Creating a Retention Report
Written by Jeongwon Kim,The Retention Report shows how many users returned to the app within a certain number of days after installing or opening the app through a deep link. You can use the Retention Report to identify which channels and campaigns are most effective in attracting active app users and to optimize campaigns for better performance.
Only Owners and In-house Marketers have access to the Retention Report, which is available in [Reports]>[Retention].
The configuration box offers options for configuring the cohort, granularity, date range, Start Event, Return Event, GroupBy, and filter to create a customized report view that suits your needs.
Configuring a cohort in the Retention Report allows you to analyze the retention of a specific user segment. The cohort configuration is optional. Click Add to configure a cohort.
Read on to learn how to set up a cohort by configuring condition clauses.
Operator |
Description |
Option |
|---|---|---|
performed event | - Users who performed an event | App events |
didn't perform event | - Users who didn’t perform an event | App events |
where (had property) | - Non-event-related property of the users - Multiple properties can be added with “and” by clicking “+had property” | Property and value |
- Number of events performed by users | - Number of events performed by users | - equals - more than or equals - more than - less than or equals - less than |
when | - Time period the users performed the event - Can be set to max. 90 days - When using “between,” you can select from 2023-02-01 onwards - When using “during last,” you can decide whether to include “Today” or not | - during last - between - since |
You can use the following operators to add multiple condition clauses for a cohort.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
or | Users who meet the aforementioned condition clause or the condition clause that follows |
and also | Users who meet the aforementioned condition clause and also meet the condition clause that follows |
and not also | Users who meet the aforementioned conditions but do not meet the condition that follows |
Let’s say you want to define a cohort as a group of iOS users who signed up for your service in March 2024. In that case, you may configure the cohort like in the image below.
Let’s say you want to define a cohort as a group of iOS users who signed up for your service in March 2024 and also added an item to the cart at least once during the last 30 days, including today. In that case, you may configure the cohort like in the image below.
The Retention Report displays the data in different time ranges depending on the granularity option selected in the configuration box. The options include Minutely, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly. Each option comes with a maximum number of ranges that can be displayed in the report. Each time range is based on the Airbridge App Timezone.
The number of ranges displayed in the Retention Report depends on the set date range. For more details, refer to the information below.
The following table indicates the maximum number of ranges that can show the retention data by granularity. The number of ranges displayed in the Retention Report depends on the set date range. Note that when the granularity is set to Minutely or Hourly, no sub-rows are provided.
Granularity |
Maximum No. of Ranges |
|---|---|
Minutely | 60 Ranges (Minute 0 ~ Minute 59) |
Hourly | 24 Ranges (Hour 0 ~ Hour 23) |
Daily | 31 Ranges (Day 0 ~ Day 30) |
Weekly | 12 Ranges (Week 0 ~ Week 11) |
Monthly | 6 Ranges (Month 0 ~ Month 5) |
The number of ranges displayed in the Retention Report depends on the set date range.
Let's say today is 2024-05-07, and you have configured the Retention Report as follows.
Granularity and Date Range: Daily, From 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-07
The Retention Report will show 7 ranges, from Day 0 to Day 6, and the sub-rows will show the daily retention data from 2024-05-01 to 2024-05-07, as in the image below.
The number of ranges in the Retention Report changes when the set date range is way back in the past.
Let's say today is 2024-05-07, and you have configured the Retention Report as follows.
Granularity and Date Range: Daily, From 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-07
The Retention Report will show 31 ranges from Day 0 to Day 30, and the sub-rows will show the daily retention data from 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-07, as in the image below.
Attention
Event data older than 180 days from the day of report creation will be displayed as Unattributed for Google Ads (google.adwords), Meta ads (facebook.business), and TikTok For Business (tiktok) to comply with their privacy policies.
The Retention Report provides the retention metric data of users who performed the set Start Event within the set date range.
For more details about the date range settings, refer to the information below.
The date range can be set using the following conditions.
Condition | Date Range |
|---|---|
Between | From start date to end date |
Since | From start date to today |
Last | Last n days/weeks/months until yesterday |
When using “Last,” options such as “Include today,” “Include this month,” and “Offset” can be added.
For example, if you select Last 30 days and add Offset + 3 days, the date range will start 33 days before today and end 4 days before today.
Data available in the Retention Report
The Retention Report only shows App event data; Web and iOS SKAdNetwork event data are not available.
The Retention Report aggregates users who performed the Start Event and Return Event to calculate the number of retained users and the retention rate. Refer to the information below to further understand the Start Event and Return Event in the Retention Report.
A Start Event is an event that is performed by the user who initiated the app engagement. Data of users who didn't perform the Start Event will be excluded from the reporting. Options for Start Event differ depending on the granularity configured.
Daily, Weekly, Monthly: Install (App), Deeplink Open (App), Deeplink Pageview (App)
Minutely, Hourly: Install (App)
You can select multiple events as the Start Event. For example, if you select Daily as granularity and select Install (App) and Deeplink Open (App) as the Start Event, the Retention Report will report the retention of the users who performed the Install (App) and Deeplink Open (App) within the set date range.
The Return Event is the event that determines the retention of the user who performed the Start Event. If the user performs the Return Event, the user is determined to have returned to the service. If the user does not perform a Return Event, the user is determined not to have been returned.
You can select Standard Events or that have been collected at least once as a Return Event. If you select Any Event (App) as the Return Event, all users who perform any in-app event will be considered to have returned to the app.
You can select multiple Return Events. For example, if you select Add to Cart (App) and Product View (App) as the Return Event, then only users who add an item to the cart or open a product page are considered to have returned to the app.
Let's say 5 users performed various app events from 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-03 as described in the following table.
User | 2024-04-01 | 2024-04-02 | 2024-04-03 |
|---|---|---|---|
User A | Install (App), | Deeplink Open (App) | Add To Cart (App) |
User B | Sign-up (App) | Add To Cart (App) | Order Complete (App) |
User C | Deeplink Open (App) | Deeplink Open (App), | Order Complete (App) |
User D | Install (App) | Add To Cart (App) | Deeplink Open (App) |
User E | Install (App), | Deeplink Open (App) | Add To Cart (App) |
Let's say the Retention Report has been configured like the following.
Granularity and date range: Daily, From 2024-04-01 to 2024-04-03
Start Event: Install (App), Deeplink Open (App)
Return Event: Deeplink Open (App), Order Complete (App)
In this case, User A, C, D, E performed the Start Event on 2024-04-01. Among them, User A and User C also performed the Return Event on the same day. As a result, the number of retained users and the retention rate of Day 0 (2024-04-01) is 2 and 50%.
Day 0 (2024-04-01) | Day 1 (2024-04-02) | Day 2 (2024-04-03) | |
|---|---|---|---|
4/1 (2024-04-01) | 2 (50%) | 3 (75%) | 2 (50%) |
You can enable the predictive lifetime in the report by clicking the checkbox and selecting the calculation period from the drop-down menu. For more details about the predictive lifetime, refer to this article.
The Measurement Option feature allows you to determine the number of Start Events used to measure Return Events. If a user performs the Start Event multiple times within the set date range, the retention rate may vary depending on the Measurement Option.
In General mode, the Return Events are aggregated based on all Start Events that occurred during the set date range to measure user retention. In Confined mode, user retention is measured with respect to a single Start Event. When a new Start Event occurs, the user journey that was initiated by the previous Start Event is no longer measured.
The Airbridge Device ID is used to determine unique users.
In General mode, user retention is measured based on all Start Events that occurred during the set date range. When a new Start Event occurs, the user journey initiated by the previous Start Event and the new user journey initiated by the new Start Event are both measured.
If a new Start Event occurs driven by a different ad from the ad that drove the previous Start Event, the subsequently occurring Return Events will be attributed to both ads.
In Confined mode, user retention is measured based on a single Start Event that occurred during the set date range. When a new Start Event occurs, the user journey initiated by the previous Start Event is no longer tracked, and the new user journey initiated by the new Start Event is tracked.
This means that all Return Events are attributed to the touchpoint that drove the latest Start Event that initiated the user journey.
Refer to the example cases below to understand how the results differ by the Measurement Options.
Let's say a user installed your app on 2024-03-01 after engaging with a touchpoint in Channel X and uninstalled the app the next day. This user installed the app again on 2024-03-03 after engaging with a touchpoint in Channel Y and opened the app again on 2024-03-05.
Let's say the Retention Report has been configured as follows.
Granularity and date range: Daily, From 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-05
Start Event: Install (App)
Return Event: Any Event (App)
GroupBy: Channel
Depending on the Measurement Option, the results will vary as follows:
The Open (App) event performed on 2024-03-05 is attributed to both Channel X and Channel Y.
The Open (App) event is measured as the Return Event of Day 4 of the user journey initiated by the Start Event on 2024-03-01, which is attributed to Channel X.
The Open (App) event is also measured as the Return Event of Day 2 of the user journey initiated by the Start Event on 2024-03-03, which is attributed to Channel Y.
Refer to the table below.
Channel | Date | Total Installs | Day 0 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Channel X | 3/1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 3/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
| 3/4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
| 3/5 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
|
Channel Y | 3/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 3/3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
|
| 3/4 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
|
| 3/5 | 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Open (App) event performed on 2024-03-05 is attributed only to Channel Y. The user journey initiated by the Stat Event that occurred on 2024-03-01 is no longer tracked.
The Open (App) event is not attributed to Channel X.
The Open (App) event is measured as the Return Event of Day 2 of the user journey initiated by the Start Event on 2024-03-03, which is attributed to Channel Y.
Refer to the table below.
Channel | Date | Total Installs | Day 0 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Channel X | 3/1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 3/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
| 3/4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
| 3/5 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
|
Channel Y | 3/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| 3/3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
|
| 3/4 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
|
| 3/5 | 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Attention
All values displayed in the Revenue Report with the GroupBy and Filter options applied are based on users who performed the Start Event.
GroupBys are used to split the metric data into groups. Up to 4 GroupBys can be selected. The data are visible in the table from the left in the order of the configuration. Refer to this article to learn about the GroupBy options that are available.
Filters can be configured to display specific data in the chart and table. Select the filter option, operator, and value to configure a filter. Properties collected at least once are available as the filter option.
The Revenue Report displays the number of retained users and the retention rate at the chosen granularity. For details about the metrics available in the Retention Report, refer to this article.
The user retention data is provided in table format. Each field contains the number of retained users and the retention rate.
When clicking the [expand] icon in the top row, the number of retained users and the retention rate visible in the sub-rows by date buckets. Click again to collapse the table and hide the sub-rows.
When the granularity is set to Hourly or Minutely, the [expand] icon won't show as the data is not provided in sub-rows by date buckets.
The calculation methods for retention metrics in the top and sub-rows differ. To learn more about the calculation methods, refer to this article.
When the predictive lifetime feature is enabled, the data is visible in the table under the Predictive Lifetime column. For more details on predictive lifetime, refer to this article.
Airbridge reports support various features, from saving reports to sharing them with others.
The table shows the general features supported by Airbridge reports. Some features are not available in certain reports.
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
Refresh | Reload data with the existing report configuration. The time passed since the time the data was loaded appears next to the Refresh button or Copy Table button. |
Wide controls | Configure the report on a wider panel |
Search | Search the report by keywords |
Expand/Collapse | Expand or collapse the configuration box |
Report naming | Name the report and save it for later use |
Refer to the table below to learn how to share your report with others.
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
Save | Save your report. Owners and In-house marketers within the same organization can share the saved reports from the [Saved Reports] list. |
Copy Config | Copy the report configuration and share it with other Airbridge users. The data's accessibility may differ depending on the user's app role. |
Invite | Invite users to the Airbridge App. The accessibility of the data may differ depending on the user's app role. Invited users can access other menus. Consider carefully when inviting users to the Airbridge APP. |
Copy Table, Copy Chart | Copy the table or the chart and paste it into spreadsheets or messengers for sharing |
File download | Download the Airbridge report in different formats for sharing |
Following Meta’s privacy policy, from the Meta ads campaign data imported into Airbridge through channel integration and cost integration, fewer than 1,000 Meta ads impressions or fewer than 100 installs attributed to Meta will be masked and displayed as the following instead.
Display | Description |
|---|---|
Privacy Block | All data is masked; only "Privacy Block" will be displayed |
+α, ±α | Data is partially masked |
The Touchpoint Generation Type of the Meta ads campaign data imported into Airbridge through channel integration and cost integration is displayed as Self-attributing Network in the Airbridge reports.
The masked data are not added up in the Airbridge reports. Below are some approaches you may try if you want the masked data to be added up in the Airbridge reports.
Change or extend the data range of the report.
Change GroupBys and filters or remove some of them.
Unmasked Meta ads campaign data
The Meta ads campaign data collected through other means, such as the Meta Install Referrer and Google Install Referrer, is not masked. You can use the Touchpoint Generation Type GroupBy in the Actuals Report to view data by how it was collected.
Sub-rows are not available when granularity is set to Minutely and Hourly. Change the granularity to other options, such as Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.
The table below outlines the features and limitations of the Retention Report.
Supported features and limitations |
Description |
|---|---|
Maximum no. of metrics supported | 4 |
Maximum no. of GroupBys supported | 4 |
Self-serve Metrics, Calculated Metrics, Custom GroupBys | Not supported |
Timezone | App timezone configured |
Data provided in | Tables |
Data refresh cycle | 1 Hour |
Aggregated data | App event data |
Custom events | Supported |
Maximum no. of rows in the Airbridge dashboard | 10,000 Rows |
Maximum no. of rows in the CSV file | 10,000 Rows |
Data available of | Past 5 years (2023-02-01 and onwards) |
Maximum date range configurable for a single report view | 31 Days |
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