Understanding how customers behave over time is critical for growth. With Abacum, you can easily bring in actuals from your cohort datasets and build the foundational variables that power retention, renewal, and forecasting analysis.
Instead of patching together spreadsheets, you get a dynamic, structured view of customer behavior across cohorts, regions, and time, ready for strategic insights.
Key Benefits of Creating Actuals Cohorts
With Abacum's cohort modeling features, you can:
Analyze customer behavior trends over time with actuals pulled directly from your existing cohort datasets.
Track retention and renewal metrics using built-in variables like New Customers, Renewal Customers, and Retention Rate.
Build the foundation for accurate forecasting by transforming raw customer data into structured, analyzable models.
Eliminate manual data consolidation and reduce the risk of errors common in spreadsheet-based cohort analysis.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Actuals Cohorts
1. Import Your Actuals Data
Start by creating a new Cohort Model within Abacum. Add a Customers variable and import actuals directly from your Cohort Dataset. Enhance your analysis by incorporating relevant dimensions such as:
Cohort Date to track customer acquisition periods
Geographic regions (Country, Territory) to identify location-based patterns
Customer segments to analyze behavior by customer type
Product lines to understand product-specific retention trends
2. Define Essential Cohort Variables
Build the core metrics that drive meaningful cohort analysis:
New Customers - Track initial customer acquisition (Month 00 of each cohort)
Renewal Customers - Monitor customers returning after their initial period (Month 01+)
Cumulative New Customers - Calculate running totals to understand growth trajectories
Retention Rate (%) - Measure the percentage of new customers remaining active in subsequent months
Churn Rate - Identify customer attrition patterns across cohort periods
3. Generate Dynamic Cohort Insights
Once your variables are configured, you'll have real-time visibility into customer performance across multiple dimensions. This structured approach provides:
Live cohort performance tracking across time periods and geographic regions
Foundation data for advanced cohort forecasting models
Comparative analysis capabilities between different customer segments
Trend identification for proactive business planning
TL;DR |
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Creating actuals cohorts transforms fragmented customer data into powerful strategic insights that drive sustainable growth. By importing your cohort datasets directly into Abacum, you eliminate manual consolidation errors while building essential variables like retention rates, renewal metrics, and churn patterns. This structured approach provides real-time visibility across customer segments, geographic regions, and time periods—establishing the foundation for accurate forecasting and data-driven decision-making. |
Want to keep learning how to use Cohorts in Abacum? This is just the first video of a series of 3:
