LTV
The total value a user or customer is expected to generate over their relationship with the product.
Stands for
Lifetime value
Formal definition
LTV stands for lifetime value: the cumulative revenue, margin, or modeled value expected from a user or customer over the meaningful lifetime of that relationship.
Plain-English explanation
LTV is the long-view value of a user. It helps teams avoid optimizing only for the cheapest install when a more expensive source may keep producing better customers for months.
Examples
- A subscription app compares six-month LTV for users from paid social versus creator campaigns.
- A campaign with a higher CAC may still be worth it if those users retain better and produce stronger LTV.
How it works
- Track the revenue or margin a user produces over time.
- Group those users by source, campaign, cohort, or product segment.
- Compare long-term value with acquisition cost to decide which channels truly scale well.
How Attriax uses it
- Attriax helps build LTV views by keeping user acquisition sources attached to later in-app events and revenue signals.
- LTV becomes more useful when teams compare it against CAC or ROAS, not as a standalone number.
- Retention windows matter: a seven-day value curve can tell a different story than a ninety-day curve.