DAU

A key performance indicator (KPI) used in the digital marketing and tech industries to measure the number of unique individuals who meaningfully interact with a product or platform within a single 24-hour period. In digital products, meaningful interaction is defined by actions that signal genuine engagement rather than passive exposure, such as opening an app, posting content, completing a task, or triggering a tracked event. DAU is often the earliest indicator of product stickiness because it shows how frequently users return in the short term and whether the experience is valuable enough to warrant daily use.

For product-led companies, DAU helps quantify momentum. A rising daily active user base signals that new users are adopting the product quickly and that existing users are consistently finding value in it. Marketing teams often monitor DAU to validate the impact of campaigns aimed at creating habitual engagement or increasing session frequency. Founders and executives use the metric as a pulse check for overall product health, especially in sectors where daily use is expected, such as messaging, social, collaboration, or utilities.

DAU also plays a critical role in downstream analytics. It is the numerator in common product-usage ratios, such as DAU/MAU, which evaluate long-term retention and user loyalty. When DAU drops, it often reflects friction in the user experience, lower perceived value, or onboarding gaps—areas that both marketing and product must address jointly.

See also: WAU