What are business metrics?

Examples of business metrics for in-app communications

Engagement metrics

• User engagement: The number of active users who engage with an app. It reflects the level of interaction and interest demonstrated by app users. An active user is one who’s engaged with your app for a given period of time (e.g., a month).
• Messages sent/received: The total number of messages sent and received through in-app messaging. This metric shows you the efficacy of message delivery systems and any potential messages with reaching users.
• Message open rates: The percentage of delivered messages that users open. It shows you the initial level of interest and engagement users have with your in-app messages.
• Time spent in messaging: The average time users use the in-app messaging feature during a session. It reflects the level of engagement with your in-app messaging feature.
• User retention: The percentage of users who continue using the in-app message feature over a specific period. It reflects user satisfaction and potential issues with your messaging content or strategy.
• MAU (monthly active users): The number of active users who engage with your app messaging feature within a specific, month-long time range. It reflects user satisfaction and potential issues with your messaging content or strategy.

Conversion metrics

• Conversion rate: The percentage of users who complete a desired action, like making a purchase or subscribing, as a result of interacting with your in-app messaging experience. It reflects the effectiveness of your in-app messaging campaigns, content, and strategy.
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click a link or call-to-action (CTA) button within an in-app message. It reflects how effective your message content is at driving user action.
• Churn rate: The rate at which customers discontinue their relationship or subscription with the business. It indicates the level of customer retention and loyalty of a business.
• Conversion value: The total value generated from conversions that result from in-app messaging experiences. It reflects the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, content, and strategy related to messaging.
• Customer retention: The percentage of customers who sustain a relationship with a business over a specified period. It reflects your ability to deliver a high-value, high-quality experience to customers.

Customer support metrics

• Response time: The average time it takes to respond to customer inquiries or support requests through in-app messaging. This metric shows how quickly customers are being helped and the efficiency of agent support systems and workflows.
• Resolution time: The average time it takes to resolve customer inquiries or issues through your in-app messaging. It reflects the effectiveness of support processes and the efficiency of agent workflows.
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score: The measure of customer happiness with customer support received through in-app messaging, using a survey that asks: “How satisfied were you with [company]?”. It shows the effectiveness of your in-app support function.

Technical metrics

• Latency: The time it takes for messages to be delivered to your in-app messaging interface. This metric quantifies any delay in delivering messages, which slows the rate of conversation in your messaging. The more latency there is, the longer it takes to converse, or send messages back and forth.
• Error rate: The percentage of failed attempts at message delivery (or errors) in the in-app messaging system in a given period of time. This measures the efficiency of the messaging system and is used during the testing process to identify issues before or after launching an in-app messaging feature.
• Uptime: The percentage of time the in-app messaging system is available and operational without interruptions. This metric measures the reliability of a messaging system and reflects API performance. Leading API providers offer a service-level agreement (SLA) that specifies their APIs' demonstrated uptime (reliability) and the messaging systems they support. 

Tracking business metrics allows you to understand your users, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions. Sendbird and other leading in-app communication solutions offer an analytics dashboard for monitoring and reporting on the performance of every aspect of in-app communications.