Just finished digging into our cohort data and honestly wasn’t expecting what we found.
Turns out the users we thought were our best performers during onboarding actually had terrible long-term retention. Meanwhile the ones who seemed confused and took longer to complete setup became our most engaged subscribers.
Completely flipped our assumptions about what good onboarding looks like.
This matches what I’ve seen running acquisition campaigns. Users who convert instantly from ads? They churn fast too. Same exact pattern.
We segmented cohorts by onboarding behavior and found something interesting - the slow setup group had 40% higher LTV. Completely changed how we wrote ad copy and landing pages.
Now we actually tell people in our ads that setup takes 5-10 minutes. Sounds nuts but it filters out quick clickers and attracts users who’ll actually invest time.
Biggest win was fixing our attribution windows. Most platforms push for fast conversions, but our best users took 2-3 days to fully activate after install.
I’ve seen this with three apps I’ve worked on. Slow onboarders engage more with features during setup, so they get the value better.
Fast users bail at the first friction point because they never understood why the app matters.
We switched from tracking completion time to feature interaction during onboarding. Much better predictor of retention.
Noticing these trends can help with ad targeting. It’s worth refining based on user behavior.
Confused users ask questions. That creates investment in your product.
Fast completion usually means people already know what they want or they’re just clicking through without thinking.
Users who struggle during setup are actually learning your app.
Someone who flies through onboarding in 30 seconds didn’t absorb anything. The ones asking questions and exploring features? They’re building the connection that keeps them around.
Users who rush through onboarding often see your app as just another tool. They’ll leave as quickly as they came in. In contrast, users who take time to set up are more likely to be committed to solving a problem with your app. Focus on tracking engagement depth in that initial session rather than just how fast they finish onboarding. Look at metrics like feature usage and reading time. These indicators are far more reliable for predicting long-term retention.