AARRR Pirate Metrics Overview

A framework to track key five user behaviors for product-led growth (McClure, 2007):

1. Acquisition
2. Activation
3. Retention
4. Referral
5. Revenue

This is about how people find out about your product.

What to do:

• Use various channels like social media, SEO, and advertising.
• Identify which channels bring the most users.
• Focus on high-volume and low-cost channels to maximize your reach.

This is about making sure users have a positive first experience.

What to do:

• Track user engagement (e.g., time spent, pages visited).
• Set clear activation goals (e.g., signing up or trying features).
• Test different landing pages and user flows to improve experiences.

This measures whether users keep coming back to your product.

What to do:

• Use emails or notifications to remind users to return.
• Track user behavior to see how often they engage with your product.
• Automate follow-up emails based on user actions (e.g., after signing up).

This assesses whether users recommend your product to others.

What to do:

• Encourage users to share your product through referral programs.
• Measure how many users refer others and how effective those referrals are.
• Ensure your product is good enough that users want to share it.

This is about making money from your product.

What to do:

• Set clear revenue goals and track how much users are willing to pay.
• Identify minimum revenue and break-even points.
• Continuously analyze pricing strategies to find what works best.

1. Identify metrics for each AARRR category.
2. Use tools to track and analyze data.
3. Conduct A/B tests to improve user engagement.
4. Adjust strategies based on what works and what doesn’t.

- McClure, D. (2007, August 8). Startup metrics for pirates: AARRR! Ignite Seattle. YouTube.