14 SaaS Growth Metrics You Should be Tracking

For Software as a Service (SaaS) companies of all kinds, achieving sustainable growth is a top priority. In order to make informed business decisions that foster this growth, SaaS companies rely on a set of key metrics that provide valuable insights into their performance including the ability to identify areas for improvement, track overall health and progress, and make data-backed decisions.

Here, we’ll explore 14 essential SaaS metrics for achieving growth goals and why we recommend tracking them. These metrics cover leading as well as lagging indicators throughout various areas of a SaaS business, ranging from activation and conversion rate to CAC and CLV. 

Activation Rate 

In the SaaS industry, user activation is vital because it signifies that customers have crossed a threshold of engagement and are more likely to derive value from the product. By tracking the activation rate, companies can evaluate how effectively they are guiding users through the initial stages of product adoption and increasing their chances of becoming long-term, satisfied customers.

This metric serves as a leading indicator of future customer success and retention. Users who successfully complete the activation event are more likely to explore the product’s features, experience its value, and continue using it over time. By focusing on increasing the activation rate, SaaS companies can improve customer retention, reduce churn, and ultimately drive growth.

It also provides insights into the effectiveness of marketing and sales efforts. By analyzing this rate of different customer segments or acquisition channels, companies can identify which strategies or campaigns are driving higher activation and allocate resources accordingly. This information helps optimize marketing and sales efforts to attract and acquire customers who are more likely to activate and become loyal users.

Number of Active Users 

Tracking the number of active users helps gauge the product’s popularity, adoption, customer engagement, trends, revenue generation, and the effectiveness of marketing efforts. A higher number of active users indicates a larger customer base and a greater potential for revenue generation, in addition to suggesting that the product is meeting the needs and expectations of its target audience.

This metric also helps when assessing customer engagement and satisfaction. Higher user engagement indicates that customers find value in the product and are actively using it to fulfill their needs. Knowing the number of active users allows SaaS companies to identify their most engaged and loyal users, which can be valuable for customer segmentation and targeting. 

By continuously monitoring and analyzing this metric, SaaS companies can understand their user base, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to drive growth and maximize customer satisfaction.

Conversion Rate

The Conversion Rate is a crucial metric for several reasons. Firstly, it provides insights into the efficiency and performance of the sales and marketing funnel. By tracking the conversion rate at different stages of the funnel, such as from website visitors to trial users or from trial users to paying customers, companies can identify potential bottlenecks and optimize their conversion strategies. This metric helps pinpoint areas that need improvement, such as user onboarding, pricing clarity, or value proposition messaging.

Secondly, the conversion rate is directly linked to revenue growth and profitability. A higher rate means that a larger percentage of leads or prospects are converting into paying customers. This not only boosts revenue, but also improves the cost-effectiveness of customer acquisition efforts. By focusing on increasing the conversion rate, SaaS companies can drive growth without exponentially increasing their marketing and sales spend.

Churn Rate

This measures the percentage of customers who cancel or discontinue their subscription within a given period by quantifying customer attrition and reflecting the rate at which a company is losing its customer base. Monitoring churn rate is essential for SaaS companies as it helps assess customer satisfaction, retention efforts, and overall business health.

A high churn rate indicates that a significant number of customers are dissatisfied or not finding value in the product which can offset the efforts and resources spent on customer acquisition, hindering overall growth. By analyzing the reasons behind churn, companies can identify areas for improvement, enhance the product offering, and address customer pain points to reduce churn. 

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is a critical SaaS growth metric that represents the predictable and recurring revenue generated from subscription-based services on a monthly basis. It quantifies the ongoing revenue stream from active customers and provides insights into the financial health, growth trajectory, and stability of a SaaS business.

MRR is helpful as it provides a clear and consistent measure of revenue that can be used for financial planning, forecasting, and reporting. By tracking MRR, companies can assess their revenue growth rate, monitor revenue trends, and make informed decisions regarding resource allocation, budgeting, and investment.

It’s also closely tied to customer retention and expansion as it helps evaluate the effectiveness of retention strategies. By analyzing changes in MRR over time, companies can identify fluctuations due to customer churn, upsells, or cross-sells. This metric enables companies to understand the impact of customer retention efforts and track the success of expansion initiatives.

Average Revenue per Account (ARPA)

Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) measures the average revenue generated per customer or account within a specific period. It provides insights into the revenue-generating capacity of individual accounts and helps evaluate pricing strategies, customer segmentation, and overall revenue performance.

ARPA is helpful because it enables companies to assess the revenue potential of different customer segments or cohorts. By calculating ARPA for various customer types, such as enterprise clients, small businesses, or different pricing tiers, companies can identify high-value customer segments and tailor their marketing, sales, and retention efforts accordingly. In addition, by monitoring ARPA alongside customer acquisition costs and other financial metrics, companies can evaluate the effectiveness of their pricing strategies and make data-driven decisions regarding pricing adjustments, upselling opportunities, or product packaging.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The average cost incurred by a company to acquire a new customer is referred to as customer acquisition cost (CAC). This phrase reflects the resources, marketing, and sales expenses invested in attracting and converting prospects into paying customers and is helpful in assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of customer acquisition strategies, optimizing marketing spend, and maximizing profitability.

You should be tracking CAC because it provides insights into the financial viability of customer acquisition efforts. By comparing the CAC to the Lifetime Value (LTV) of a customer, companies can determine the profitability of acquiring and retaining customers. This information helps optimize resource allocation and marketing budgets to ensure that the cost of acquiring customers is within sustainable and profitable limits.

CAC also helps evaluate the effectiveness of marketing and sales campaigns. By tracking CAC across different acquisition channels, campaigns, or customer segments, companies can identify the most cost-effective strategies and allocate resources accordingly. This information enables companies to refine their marketing and sales tactics, invest in high-performing channels, and eliminate or optimize underperforming ones.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

When it comes to quantifying the total value a customer generates for a business throughout their entire relationship, track customer lifetime value (CLV), which represents the revenue and profitability potential of a customer over their lifetime as a paying subscriber. CLV is helpful in understanding the long-term value of customers, optimizing customer acquisition and retention strategies, and maximizing overall business profitability.

CLV provides insights into customer segmentation and prioritization. By calculating CLV for different customer segments, companies can identify high-value customer groups and allocate resources accordingly. This information helps tailor marketing and sales efforts, provide personalized customer experiences, and focus on retaining and nurturing high-value customers.

LTV-to-CAC Ratio

The LTV-to-CAC ratio, also known as the customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio, is a critical metric in the SaaS world that compares the value a customer generates over their lifetime (CLV) to the cost of acquiring that customer (CAC). It provides insights into the financial health and sustainability of customer acquisition efforts and helps determine the efficiency and effectiveness of a company’s growth strategy.

This ratio measures the return on investment for acquiring customers. A higher ratio indicates that the revenue generated from customers over their lifetime exceeds the cost of acquiring them. This implies that the company is generating profit from customer relationships and that its growth efforts are financially sustainable.

The LTV-to-CAC ratio also guides resource allocation and marketing budget decisions. By comparing the ratio across different customer segments, channels, or campaigns, companies can identify the most cost-effective strategies and allocate resources accordingly. Because this ratio helps optimize marketing spend and prioritize investments in customer acquisition channels that yield higher returns, it’s a smart metric to track.

Expansion Revenue

Expansion revenue, also known as upsell and cross-sell revenue, refers to the additional revenue generated from existing customers through the sale of additional products, features, or upgrades. It represents the revenue growth derived from expanding the value and usage of the product by upselling or cross-selling to current customers. Expansion Revenue is a valuable metric in the SaaS world as it contributes to overall revenue growth, customer lifetime value, and profitability.

Expansion revenue drives revenue growth within the existing customer base without the need for acquiring new customers. Upselling and cross-selling to existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones as there is already a trusted relationship in place. By focusing on expansion revenue, SaaS companies can maximize revenue potential from their existing customer base and improve overall profitability.

It’s also closely tied to customer success and satisfaction—when customers see value in the initial product and are offered additional features or upgrades that meet their evolving needs, they are more likely to continue their subscription and become loyal advocates. By delivering a seamless and valuable upselling or cross-selling experience, companies can enhance customer satisfaction, improve retention rates, and foster long-term relationships.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net promoter score (NPS) is a widely used customer loyalty metric in the SaaS world that measures the likelihood of customers to recommend a product or service to others. It provides insights into customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy, and is helpful in understanding customer sentiment, identifying areas for improvement, and driving growth.

NPS is calculated based on a simple question: “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our product/service to others?” Based on their responses, customers are categorized into three groups: Promoters (score 9-10), Passives (score 7-8), and Detractors (score 0-6). The NPS is then calculated as the percentage of Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors.

It’s a reliable indicator of customer satisfaction and loyalty as promoters are more likely to continue using the product, renew their subscriptions, and become advocates, while detractors may churn and negatively impact the company’s reputation. By monitoring NPS over time, SaaS companies can assess the effectiveness of their customer success initiatives and take proactive steps to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

In addition, NPS helps identify areas for improvement and informs product development decisions. By analyzing feedback and comments provided by customers along with their NPS scores, companies can gain insights into specific pain points, feature requests, or usability issues. This information guides product roadmaps and prioritizes enhancements that align with customer needs, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Seat Utilization Rate

Seat utilization rate measures the percentage of occupied seats or licenses compared to the total available seats or licenses within a SaaS product. It reflects the level of utilization and efficiency in terms of customer adoption and usage. It’s helpful in understanding product engagement, optimizing pricing strategies, and maximizing revenue potential.

It also provides insights into product adoption and customer engagement. A high rate indicates that a significant portion of the customer base is actively using and deriving value from the product. This metric helps identify areas of success and potential bottlenecks in user onboarding or feature usage, enabling companies to enhance the customer experience and increase engagement.

It also guides pricing optimization. By analyzing the ratio of occupied seats to available seats, companies can assess the pricing strategy’s effectiveness and pricing tiers’ appropriateness. If the rate is low, it may suggest that the product is overpriced or that there is a need to introduce more flexible pricing options. This information helps optimize pricing models, maximize customer acquisition, and increase revenue potential. 

Average Sessions per Day

Average sessions per day tracks the average number of user sessions or interactions with a SaaS product on a daily basis. It reflects the level of user engagement and usage frequency of the product. Average sessions per day is helpful in understanding user behavior, product stickiness, and overall product performance.

A higher metric indicates that users are actively using the product, exploring its features, and deriving value from it while a decline may indicate issues such as usability problems, performance issues, or a lack of compelling features. By monitoring this metric, companies can identify patterns and trends in user behavior and take proactive steps to improve the product experience, enhance user satisfaction, and increase engagement.

Depth of Usage

Depth of usage measures the extent to which users are utilizing the various features, functionalities, or modules within a SaaS product. It provides insights into the level of product adoption, user engagement, and the value customers are deriving from different aspects of the product. It’s helpful in understanding user behavior, identifying feature usage patterns, and driving product improvement efforts.

This metric often helps measure the effectiveness of product onboarding and user training as well as assists in identifying feature usage patterns and prioritizing product development efforts. By analyzing the depth of usage metrics, companies can assess whether users are adopting and utilizing the full range of features and functionalities offered by the product. This information helps identify areas where users may need additional guidance, training, or support to maximize the product’s value.

14 Times Closer to Better Business 

By tracking these essential SaaS metrics, companies can make data-driven decisions to improve user experiences, optimize pricing strategies, refine marketing and sales efforts, and enhance customer retention. The insights gained from these metrics empower SaaS companies to focus on growth drivers, allocate resources effectively, and continuously refine their products and services.

The SaaS industry thrives on data-driven growth strategies, and the 14 essential metrics discussed in this article play a pivotal role in achieving growth goals. These metrics enable SaaS companies to assess user engagement, conversion efficiency, revenue generation, and customer retention. By analyzing these metrics and gaining valuable insights, SaaS companies can make informed decisions, enhance their products and services, and drive sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive market. Prioritizing these metrics allows SaaS companies to unlock their full potential and build a strong foundation for long-term success.