Community analytics crash course: metrics, KPIs, and more
Think of a community like an iceberg—most of the action happens beneath the surface.
Sure, it's easy to get caught up in the stuff you can see, such as the comments, likes, and posts. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Ever stop to think about what you might be missing? There's a whole world of opportunities and trends you could be overlooking just because they're not in plain sight.
Community analytics give you an objective, complete look into where, when, and how your members are engaging. It’s a true under-the-hood (or water, if we’re still going with the iceberg analogy) view into how your community is performing. From here, you can assess what’s working and what’s not, so that you can figure out where you want to go and build a plan to get there.
That’s not to say you want to abandon your intuition—no one is suggesting that. But the very best strategies come about when you pair data with those beautiful gut instincts of yours. That’s when the magic happens.
That said, there are a few community health metrics you should look at a little more consistently—some weekly, others monthly.
Below we’ll cut through the noise, and cut to the chase with our list of five community health metrics to track, along with advice on setting community goals and KPIs. We’ll also use some benchmarks from “Platinum” communities on Circle to give you an idea of what your goals should be for each metric.
For more on how the top 10% of communities engage, monetize, and scale their memberships, check out our report!
The top 5 community metrics you need to track
When it comes to community analytics, there’s a whole lot you can track. But, to make things simple, we’ve narrowed the list down to what we believe are the five most important metrics you should keep your eyes on. 👇
1. Monthly active users (MAU)
Definition: The number of members who logged into your community in a given month. It’s more helpful to look at % MAU – what ratio of your community is active.
How to interpret it: A high % MAU means you’re delivering regular, recurring value that brings your members back into the community again and again (and again!). Everything you do – or don’t do – in your community is all reflected back to you as monthly active users.
What best in class looks like: It depends a little on how many members you have. Larger communities will almost always have a lower % MAU, even though they have more active members overall.
The below numbers show the average % MAU for Platinum communities on Circle – the top 10%!
- 20-100 members = 83% MAU
- 101 - 500 members = 59% MAU
- 501 - 1000 members = 43% MAU
- 1001 - 5000 members = 28% MAU
- 5001+ members = 13% MAU
If you’re at or above this benchmark, rest assured you’re among the best of the best.
2. The % of posts created by members
Definition: This metric is pretty much what it sounds like – the percent of community posts created by members versus admins or moderators.
How to interpret it: The % of posts created by members tells you how member-led and self-sustaining your community is. In other words, if you didn’t post for a day or a week, would the conversation stop? Or would your members carry on?
What best-in-class looks like: Platinum communities have, on average, an 80% member post rate. So for every 5 posts in their communities, 4 were created by members.
3. Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
Definition: MRR is how much subscription revenue you can expect to receive each month (based on how many members you currently have across all paywalls).
How to interpret it: MRR shows you how well you’re doing both when it comes to member acquisition (are you getting new subscribers?) and member retention (are you able to keep the subscribers you’ve acquired?)
💡 Tip: One great way to expand your MRR is to cross-sell to your existing members through coaching, mastermind groups, VIP offerings, etc. In general, it’s way easier to get existing members to buy more, than new members to buy at all.
What best in class looks like: We wish we had a better answer for you here, but it’s a bit more unique as it depends on your community goals, business model, and more.
4. Event attendance rate
Definition: Your event attendance rate is the % of RSVPs who actually showed up to your event. For example, if 100 people RSVP to your event and 10 come to it, your attendance rate is 10%.
How to interpret it: Your event attendance rate tells you (1) you’re hosting events that cover topics your members care about and (2) you’re promoting them effectively. You can host a killer event, but if you forget to remind people it’s happening, your attendance rate will probably tank.
What best in class looks like: 59% of Platinums have an event attendance rate of more than 50%, in comparison to 33% of Standards.
For more on event analytics, check out our post on creating a data-driven events strategy.
5. Churn
Definition: Churn is the number of canceled subscriptions divided by active subscriptions. It tells you how good of a job you’re doing at delivering continuous value that retains members.
How to interpret it: Churn isn’t always bad. Some churn can even be a good thing! We’ve heard community builders reframe it as a ‘graduation’ or ‘celebration’ because a member got the skills and support they need to move on to their next chapter.
What best in class looks like: As Tom Ross, community building coach, puts it, “Churn is a topic that can cause a lot of anxiety and frustration for community builders.”
It’s also something that can be affected by a multitude of factors, including: the size and age of your community, if it’s free or paid (and what the price is), the value proposition, and much more.
But to give some ballpark ranges, here are some churn benchmarks:
- < 2.5% churn: Unbelievably good
- 5% churn: Really excellent
- 10% churn: Average
- 15-20%+ churn: On the higher side, work to be done
Community goals and KPIs
If you're new to community analytics, it's super easy to get overwhelmed and want to start tracking everything and changing everything. And that's great energy—love that for you!
But it's better and more sustainable to pick one goal and really focus on it over a month or a quarter.
- Maybe you want to focus on engagement. If that's the case, % MAU is a great metric for you to track. Think about what activities you can do to bring folks back into the community and get that number up. You might look at leading indicators like event RSVPs too since that tells you people are intending to come back.
- Let's say your goal is retention. And TBH it should be—it's such an underrated goal. Then, look at churn if you use Circle paywalls OR % MAU if you don't. Think about how you can bring back disengaged members.
- If your goal is acquisition, you want to track new members—and perhaps use filters to see how they're behaving over the first 30 days.
Whatever goal/s you land on, just make sure your key performance indicators (KPIs) address both the short term and long term vision for your community.
Curiosity is the key to a data-driven community strategy
The key to being great at analytics and making data-driven decisions isn’t being good at math or loving numbers. It’s being curious.
- Curious about how your members like to engage
- Curious about what can drive more engagement
- Curious about what a better community, or a better world can look like
Learn more about Circle's community analytics for everything you need to monitor member activity, engagement, and traffic.
And, if you're not yet a customer, get started with your free 14 day trial today!
