How do I calculate average occurrences between two events?

• How do I calculate average number of times an event happens before a conversion event?
  • How it’s calculated
  • How to set up Average Number of Times an Event Happens Before Conversion Event
    • Step 1
    • Step 2
    • Step 3
    • Step 4
    • Step 5
    • Step 6
  • What other metrics can I track?

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How do I calculate average number of times an event happens before a conversion event?

You can calculate the average number of times (not duration) someone performs an event before performing a second event by setting up a metric called, “Average Number of Times an Event Happens Before Conversion Event.”

For example, you can see:

1. How many times on average someone visits your website before they subscribe to your newsletter

2. The number of PDFs on average someone downloads before they sign up for a free trial

3. How many times on average someone uses feature A before they purchase

How it’s calculated

First, this metric finds the total average number of times an event happens before a conversion event happened. Then, we’ll divide by the number of times the conversion event happened in the date range.

For someone to be counted, they need to have done the conversion event in the date range.

Example: On average, how many times does someone view the product details page before purchasing in the month of January?

In this instance:

1 = Viewed product details

2 = Purchased

	12/29	12/30	12/31	1/1	1/2	1/3	1/4	1/5
Andy	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	2
Keara	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	2
Ryan			1	1	1	2

**Total average: 2.2 times **

Let’s dive deeper to see how we got that average.

Andy’s average: 3/2 = 1.5

If a conversion event happens outside the date range, we’ll stop counting any events before that conversion event. Because Andy purchased on 12/31, we stop counting any times he viewed product details before that.

And because he purchased 2 times in January, the denominator is 2.

Keara’s average: 5/2 = 2.5

Keara viewed product details 5 times and purchased 2 times in January.

Ryan’s average: 3/1 = 3

Ryan viewed product details 3 times and purchased 1 time in January.

How to set up Average Number of Times an Event Happens Before Conversion Event

Step 1

Log into Kissmetrics and select “Add new metric”

Step 2

Select “Average Number of Times an Event Happens Before Conversion Event” and “Continue with this metric”

Step 3

Name your metric. (Suggestion: Average Number of Times _____ Before ______)

Step 4

Select your first event. (example: Viewed product page)

Step 5

Select your conversion event. (example: Purchased)

Optional: Choose a property and property value to filter this metric’s results (example: property=country, property value=Canada)

Step 6

Click “Save metric” and view it in your dashboard.

What other metrics can I track?

Here’s a full list of metrics you can place in your dashboard.