What is weekly active users?

Weekly active users (WAU) is a metric used to measure the number of unique users who have engaged with the app within a given week. It is a commonly used metric in the tech industry to gauge the level of engagement and growth of a digital product. WAU is often compared to monthly active users (MAU) to understand user engagement patterns over a longer period and to identify user behavior trends. A high WAU count indicates that a significant number of users are returning to the product on a regular basis, which can be a positive sign of user satisfaction and loyalty.

Why is weekly active users important?

Firstly, WAU allows mobile marketers to understand the level of engagement of their mobile app. By tracking the number of unique users who have engaged with the app or website in a given week, mobile marketers can better understand how often users are returning to the product and how engaged they are with it. A high WAU count is generally a positive sign of user satisfaction and loyalty. In contrast, a low count may indicate that the app is not meeting the needs of its users or that the marketing efforts are not effectively driving engagement.

WAU also allows mobile marketers to identify patterns of user behavior over time. By comparing WAU counts over several weeks or months, mobile marketers can identify trends in user engagement and use this information to improve the product or marketing strategy. For example, suppose a mobile marketer notices that WAU has been decreasing over a period of time. In that case, they can take steps to improve the app or website to retain users or implement new marketing strategies to drive engagement.

Additionally, WAU can also be used to compare engagement levels between different mobile products or platforms. For example, a mobile marketer can compare WAU counts for their own mobile app to those of a competitor's app to understand how they are performing in relation to the competition. This data can be used to identify gaps in the market and to make strategic decisions about where to focus future marketing efforts.

How do you calculate weekly active users? 

To calculate an app's WAU, you will need to track the number of unique users who have engaged with the app over a given week. Here are the steps to calculate WAU:

1. Gather data on the number of unique users who have engaged with the app each day.
2. For each day of the week, add up the number of unique users who have engaged with the app. This will give you a total number of unique users for each day of the week.
3. Take the sum of the unique users for each day of the week and remove any duplicate users.

‍