Why Growth Literacy Matters

You can’t grow what you don’t understand.

Whether you’re launching a new SaaS tool, scaling a D2C brand, or managing a user acquisition campaign, understanding growth metrics is non-negotiable. These terms form the language of your funnel, your team conversations, your boardroom metrics — and your investor decks.

Here’s a quick yet powerful breakdown of must-know growth terms, explained in plain English with real relevance.

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1. CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost

The cost to acquire one paying customer.

Formula: Total Sales + Marketing Spend ÷ Number of New Customers

Watch it when:

• It exceeds your average order value (AOV)
• It increases month-over-month with no LTV increase

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2. LTV – Lifetime Value

Total revenue a customer brings to your business over their lifetime.

Formula (Simple): Average Order Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan

Why it matters: You want LTV > 3× CAC.

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3. AARRR – The Pirate Metrics Framework

Created by Dave McClure. A full-funnel growth model:

• Acquisition – How users find you
• Activation – First value experience
• Retention – Do they return?
• Referral – Do they invite others?
• Revenue – Do they pay?

Use this to set KPIs per funnel stage.

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4. TTV – Time to Value

How long it takes for a user to get their first ‘aha!’ moment.

Lower = Better. The shorter the TTV, the higher your retention odds.

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5. Churn Rate

The % of users who stop using or paying for your product in a given period.

Formula: Customers Lost ÷ Total Customers at Start of Period

Target: SaaS wants <5% monthly churn. Anything higher? Fix onboarding and value gaps.

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6. MAU / DAU – Monthly / Daily Active Users

Key engagement metrics.

DAU/MAU Ratio = Stickiness. Good apps hit 20%+, great apps 40–60%.

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7. PMF – Product-Market Fit

The holy grail. You have it when users would be very disappointed if your product disappeared.

Test it with:

• 40% of users say “very disappointed” in Sean Ellis survey
• Growing organically via word of mouth

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8. Retention Cohorts

Groups of users tracked by signup time. Shows how long users stick.

Helps you answer:

• “Are we improving?”
• “Is new onboarding helping retention?”

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9. CTR – Click-Through Rate

% of users who clicked on your link, ad, CTA.

Formula: Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100

Good CTR: Depends on industry; for social ads, 1–2% is avg.

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10. Conversion Rate (CVR)

% of users who take a desired action (sign-up, purchase, etc.).

Formula: Conversions ÷ Visitors × 100

Use it to: Optimize landing pages, flows, pricing.

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Final Tip: Start Tracking > Then Start Tweaking

Growth terms aren’t buzzwords. They’re lenses.

The earlier you understand and track them, the faster you:

• Spot bottlenecks
• Prioritize fixes
• Make smarter product and marketing bets

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