Cutting a channel because day-1 retention looks weak is common. Sometimes it is correct. Sometimes registration is defined as a later event than the creative promised, and the cohort is simply waiting for a form that still feels long on mobile.
A sober reading order
- Confirm the attributed source definition for the cohort (last click, first click, or modelled).
- Align timezones between the export and the campaign report.
- Plot the first commercial or activation event, not only opens.
- Ask whether creative promised a flow the app does not yet support.
Mild restraint
If the cohort is under a few hundred users, treat the story as directional. Attribution arguments get louder than the sample size deserves.
When you want a facilitated pass through one cohort, book a Cohort Retention Reading. Bring the export; leave with annotated questions rather than a slogan.