LTV (Lifetime Value), also called CLV (Customer Lifetime Value), is the total revenue a single user generates over their entire relationship with your app. It is the most important metric for understanding the long-term value of your user acquisition efforts.
LTV Formula
Example: If the average user spends $5/month and stays for 8 months, LTV = $40.
Why LTV Matters
LTV determines how much you can afford to spend acquiring a user. The golden rule of mobile growth:
LTV by Cohort
LTV should be measured by cohort — the group of users who installed your app in the same time period. This lets you compare whether users acquired from Google Ads have higher LTV than users from TikTok, or whether users acquired in January have higher LTV than those acquired in June.
How to Increase LTV
- Improve onboarding — Users who complete onboarding have significantly higher retention
- Add subscription models — Recurring revenue dramatically increases LTV
- Reduce churn — Retargeting campaigns can re-engage users about to churn
- Cross-sell and upsell — Increase ARPU from existing users
- Acquire better users — Use LTV data to optimize targeting toward high-value user segments
AppMeasurely tracks LTV by cohort, campaign and channel. Know which acquisition sources bring your highest-value users. Get started free →