In Web3, growth is about understanding how users discover, engage with, and stay loyal to your dApp. The best teams don’t just track what’s happening; they connect these insights with real onchain behavior to drive data-driven decisions.
This guide breaks down the core Web3 marketing metrics—from acquisition and retention to DeFi performance and product analytics—along with practical action items to help you track, interpret, and improve them.
Key Takeaways
Marketing metrics are your growth compass — when chosen wisely, they guide teams toward strategic goals and help avoid wasting resources on vanity numbers.
Outputs ≠ outcomes — publishing content or launching campaigns is meaningless unless they deliver measurable business results like retention, revenue, or active usage.
Avoid metric traps — always connect metrics to strategic priorities, validate your north star metric, and analyze results in context.
Web3 requires a new measurement playbook — wallet intelligence, onchain activity tracking, and privacy-first attribution replace cookies and centralized analytics.
A full-spectrum dashboard — covering acquisition, engagement, retention, DeFi health, segmentation, and community metrics—empowers growth teams to act fast on real user behavior.
What Are Marketing Metrics?
Think of marketing measurement as keeping score. Marketing metrics are the actual numbers on the scoreboard—NPS, conversion rate, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), you name it. They’re not just “stats for stats’ sake.” They’re the proof of what’s working, what’s not, and where you’re headed.
The Most Common Marketing Metric Traps (and How to Avoid Them)
Marketers often fall into the same marketing metrics mistakes—tracking numbers without context, misaligning goals, or chasing the wrong “north star.” Many metrics are influenced by sales, customer success, or external factors, so you can’t analyze them in isolation. Context is everything. Here’s how to avoid the biggest pitfalls:
1. Confusing Outputs With Outcomes
Outputs are the things you create—emails, blog posts, and landing pages. Outcomes are the results those outputs should deliver—lower churn, higher revenue, stronger engagement. If your content and campaigns aren’t producing measurable outcomes, they’re just busywork.
2. Ignoring the Strategic Link
Every metric should tie directly to your business objectives. Not vanity goals. Not “make the report look good” goals. When budgets tighten, the metrics that align with strategic priorities position marketing as a growth driver.
3. Picking the Wrong North Star Metric
If your main goal is revenue growth, focusing only on conversion rate optimization might not be enough. For example, a higher conversion rate won’t matter if traffic drops and revenue stalls. Test your north star: If it improves but nothing else changes, will it still help you hit your target? If not, you need a different or supporting metric.
Why Web3 Needs a New Marketing Metrics Playbook
In Web2, marketers rely on cookies, email IDs, and traditional analytics platforms. In Web3, you can’t depend on those. This means your marketing metrics dashboard needs to merge traditional KPIs with onchain insights, tracking not only how users arrive but also how they transact, hold assets, and engage with your onchain apps over time.
A. Core Marketing Metrics
1. User Acquisition Metrics
Acquisition metrics measure how effectively you attract new users—and how much it costs to do so.
Metric | Description | Action Items |
Website Traffic | Total visits, unique visitors, traffic sources. | Available on the overview page. |
Wallets Connected | # of new wallets connected to your platform. | Split autodetected vs. connected wallets for cleaner reporting. |
Conversion Rate | % of visitors who connect a wallet and take their first action. | Use funnels to track conversions. |
Referral Users | # of new users acquired via referral. | Build custom charts grouped by referral source. |
Cost per Acquisition (CPA) | Marketing spend per successful wallet connection. | Use CPA calculator; add funnel filters. |
Campaign ROI | Return on spend from ads, influencers, or airdrops. | Segment funnels by campaign and add custom charts. |
Why it matters:
Tracking acquisition metrics ensures your growth budget drives real, connected wallets—not just empty page views.
2. User Engagement Metrics
Engagement metrics show how actively users interact with your platform.
Metric | Description | Action Items |
Daily, weekly, and monthly active wallets. | Add dedicated charts for all three. | |
Feature Usage Breakdown | % of users using features like lending, borrowing, and staking. | Track via top events in analytics. |
Session Length | Average time spent per visit. | Available on the overview page. |
Feature Transition Rate | % of users moving between features (e.g., borrow → stake). | Measure using funnels. |
Referral Activity | Avg. invites per user, depth of referral tiers. | Create breakdown charts by referral value. |
Why it matters:
High engagement indicates product-market fit and user satisfaction—key drivers of organic growth.
3. Retention & Loyalty Metrics
Retention shows whether your users stick around—or drop off after first contact.
Metric | Description | Action Items |
User Retention (Day 1 / 7 / 30) | % of users returning after first wallet connect. | Track wallet-only retention. |
Churn Rate | % of inactive users. | Monitor on retention page. |
Repeat Usage Rate | How often users repeat actions. | Label power users and track advanced funnels. |
Wallet Age Distribution | How long have wallets been active on your platform? | Add user age breakdown charts. |
Why it matters:
Retention is a stronger growth signal than acquisition—especially in Web3, where wallet switching is easy.
B. DeFi-Specific Performance Metrics
If you’re running a DeFi protocol, financial metrics directly reflect product health.
4. TVL and Volume Metrics
Metric | Description | Action Items |
Total Value Locked (TVL) | Total funds across lending, staking, LP, and farming. | Add dedicated TVL tracking. |
TVL by Feature | TVL per product area. | Build breakdown charts. |
Borrowed Volume | Total borrowed assets over time. | Subscribe to borrow events. |
Swap Volume | Value of swap transactions over time. | Track revenue from contract events. |
APY Volatility | Fluctuations in yields. | Add historical APY charts. |
APY vs. TVL Correlation | See if high APY drives liquidity inflows. | Compare APY and TVL trends. |
5. User Financial Behavior
Metric | Description | Action Items |
Average Deposit Size | Per feature (lend, stake, LP). | Track via deposit event subscriptions. |
Borrow Utilization Rate | % of supplied assets being borrowed. | Extend charts to include API data. |
Liquidation Rate | Frequency of position liquidations. | Subscribe to liquidation events. |
Why it matters:
Financial metrics give you early warning signs of liquidity risks or underperforming features.
C. User Segmentation Metrics
Understanding who your users are unlocks more precise marketing.
Metric | Description | Action Items |
User Type Distribution | % traders, lenders, stakers. | Enable wallet labeling in profiles. |
Asset Profile | Avg. holdings per wallet. | Add wallet profiling pipeline. |
Volume Tiers | User groups by transaction volume. | Build revenue breakdown charts. |
Feature Journey Mapping | Common paths users take. | Add path analysis tools. |
Why it matters:
Segmentation powers hyper-personalized campaigns—essential for converting casual wallets into power users.
D. Campaign & Community Metrics
Your community is your growth engine in Web3.
Metric | Description | Action Items |
Campaign Conversion Rate | % of campaign participants using your features. | Segment funnels by UTM. |
Social Growth | Followers and community size. | Integrate with third-party tools. |
Engagement Rate | Likes, replies, click-throughs. | Measure via platform analytics. |
Sentiment Analysis | Community tone over time. | Integrate third-party monitoring. |
Tracking these metrics is only the first step. The real value comes from connecting marketing data with onchain activity, so you can see not just who arrived, but who stayed, transacted, and grew your product’s value.
By building a comprehensive Web3 marketing metrics dashboard, you can:
Identify high-value wallet segments
Optimize acquisition spend
Improve retention with targeted engagement
Maximize onchain app performance through data-driven decisions
With a sea of marketing metrics out there, mindset matters more than ever. The way you approach marketing is what cuts through the noise, shows you what truly moves the needle, and helps you execute with impact. In upcoming articles, we’ll cover how to set up these web3 product metrics using Formo and custom analytics pipelines—so you can move from raw data to real growth.
Follow Formo on LinkedIn and Twitter, and join our community to learn how you can turbocharge growth onchain!
Read more:
Mastering Web3 Marketing Attribution Analytics: A Complete Guide
Web3 Marketing and Web2 Marketing: What are the differences?
Additional FAQs
1. What makes Web3 marketing metrics different from Web2?
In Web2, user tracking relies on cookies, email addresses, and traditional analytics tools. In Web3, users are wallets, privacy is the default, and much of the engagement happens onchain. This requires combining traditional KPIs with wallet intelligence—tracking wallet connections, transactions, and asset behavior over time.
2. Why is retention more important than acquisition in Web3?
While attracting new wallets is critical, retention signals stronger product-market fit and sustainable growth. In Web3, wallet switching is frictionless, so keeping users engaged and loyal is a more reliable driver of long-term protocol value.
3. How can I avoid tracking vanity metrics?
Vanity metrics, like raw social follower counts or page views, can look impressive but don’t reflect meaningful business impact. Always ask: If this metric improves but nothing else changes, will it help us reach our goal? If not, pair it with deeper metrics like activation rate or revenue contribution.
4. Which metrics are essential for DeFi protocols?
Core DeFi metrics include Total Value Locked (TVL), borrowed and swap volumes, APY volatility, and liquidation rates. Tracking these alongside wallet-level behaviors like average deposit size or borrow utilization rate helps spot liquidity risks and growth opportunities early.
5. How do I link marketing performance to onchain growth?
Integrate your campaign data (UTMs, referral tracking, ad spend) with onchain analytics. This allows you to connect wallet acquisition sources to long-term behaviors—like repeat usage, asset holding, or liquidity provision—giving you a complete view from first touch to lifetime value.
