# Are users coming back?

> A step-by-step walkthrough of ClickClacks retention: choose starting and returning events, pick the retained rule, read the cohort grid, the cards and the curve, see who came back, and compare cohorts by campaign and by segment.

- Canonical URL: https://clickclacks.io/docs/walkthroughs/retention
- Section: Walkthroughs
- Last updated: 2026-09-26

A funnel tells you who got started. Retention tells you who kept going. This walkthrough asks whether new Acme CRM accounts keep working their deals week after week, and whether some groups stick better than others.

## The question {#question}

_Of the people who sign up in a given week, what share create deals again in the weeks after, and is that getting better?_ Retention needs history: the project needs two completed periods (two weeks, for weekly cohorts) before anything shows, and more is better.

## 1. Choose the habit {#habit}

Retention compares two events: one that puts someone into a cohort, and one that counts as coming back.

- **Starting event**: `Signed up`. Each person joins the cohort of the week they first did it.
- **Returning event**: `Deal created`. Any event would count a single pageview as “coming back”; a real action measures a habit.

Pick the returning event with your team. It is the definition of an active user, and every retention number you quote depends on it.

## 2. Set the definition {#define}

1. Open **Retention**.
2. Click **Edit definition**.
3. Set **Starting event** to `Signed up` and **Returning event** to `Deal created`.
4. Under **Count someone as retained if they…**, choose **Came back in that week**. (The stricter **Came back every week since** drops people for good after one quiet week.)
5. Keep **Hide cohorts under 20 people** on, so a tiny cohort can’t swing the picture.
6. Press **Apply**.

> **The definition is shared**
>
> There is one retention definition per project. When you press **Apply**, everyone sees the new version. Agree it with your team before you change it.

> **What you should see**
>
> The strip at the top reads the definition back as a sentence, such as _People who did Signed up then came back and did Deal created · 8 weekly cohorts · 1,204 people_.

## 3. Read the cards {#cards}

Keep **Weekly** cohorts selected. Four cards sit above the grid:

- **Week 1 retention** and **Week 4 retention**, averaged across the cohorts old enough to have them.
- **Where the curve flattens**: the week after which it loses less than 1 point a week. After that, the people left are your core.
- **Median cohort size**, with the smallest and largest, so you know how much to trust the averages.

## 4. Read the grid {#grid}

In the **Grid**, each row is a cohort: the week it started, how many people, and the share who created a deal in W0, W1, W2 and onwards. The **All cohorts** row on top blends them. Darker cells mean more people came back.

- **Read down a column** to see whether things are improving: is W1 higher for recent cohorts than for older ones?
- **Read along a row** to see how one cohort fades.
- **Blank cells** are weeks that haven’t happened yet. The current week is left out until it closes, so a young cohort never looks like a drop.

> **What you should see**
>
> A triangle of shaded cells, fullest at the top left. At Acme, W1 has risen for the cohorts since the new import flow shipped, which is the first sign the activation fix is working.

## 5. Read the curve {#curve}

Switch the view to **Curve**. Each cohort becomes a line: the share still creating deals, by week since sign-up.

- A curve that **levels off** means you have found people who stay.
- A curve that **keeps falling** towards zero means everyone eventually leaves.
- Newer cohorts’ lines sitting **above** older ones means retention is improving.

## 6. See who came back {#who}

1. Switch back to **Grid** and click a W4 cell of a recent cohort.
2. Choose **Retained** to list who came back, or **Not retained** for who didn’t.
3. Click a person to open their profile and read what they did.

> **What you should see**
>
> The exact people behind the percentage, under your definition and filters. Reading five retained and five not-retained timelines side by side is often the fastest way to see what the stayers do differently.

## 7. Compare by campaign {#campaigns}

1. Click **Break down by** and choose **UTM source**.
2. Compare the W1 and W4 columns between sources.

A breakdown splits cohorts by a property of each person’s first starting event, so here by the campaign of the visit in which they signed up. You get the top 5 values, and the rest are grouped as _Other_. The cards show the highest and lowest values, and the curve draws one line per value.

> **What you should see**
>
> One row per source. A campaign that brings plenty of sign-ups but a low W4 is buying visitors, not customers. The [acquisition walkthrough](https://clickclacks.io/docs/walkthroughs/acquisition.md) digs into that.

## 8. Compare segments {#segments}

Are people who import contacts in their first days more likely to stay? Make that a segment and compare:

1. Open **People** › **Segments** and click **New segment**.
2. Add **did** `Contacts imported` **at least** 1 time, **in the last** 90 days. Name it _Imported contacts_ and click **Save segment**.
3. Back in Retention, click **Compare segments**, tick _Imported contacts_, and apply.

> **What you should see**
>
> One set of rows for _Imported contacts_ and one for _Other_, everyone in no ticked segment. If importers retain far better, getting people to import is worth more than any other onboarding fix. You can compare up to five segments; someone in two segments counts in both.

A breakdown and a segment comparison replace each other. Retention doesn’t compare to the previous period, so to compare time periods, read newer and older cohort rows side by side.

## 9. Keep it in view {#keep}

- On a board, click **＋ Add tile** and add a **Cohort grid** (5, 8 or 12 cohorts) or a **Big number** for **Week-1 retention**.
- In **Alerts**, click **New alert** and watch **Retention** · _Week 1 retention_, so you hear when it leaves its usual range.

## Common mistakes {#mistakes}

- **Any event as the returning event.** A single pageview counts as coming back, which flatters the numbers. Use a real action.
- **Changing the definition without telling anyone.** Every board tile, alert and teammate sees the change at once.
- **Reading the newest cohorts’ later weeks.** They haven’t happened yet; blank is not zero.
- **Averages from tiny cohorts.** Check **Median cohort size**. If cohorts are small, use **Monthly** cohorts or a more common starting event.
- **“Not enough history yet”.** The project needs two completed periods. Click **Switch to daily cohorts** to see something sooner.
- **Expecting a link to keep your view.** The daily, weekly or monthly choice and Grid or Curve aren’t in the page address, so a shared link opens weekly, as a grid.

## Next {#next}

Some campaigns bring people who stay, others don’t. Find out which: [Where do our best users come from?](https://clickclacks.io/docs/walkthroughs/acquisition.md)

## Related {#related}

- [Retention](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/retention.md): The definition, grid, curve and audiences.
- [Segments](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/segments.md): Build the groups you compare.
- [Alerts](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/alerts.md): Watch week 1 retention for you.
- [Find where signups drop off](https://clickclacks.io/docs/walkthroughs/activation-funnel.md): The step before retention.