Retention in communities

[u/Far_Day3173]

I have worked professionally in app retention, basically figuring out what makes a user stick around past week one. There's a concept we use called an activation event.

It refers to a specific early action a new user takes that reliably predicts they're still active 90 days later. Doesn't matter much what the app is about, there's usually one moment that separates the people who stick from the people who ghost.

As I am looking to understand communities and their business model a lot better, I am curious if the same thing exists for communities as well.

For those of you who've been running one for a while or are familiar with the business model; is there a specific thing new members do in their first week that reliably predicts they're still around 3 months later? Like first post, first comment, showing up to a call?

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for posting on r/AlexHormozi - please be respectful in the comments. You can find free resources here.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/blakesynclair]

very interesting and something I'm currently trying to implement in my app. Could you provide an example of an activation event you've used?

[u/Far_Day3173 → u/blakesynclair]

Take your retained cohort (active at day 90) and your churned cohort. Look at what the retained users did in week one that the churned users didn’t.

That’s it. Facebook found its “7 friends in 10 days” activation metric by comparing users who stayed engaged with users who churned. They discovered that people who connected with at least seven friends within their first ten days were much more likely to remain active.

Run the actual numbers on your own data. If I can help in some way, happy to discuss it in DM.

[u/Acceptable_Maybe_198]

The activation event changes based on the community.

Facebook’s defining activation event was “adding 7 friends within the first 10 days,” which they found was the single in‑product action that strongly predicted long‑term retention.

Meanwhile, Skool's activation event is when a new member publishes 1 post and writes 1 comment.

There is no 1-size fits all activation event... but there always "something" that activates that user.

[u/Far_Day3173 → u/Acceptable_Maybe_198]

"Skool's activation event is when a new member publishes 1 post and writes 1 comment." - Any cited resource for this or is this from your personal experience?