be in the form of blog posts, videos, reviews, social media posts, or even forums and images. Content helps people learn about your product and how to use it. It also shows that you’re an authority in your industry and builds trust with potential customers.

When creating content, focus on quality over quantity. You want to make sure your content is helpful, informative, and engaging. You also want to ensure that it’s accessible to as many people as possible.

Consider using various types of content to reach different audiences. For example, you could use blog posts to attract new customers and videos to engage current customers.

Finally, make sure to promote your content through social media and other channels. This will help you reach a wider audience and improve customer engagement.

Conclusion

Customer engagement is a key metric that should be tracked and analyzed by any business. Understanding how customers interact with your product can improve their experience and increase sales. There are many ways to track customer engagement, and your methods will depend on your business type and the software you use. In this article, we’ve shown you some of the most important ways to measure customer engagement and some tips for improving it.

What strategies will you put into place to increase customer engagement?