Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.onesignal.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Beta — Conversion metrics is in beta and rolling out to all paid plans soon.
Overview
Conversion metrics let you measure the business impact of your OneSignal messaging by tracking real-world outcomes like purchases, sign-ups, and trial starts. You define which custom events count as conversions, and OneSignal attributes those conversions to the messages that drove them using a last-touch attribution model across all channels. This gives you a clear picture of how push notifications, emails, SMS, in-app messages, and RCS messages contribute to your business goals — all from within the OneSignal dashboard.Default conversion metrics
OneSignal tracks these conversion metrics out of the box — no additional setup or configuration required on your part:- App Sessions — Counts when a user opens your app after receiving a message.
- Clicks — Counts when a user clicks a message.
Set up custom conversion metrics
Before you can set up custom conversion metrics, you need:- Custom events flowing into OneSignal — Custom conversion metrics are powered by custom events. You must be sending events via the SDK, API, or an integration. See Custom events for setup instructions.
- A paid plan — Custom conversion metrics are available on all paid plans (Growth, Professional, and Enterprise).
Confirm custom events are sending
Verify your custom events are reaching OneSignal by checking Data > Custom Events in the dashboard. You should see the events you want to use as conversion metrics listed there.
Go to Settings > Analytics > Conversion Metrics
In the OneSignal dashboard, navigate to Settings > Analytics > Conversion Metrics to open the configuration page.
Select a custom event
Choose the custom event you want to track as a conversion metric. For example, select a
purchase event to track revenue or a signup event to track new registrations.Choose the tracking type
Select how you want to measure the conversion:
Use Count when you want to know how often something happened. Use Value when you want to track a cumulative numeric value like revenue or points.
| Tracking type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Count | Number of times the event occurred | 15 purchases |
| Value | Total of a numeric property value | $1,250 in revenue |
Configure attribution windows
Set the attribution window for each channel. The attribution window determines how long after a message interaction a conversion can still be credited to that message. See Attribution windows for details.
Attribution windows
An attribution window is the time period after a message interaction during which a conversion can be credited to that message. If a user converts within the window, the message receives credit. If the user converts after the window closes, the message does not. When a qualifying interaction happens (for example, a user clicking a push notification) that interaction opens a window for the duration you’ve configured for that channel. If the push window is set to 15 minutes, the window stays open from the moment of the click until 15 minutes later. Any conversion that occurs while the window is open can be attributed back to that push notification. Once the 15 minutes elapse, the window closes and the message is no longer eligible to receive credit for any conversions occurring after that time. You can configure attribution windows per channel in Settings > Analytics > Conversion Metrics.| Channel | Notes |
|---|---|
| Push | Window starts when the notification is delivered or clicked |
| Window starts when the email is opened or clicked | |
| In-App | Window starts when the message receives an impression or is clicked |
| SMS | Window starts when the message is delivered |
| RCS | Window starts when the message is delivered or read |
Attribution model
Conversion metrics use a last-touch attribution model. When a user converts, OneSignal evaluates all qualifying message interactions within their respective attribution windows and classifies the conversion as attributed, influenced, or unattributed.Attributed conversions
The most recent qualifying message interaction across all channels before the conversion receives attributed credit. Only one message gets attribution per conversion.| Channel | Qualifying interactions |
|---|---|
| Push | Clicked |
| In-App | Clicked |
| Opened or clicked | |
| SMS | Clicked |
| RCS | Read or clicked |
Influenced conversions
Any message that meets the qualifying criteria within its attribution window, except the message that received direct attribution credit, receives influenced credit. Multiple messages can receive influenced credit for a single conversion.| Channel | Qualifying interactions |
|---|---|
| Push | Delivered or clicked |
| In-App | Impression or clicked |
| Opened or clicked | |
| SMS | Delivered or clicked |
| RCS | Delivered, read, or clicked |
- It was clicked/opened/read within the attribution window, but was not the last message that was clicked/opened/read before the conversion happened.
- It was delivered within the attribution window, regardless of sequencing.
Unattributed conversions
A conversion is unattributed when no message interaction qualifies within any attribution window. The conversion happened organically, without a traceable message interaction.Key rules:
- Any single conversion event can have either 0 or 1 messages with direct attribution credit and any number of messages (including 0) with influenced credit.
- A message receives either attributed or influenced credit for a given conversion, never both.
- Attribution is cross-channel: the last qualifying interaction from any channel wins attributed credit.
Attribution examples
Recency wins when windows are open
In this example, a user interacts with messages across four channels before converting. The Push click is the most recent qualifying interaction and its window is still open, so it receives attributed credit. Email and SMS windows are also open, so those messages receive influenced credit. The In-App window closed before the conversion, so it receives no credit. Thus, this particular conversion was directly attributed to one message (the push notification) and additionally influenced by two messages (the email and the SMS).
Window length can override recency
Attribution windows are configurable per channel, which means an earlier interaction with a longer window can win over a more recent one with a shorter window. Here, the Push click is more recent but its short window closes before the conversion, so it receives no credit. The earlier Email click has a longer window that is still open, so it wins attributed credit.
View conversion metrics
Conversion data appears across several areas of the OneSignal dashboard.Global conversions dashboard
The global conversions dashboard provides a high-level view of all conversion activity. It shows total, attributed, influenced, and unattributed conversions over time. You can switch between a combined view and per-channel breakdowns using the tabs at the top of the chart.
Message, template, and Journey reports
Conversion metrics appear on all message reports, template reports, and Journey reports. Each single-message report shows the attributed and influenced conversions for that specific message, while template and Journey reports show conversions aggregated across messages. You’ll see different metrics depending on whether you’re viewing Counts or Values.Count metrics
- Direct (attributed) conversions — All conversions with a direct attribution credit. This will include conversions that were also influenced by a message.
- Influenced conversions — All conversions with only an influenced credit and no direct attribution credit. Since multiple messages may influence a conversion, it is possible a conversion may be counted more than once across different summary views.
- Conversion yield — Measures how effectively your messages drive conversions. Calculated as direct conversions divided by total delivered messages.
Value metrics
- Direct conversion value — The sum of the value property for conversions with direct attribution credit. This will include conversions that were also influenced by a message.
- Influenced conversion value — The sum of the value property for conversions that only have influenced credit. Multiple messages may influence a conversion, so a conversion may be counted more than once across different summary views.
- Value per delivery — Measures how much conversion value your messages drive. Calculated as direct conversion value divided by total delivered messages.
Cross-channel calculation methodology
When presenting aggregated metrics across multiple channels, we use the following methodology:- Clicks and Click-through rate — Click-through rate is always calculated using unique clicks. Note that because push notifications can be clicked (opened) exactly once, there is no distinction between total and unique clicks for push notifications.
- Delivered messages — This is used as the denominator in click-through rate, conversion yield, and value per delivery. It is the sum of delivered push, email, and SMS / RCS messages and in-app impressions.
Global vs. message-level reporting:On the global dashboard, each channel receives at most 1 influenced credit per conversion, even if multiple messages on that channel influenced it. On individual message reports, each message that received influenced credit shows it.This means the sum of influenced credits across individual message reports may be higher than the channel-level influenced count on the global dashboard.
Plan availability
Default conversion metrics (App Sessions and Clicks) are available on all plans. Custom conversion metrics are available on paid plans (Growth, Professional, and Enterprise).Migration from Custom Outcomes
Custom Outcomes is being deprecated and replaced by conversion metrics.- Legacy data is preserved — Your existing Custom Outcomes data remains accessible as historical data.
- Separate reporting — Legacy Custom Outcomes will not appear on the new conversion metrics charts. They remain in their original location.
- No automatic migration — To track the same metrics with the new attribution model, you need to:
- Implement custom events via the SDK, API, or integrations (if you haven’t already).
- Configure those events as conversion metrics in Settings > Analytics > Conversion Metrics.
- Default metrics are migrated — The default OneSignal outcomes (sessions, clicks) are automatically available as default conversion metrics.
FAQ
How is this different from Custom Outcomes?
Custom Outcomes only attribute conversions from push notifications and in-app messages. Conversion metrics use a cross-channel last-touch attribution model that covers push, email, SMS, in-app, and RCS. Conversion metrics are also powered by custom events instead of SDK outcome methods, and they provide more granular control over attribution windows per channel.What channels support conversion metrics?
Push notifications, email, SMS, in-app messages, and RCS.Can I track revenue with conversion metrics?
Yes. When setting up a conversion metric, choose the Value tracking type and select the numeric property from your custom event that represents the monetary value (for example,price or order_total).
How long is conversion data retained?
Conversion data is retained based on your plan. See Analytics data retention for details.What happens to my existing Custom Outcomes data?
Your existing Custom Outcomes data is preserved and remains accessible as historical data. It will not be migrated to or displayed on the new conversion metrics charts. See Migration from Custom Outcomes for details.Related pages
Custom events
Set up and manage the events that power conversion metrics.
Analytics overview
Explore all analytics features available in OneSignal.