Introduction

“We crossed 10,000 downloads!”
“Our website had 50,000 visitors this month!”
“Our SaaS product has 5 new features!”

Sounds impressive, right? But here’s the reality: these might just be vanity metrics. They look great in investor decks, but they often hide the truth: are users actually engaged, retained, and paying?

At ZoCode.Club, we apply Product Management principles to digital products. And one of the first things we teach founders is this: stop measuring vanity, start measuring value.

What Are Vanity Metrics?

Vanity metrics = numbers that make you feel good but don’t reflect true performance.

Examples:

• Websites: Page views, total traffic, social likes.

• Apps: Downloads, installs.

• SaaS: Total sign-ups, feature count.

They inflate your ego but don’t answer the key question: “Is my product solving real problems and growing sustainably?”

What Are Value Metrics?

Value metrics = numbers that show real user and business outcomes.

Examples:

• Websites: Conversion rate (visitors → leads), bounce rate on key pages, average session duration.

• Apps: Daily active users (DAU), retention after 7/30 days, feature usage depth.

• SaaS: Net revenue retention (NRR), churn rate, activation rate (time to first value).

They show if you’re delivering value consistently and growing sustainably.

Why Vanity Metrics Mislead Founders

1. They create false confidence.
   50,000 monthly visitors sound great, but if conversions are 0.5%, you’re leaking users.

2. They distract from growth levers.
   A PM doesn’t care about “total downloads.” They ask: “How many users came back the next day?”

3. They mislead investors.
   Smart investors look past vanity. If you brag about traffic but can’t show engagement, they’ll doubt scalability.

How to Redefine Metrics: The PM Framework

PMs use the AARRR funnel (Pirate Metrics) to separate vanity from value:

1. Acquisition → Are you reaching the right users?
   Vanity = page views, downloads.
   Value = cost per qualified lead, % of organic traffic, CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost).

2. Activation → Are users experiencing the “aha moment”?
   Vanity = total sign-ups.
   Value = % of users completing onboarding or first key action.

3. Retention → Do users come back?
   Vanity = installs.
   Value = DAU/MAU ratio, churn rate, repeat visits.

4. Referral → Do users bring others?
   Vanity = social followers.
   Value = referrals per user, virality coefficient.

5. Revenue → Are you monetizing?
   Vanity = pricing page visits.
   Value = MRR, ARPU, lifetime value (LTV).

Rule: If a metric doesn’t link to user value or business value, it’s vanity.

Real-World Applications

Websites

• Vanity: “We had 20,000 visitors this week!”

• Value: “2.4% of visitors converted into demo requests.”

PM Action: Focus on optimizing CTAs, trust signals, and page load speeds.

Apps

• Vanity: “We crossed 100,000 downloads!”

• Value: “35% of users are still active after 30 days.”

PM Action: Prioritize onboarding, habit loops, and push notification strategy.

SaaS

• Vanity: “We launched 5 new features this quarter!”

• Value: “Feature X is used weekly by 70% of paying customers, reducing churn by 15%.”

PM Action: Track feature adoption → prioritize features that drive retention.

Case Study: From Vanity to Value

A health-tech founder we worked with had:

• A flashy website with high traffic.

• An app with 15,000 downloads.

• A SaaS dashboard with multiple features.

But they were struggling to raise funds. Investors said: “These are vanity numbers, show us engagement.”

We reframed their metrics with PM discipline:

• Website → Added lead-tracking → showed 3.5% conversion.

• App → Focused on retention → improved 30-day retention to 42%.

• SaaS → Highlighted feature adoption → proved customers were using it daily.

Result: Their story shifted from “We have numbers” to “We have engaged, paying users.” They secured funding in 6 months.

Lesson: Vanity excites, but value convinces.

How Founders Can Shift Mindset

1. Ask “so what?” → Every time you see a metric, ask: what outcome does this drive?

2. Tie metrics to user journeys. → Sign-ups are meaningless unless they activate.

3. Measure leading indicators. → Instead of MRR only, track adoption signals that lead to revenue.

4. Use cohorts, not aggregates. → Average traffic hides drop-offs. Cohort analysis reveals retention truth.

Quick Founder’s Checklist

• Do my website metrics show conversions, not just traffic?

• Do my app metrics show retention, not just downloads?

• Do my SaaS metrics show adoption, not just feature launches?

• Can I explain my metrics in terms of user value and business value?

If you answered “no” to 2 or more, you’re still chasing vanity.

Conclusion

In Product Management, numbers don’t lie—but they can mislead. Vanity metrics make you feel good; value metrics make you grow.

For founders, the shift is simple but powerful:

• Stop bragging about downloads, page views, and sign-ups.

• Start focusing on conversions, retention, adoption, and revenue.

At ZoCode.Club, we help founders apply PM discipline to redefine success. Because the future belongs to digital products that measure value, not vanity.