What are monthly active users (MAU)?
What are monthly active users (MAU)?
Monthly active users (MAU) is a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the number of unique users who engage with an app at least once within a 30-day period. This metric is crucial for assessing user engagement and retention, as it focuses on actual interactions like logins, sessions, or other predefined activities.
)
How to calculate monthly active users (MAU)
Calculating MAU is a straightforward process. The first step is to define what qualifies as an "active user" for your app. This definition can vary based on your business model and the type of engagement you value. For example, an active user might be defined as someone who logs into your platform and engages with features like posting content or watching videos.
After defining an active user, the next step is to collect user activity data, typically over a month. This data should use unique identifiers such as device IDs (when consented/accessible), usernames, or email addresses to ensure that each user is counted only once, avoiding duplicate or inactive accounts.
)
With an increasing number of privacy frameworks and regulations emerging, along with changes in platform policies, like Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT), there are a rising number of cases where first-party identifiers are not available. In such cases, alternative methods like cohorts and aggregates are essential. Cohorting groups users based on shared behaviors, while aggregated data provides a high-level view of interactions without tracking individual identities. This helps to maintain data accuracy and privacy.
)
To calculate the total number of MAUs, add the number of unique users who meet your active criteria during the month. For example, consider an app with 50,000 registered users. In a given month, if there are 10,000 returning users and 5,000 new users who logged in and used the app at least once, the MAU would be 15,000.
Why MAU is important
Let’s take a deep dive into why measuring MAU is important:
Assessing app health and growth
MAU is a clear indicator of an app's user base size and growth trends. An increase of monthly active users suggests that the app is attracting and retaining users, indicating a healthy and growing user base. A decline in MAUs may signal issues with user engagement or satisfaction, prompting further investigation and action.
Revenue correlation
There is often a strong correlation between MAU and revenue, especially in apps that monetize through in-app purchases, subscriptions, or advertising. A higher MAU typically leads to greater revenue potential as more users engage with the app's monetized features or ad placements.
Benchmarking and competitive analysis
MAU serves as a benchmark for comparing an app's performance against competitors. Companies use MAU to gauge their market position and assess whether they are gaining or losing ground in their industry.
Identifying churn and retention rates
MAU, when analyzed alongside churn and retention rates, helps businesses identify when users are leaving and when they are staying. This is crucial for optimizing retention strategies and improving customer loyalty.
Improving user experience
MAU analytics can highlight areas of an app that users frequent or avoid, providing insights into what is working and what needs improvement. This information is vital for refining the app's user interface, content, and overall experience to better meet user needs.
MAU and DAU
While both daily active users (DAU) and MAU provide valuable insights into user interactions with a platform, they serve different purposes and offer complementary views of user behavior. DAU measures the number of unique users who engage with an app daily, highlighting the frequency and consistency of user engagement.
The DAU/MAU ratio, often referred to as "stickiness," is calculated by dividing DAU by MAU and is expressed as a percentage. This ratio indicates how many of the monthly users are engaged on a daily basis.
)
If DAU is low while MAU is high, it suggests that while the app has a broad reach with many users interacting with it over the month, these users do not engage with the app on a daily basis. On the flip side, if DAU is high while MAU is low, it indicates that the app has a smaller but highly engaged user base that uses the app frequently.
Limitations of MAU
While MAU is a valuable metric, it has a few limitations. Here are a things you need to consider:
Engagement quality
MAU measures the number of users engaging with an app within a month but does not detail the nature of these interactions. It lacks information on user behavior, such as specific actions taken or the depth of engagement, and does not account for the impact of external marketing channels.
Retention measurement
MAU does not distinguish between new and returning users, so it shouldn’t be used to assess retention. An app may have a consistent MAU despite high user turnover, obscuring the true retention rate.
Standardization issues
The definition of the "active user" in MAU is not standardized across the industry, which can lead to inconsistencies. For example, an app might count any login as an active user, while another might require specific actions such as making a purchase or engaging with content. This can result in a misleading picture of actual user activity and engagement, making it difficult to use as a benchmark for industry-wide comparisons.
How to increase MAU
Increasing your number of monthly active users is vital for sustainable app growth. Here are some effective ways to boost MAU:
- Enhance onboarding: A smooth onboarding experience is critical for retaining new users. Simplify sign-up by minimizing required information and offering social media sign-ins and use interactive tutorials or guided tours to help users quickly grasp the app's value. You should also allow users to skip non-essential steps and send reminders to complete profiles or explore features.
- Use push notifications: It’s a good idea to re-engage users with personalized, timely push notifications. Use A/B testing to optimize messages and segment audiences based on behavior and preferences. However, avoid overuse to prevent annoyance.
- Personalize experience: Personalization significantly enhances user engagement, so offer personalized content, recommendations, and offers based on user data. Tailor the user journey to past behavior and preferences.
- Optimize engagement: To increase user engagement, regularly update features, provide valuable content, respond promptly to inquiries, and foster a community. Gamification elements like leaderboards, rewards, loyalty programs, updates, and personalized communication can also help retain users.
- Leverage referrals: Encouraging user referrals with incentives like discounts or exclusive content can organically boost MAU.
- Utilize social media and influencers: To increase visibility and attract new users, promote the app through social media and influencers who align with your target audience.
Monthly active users and Adjust
MAU provides a snapshot of your app’s health and serves as a baseline for user engagement. To get a complete picture, it's essential to assess all metrics relevant to your business, such as in-app spending, session counts, retention rates and churn rates. This broader analysis helps identify the app’s most valuable users, understand how those users interact with the app, determine which features they use, and assess their overall contribution to revenue and growth.
Adjust’s Datascape is a unified platform that consolidates diverse data sources into a single dashboard. This integration enables quick, data-driven decision-making, helping app developers and marketers refine their strategies and enhance user engagement more effectively.
Never miss a resource. Subscribe to our newsletter.
