Why even big companies don't know their activation rate 🤷‍♀️

Ft. Lenny Rachitsky ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Hey folks! I've been trying to educate product people about the [importance of user activation]( for ages now (well, 1022 days. 146 weeks. That’s how long I’ve been Product-Ranting already 🤯) but when I mention its importance in conversations with PMs, it's still often greeted with a blank stare. So I'm glad Lenny Rachitsky, who has more clout in the Product community than myself, [has been recently running studies on user activation.Â]( We need whatever it takes because... [Thumbnail for video]( [Let me rant you through it...Â]( Many companies, even big ones, don't know their activation rate. And they do nothing to improve it. But I don't blame them, honestly, considering what it takes to measure activation: [Image] Fancy running some regression analysis in your "free" time? No? I thought so. But then proving it's actually causation, not correlation, is a whole different (data-science) project. Luckily, there are some less painful methods: [Image] IMHO, you could just skip to point 3 (brainstorming the actions yourself) and plant a little microsurvey in your app for users that have been with you for long enough (and haven't churned) to experience value, but short enough not to have forgotten how they experienced it - e.g. users that have been with you for at least 30 but no longer than 45 days. Ask them a simple question: "When did you first feel you got value from {Your Product}?" [Image] If you need help with setting up a microsurvey like that (completely for free, no strings attached) - [grab a time with me for some online](☕ !  Yes, I'm running free[Onboarding Audits]( too. If you want someone to take a look at your signup flow, new user onboarding flow, tell you what (and how) you can improve it to achieve higher activation rate - tool-agnostic - reserve your slot before they all go!  More useful Activation resources: - [Minimum Viable Onboarding: Your Go-To Guide To User Activation]( - [5 Unique Ways to Improve User Activation in 2022 [Tips & Examples]]( - [Best SaaS Customer Activation Strategies That Drive Growth]( And I'll have a bigger gift for you for Christmas 😁 I went through these 146 weeks' worth of Product Rantz and found some PLG golden nuggets + interesting stats that even yours truly has forgotten about already: - [A third of your new users will leave without even trying your product.](Why? Because of the 'fear of the white canvas'. If the first thing your new users see when they sign up for an app is an empty dashboard, a lot of them will give up before they have even started. Most users find empty states as overwhelming as an empty dancefloor at a party. - Let's put our party hats on and imagine the following scenario: Your guests arrive. You say hello, and then huddle them all together. You show them around the house. Room after room after room. In each room, you keep plopping more food onto their plates. You don't care if they've even eaten the last portion. You don't care if they're saying they've had enough and just want to chill. You don't care if they're allergic to shrimp! 🍤 (Oh I've actually been to a wedding like that. The waiters just kept serving food...I had like five dinners that night.) At this point, some of your friends get bored and offended, so they are trying to leave. You block the door and to those few that manage to leave anyway, you send a passive-aggressive text making them feel stupid for missing out on such a great party. Sounds horrible and ridiculous, right? But as I've said before - we actually do a lot of things in product that we'd never do in real life. Your onboarding party will turn into this "nightmare scenario" if you use linear, time-based product tours. - How often have you ‘swiped left’ on a product? 😉 How often was it ‘love at first sight'? ❤ I’m probably a bit more patient and usually give the SaaS tools I’m testing a few ‘dates’ before I decide to dump them or move our relationship to the next level – but overall, my product experience is all that matters in the long run. Let's face it - these days, we don’t care how great a products’ features are if it’s slow, difficult to learn, or the key features are buried somewhere in the third menu and we simply don't get to experience the value (the 'AHA moment!') fast enough. Welcome to the era of product-led growth. - Blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah. This is how your users see your "support" resources. Apparently people don't read these days. Guess what - your users are people too. (I know. Shocking 😱) If your users can't be bothered to read your emails, guess what - they  can't be bothered to read your help docs either. They probably can't be bothered to write to your support when they have a problem. So what's left to support them along the user journey? NOTHING. In about 90% of tools I'm using/ testing - there's absolutely *nothing* at all as reactive self-serve support in-app (chat with your enbattled support agent doesn't count). - Want 7.2% more growth for free? 📈 Invest in PLG. Now, let me explain why Product-Led Growth is more than just a catchphrase: According to McKinsey (from November 2021) 65% of B2B Decision Makers prefer self-service, and 35% are willing to spend over $500k (!) via digital-self serve (up 27% from March to November 2021!!!). If 2/3 people are happy to swipe half a million dollars on their card now, what’s your excuse for forcing people to “contact sales”? With all these insights, we're turning Product Rantz into a book! Now is the time to either contribute (your take on user activation, product adoption, product led growth etc.), pre-order your free copy, or remain silent forever 😁 Looking forward to your thoughts 👀 Until next week! [Image] Emilia Korczynska, Head of Marketing at Userpilot I'm a marketing manager obsessed with product growth. Wanna talk? Simply respond to this email!  To make sure you keep getting these emails, please add emilia@userpilot.co to your address book or whitelist us. Want out of the loop? Don't remember you subscribed at all? We get it. We sometimes don't remember how we got to our office today let alone how we subscribed to this or that email. Sometimes people also get offended by our strong opinions on all matters product, SaaS and UX, but you know what? We won't stop sharing them - and what we believe is the best product practices and the future of SaaS. Anyway, if you ever want to come back you'll know where to find us. Until then! [Unsubscribe](. Our postal address: 1887 Whitney Mesa Dr #9995 Henderson, Nevada 89014 United States