cohort analysis - first visit on specific dates

[VirginieRe2]

how do i create a cohort segment for users who first came to the site on a specific date? SAy users who first came on 2 specific days in february. I want to know how often they return each month since then. (the date of my cohort would be from Feb until July)

[pradnya_balvir]

Hi @VirginieRe2 ,

Build the segment:

Set Container = Visitor

• Add:

  • Visit Number = 1

  • AND

  • Day (Date) equals "2025-02-05" OR "2025-02-12"

Use Visitor so it captures users with first-ever visit on those specific days.

Use It in a Cohort Table

• Open Workspace

• Insert a Cohort Table visualization

• Drag the cohort segment you created to the segment drop area

• Set:

  • Inclusion Metric: "Visits"

  • Return Criteria: "Visits" (or any return behavior metric)

  • Granularity: Monthly

  • Date Range: Feb 1 – July 31

Important notes:

• “Visit Number = 1” is how Adobe identifies first-time visitors

• The "Day" dimension filters it down to when that first visit happened

• This approach works even if the user visited again later — only users whose first visit was on Feb 5 or Feb 12 are included

Please try and let me know if any issues.

Thanks.

Pradnya

[nitesh__anwani]

Hi @VirginieRe2 ,

Cohort tables are a good option when you want to analyze user retention over subsequent months.

However, if your goal is to understand the frequency of returning visitors in the later months, then the right combination of KPIs to focus on would be:

• Visitors

• Visits

• Visits per Visitor

The Visits/Visitor metric, in particular, gives you a strong indication of how frequently users are coming back after their initial visit.

Example:

Here’s how I built a sample report tailored to your use case:

• I created segments to capture visitors who had their first visit between February 6th and 8th.

• Using this segment, I was able to extract data on their visits and unique visitors across later months.

• This allowed me to calculate the frequency of return visits (using Visits/Visitor), as well as track the number of returning users and their total visit count over time.

Why Segments Work Well Here:

Segments offer greater flexibility for this type of analysis since they let you filter based on specific date ranges.
If you're working with multiple dates, you can also use week or month-level dimensions as part of your segment conditions.

Please let me know if this helps you get what you’re looking for.

Thanks,

Nitesh

[Vinay_Chauhan]

Hi @VirginieRe2 

I have an easier method to share for cohort analysis in Adobe Analytics — especially helpful when working with multiple or rolling cohorts. It also avoids cluttering your project with too many static segments.

Lets say you want to track users whose first visit happened on specific dates (e.g., Feb 3, Feb 10), and analyze how often they return over the months until July.

Instead of building separate segments for each cohort, here’s a cleaner, more scalable approach -

Step 1: Pull First-Time Visitors via Table Filter

• Create a Visit-level segment -
  Visit Number = 1
  (This captures users during their first visit.)

• Build a Freeform Table with:
  Rows - Day (or use Week for broader cohorts)
  Columns - Unique Visitors (with the above segment applied)

Now you can filter the rows to focus on just Feb 3, Feb 10, etc., without creating multiple static segments.

Step 2: Use as Cohort Input

Take those selected dates and use them in further analysis:

• Apply date filters or breakdowns

• Use Cohort Table, Line Chart, or Bar Chart

• Track return metrics like Visits, Visits per Visitor, or any custom metric

Hope that works for you!