Definition
Daily Active Users (DAUs) and Monthly Active Users (MAUs) are two of the most prominent post-install metrics for measuring user engagement. DAU gauges the number of unique users starting a session in your app on a daily basis, whereas MAU measures the number of unique users of an app on a monthly basis (or 30-day period).
Importance
DAU and MAU are key indicators for retention that help app developers and acquisition managers gain insight into how engaging or useful the app is after it is downloaded. They provide a measure of the potential size of your paying user base. These metrics track unique users who might be active on multiple days so it’s important to pay attention to both.
Impact
These two metrics should always increase or follow an upward trajectory when plotted. If an app is not regularly used as reflected in the DAUs and MAUs, it may prove redundant and soon-to-be uninstalled.
Significance to Strategy Development
If you notice downward trends in DAU and MAU metrics you can develop strategies to reverse the trend before users start to churn such as push notifications to re-engage customers. These KPIs also define the most active days of the week or times spent on an app, which can help with the creation of limited-time conversion ad drives. DAU count is often 10% of MAU count. If your MAU is 10,000, you can aim to secure 1,000 DAU (or vice-versa).
Formula
Daily Active Users (DAU) = Total of the unique (new or returning) daily active users
Monthly Active Users (MAU) = Total of the unique (new or returning) monthly active users
Example
A newly updated banking app can use MAU and DAUs to measure the impact of the new features on user engagement.
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