Activation (Activation rate)
Activation is the moment a new user first gets the value your product promised, and the activation rate is the share of new signups who reach that moment.
Worked example (made-up numbers)
A tool that sends a weekly sales report defines activation as “the first report was sent”. In September, 120 people sign up. 42 of them connect their data and get a first report. The activation rate is 42 ÷ 120 = 35%.
The other 78 signed up and never got what they came for. Whatever they thought of the idea, they never saw it work.
How to define it for your product
Activation isn’t “logged in” or “finished onboarding”. It’s the first moment the product did its job for this person:
- A scheduling app: the first meeting booked through it.
- A design tool: the first file exported.
- A monitoring tool: the first alert that caught something.
Pick one moment you can record in code. If you can’t decide, look at your paying customers: what did almost all of them do in their first days that most non-payers didn’t?
Why it matters when you’re starting out
Nearly everything after signup depends on activation. Users who never reach it don’t come back, don’t pay and don’t recommend you. It’s also usually the cheapest number to improve: removing one setup step often does more than a new feature or a new channel.
It also tells you which channels are worth it. A source whose signups activate at twice the rate of another is sending the right people, even if it sends fewer.
How to measure it
- Write down the activation moment.
- Record it as a named event, tied to the user’s id.
- Each week, count new signups and how many of them reached the moment within a set time (seven days is common).
- Divide, and compare by source.
Keep the definition fixed once chosen; changing it makes last month’s number meaningless.
In Nordva Launch
Record the moment as a goal: nordva('goal', 'first-report') from your code, or data-nordva-goal on the button that completes it. After signup, nordva('identify', …) ties the visitor to the user. A funnel from signup to that goal shows the activation rate and where people drop off (one funnel of three steps on Free, five of five on Indie), and the goals list shows how many visitors reached it.