Sometimes referred to as AARM Metrics™, the AARM Method™ is an analytical framework that defines the metrics for a product. This four letter acronym refers to acquisition, activation, retention, and monetization:
- Acquisition: Tracking customer signups for a service. The bar for signing up for a service has gotten lower and lower, thanks to the popularity of free signup and pay later “freemium” models. The typical acquisition metric to track is lazy registrations or app downloads.
- Activation: Getting users that have completed a lazy registration to register fully. For a social networking site like Google+, this may include uploading a photo or completing their profile page.
- Retention: Getting users to use the service often and behave in a way that helps the user or business. Key metrics include adding more information to their profile page, checking the news feed frequently or inviting friends to try the service.
- Monetization: Collecting revenue from users. It could include the number of people who are paying for the service or the average revenue per user (ARPU).
For more information and examples on how to use the AARM Method™ refer to Lewis C. Lin's book: Decode and Conquer.