Overview
When building analytics into your product using Accoil, it’s essential to understand the difference between event tracking and snapshot metrics. These two types of data serve different purposes—and complement each other when used correctly.
In this guide, we’ll use Loom —a well-known video messaging tool— as an example to demonstrate how to think about user behavior events versus point-in-time system metrics, and how both play critical roles in product analytics, customer segmentation, and growth strategies.
What Are Snapshot Metrics?
Snapshot metrics represent the current state of key objects or entities in your product. They’re typically:
Calculated nightly or on a regular cadence
Sent to Accoil via
group()calls as traits (usually at the account level)Designed to give you reliable, up-to-date counts that aren’t impacted by gaps or inconsistencies in event tracking
Examples from Loom
If you were building analytics for Loom, your snapshot metrics might include:
Total number of videos an account has created
Number of shared videos across all users in an account
Total video views accumulated by an account
Number of users in the workspace, broken down by role (e.g. admins, members, viewers)
Number of integrations (e.g. connected to Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce)
Current plan type (Free, Business, Enterprise)
These metrics help answer important questions like:
Who are our power users?
Which accounts are ready to upgrade?
Are large teams using key integrations?
Are users actively sharing content externally?
🛠️ Best practice: Compute these snapshot metrics nightly and send them as traits in your group() calls. This ensures that segmentation in Accoil is based on reliable and current data.
What Is Event Tracking?
Event tracking captures what users do inside your product. These are emitted in real-time and typically sent using track() calls.
Examples from Loom
For Loom, common event tracking might include:
video_created— when a user records a new videovideo_shared— when a video is shared externallyvideo_viewed— when someone watches a videovideo_deleted— when a video is removeduser_invited— when an admin invites someone to the teamintegration_added— when Loom is connected to another platform
These events help you understand:
How users are engaging with your product
Which features are being adopted
What behaviors lead to upgrades or retention
🧠 Tip: Event data is great for mapping journeys and identifying usage patterns, but it should not be used to calculate long-term or aggregate metrics like “total number of videos.” If an event is dropped or missed, your counts become inaccurate.
When to Use Snapshot Metrics vs Event Tracking
Again using Loom as an example.
Use Case | Snapshot Metric | Event Tracking |
Current number of videos in an account | ✅ Yes | 🚫 No (event loss risk) |
How many admins are in the workspace | ✅ Yes | 🚫 No |
Who recorded a video today | 🚫 No | ✅ Yes |
How often users share videos | 🚫 No | ✅ Yes |
Total views on all videos per account | ✅ Yes | 🚫 No |
Which features are most commonly used | 🚫 No | ✅ Yes |
Segmenting Effectively in Accoil
To power segmentation and targeting in Accoil:
Use snapshot metrics to define account health, tier usage, or upgrade eligibility.
E.g., Accounts with 500+ videos on the Free plan → target for Sales outreach
Use event tracking to build behavioral cohorts and funnel reports.
E.g., Users who recorded and shared a video in their first 3 days
You can combine both in Accoil Recipes for rich segmentation logic. For instance:
Example Recipe:
Filter:
Total videos > 300(snapshot trait)Filter:
Used screen share in last 7 days(event)Segment: “Power users actively using advanced features”
Key Recommendations
Don’t try to infer counts from events. Snapshot metrics should be the source of truth for totals.
Send snapshot data via
group()traits nightly or periodically.Track user actions via
track()calls to understand feature engagement and user behavior.Use Accoil Plays to combine both data types for effective segmentation and targeting.
Summary
In analytics, knowing what users did is not the same as knowing what exists. Event tracking helps you understand how users engage, but snapshot metrics show you what they’ve built and how much they’ve used.
By combining the two in Accoil, you get a complete view of product engagement, enabling smarter decisions across Sales, Customer Success, Product, and Marketing.