Acquisition

How do people find your product? Acquisition metrics illuminate this journey, measuring both the pathways users take to discover you and the effectiveness of your various marketing channels. Key metrics to track include source attribution, channel-specific conversion rates, acquisition costs (CPA), and the time needed to recoup these investments (CAC payback). Remember that quantity doesn't always equal quality. Channels driving high traffic volumes might not deliver users who stick around.

For product teams, the critical question isn't just where users come from, but where your best users originate. Analyzing which channels produce users with higher lifetime value, activation rates, or retention helps prioritize marketing efforts. The messaging users encounter before reaching your product shapes their expectations and subsequent behavior; for example, educational content typically attracts different users than promotional deals.

However, keep in mind that this entire landscape is complicated by evolving privacy regulations. Changes to cookies, app store policies, and tracking capabilities increasingly fragment attribution data between marketing touchpoints and product interactions. Teams must adapt their measurement approaches accordingly, accepting that perfect attribution is becoming less attainable.