Published on 2025-06-22T03:59:38Z

What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)? Examples for analytics

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric that measures the likelihood of your customers recommending your product or service to others. It is determined by surveying customers with a single question: “On a scale from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely), how likely are you to recommend us?” Respondents are classified into Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), or Detractors (0–6), and the score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters. NPS provides a simple yet powerful way to benchmark customer satisfaction and predict business growth. Analytics teams often integrate NPS into their dashboards to track trends over time, identify areas for improvement, and evaluate the impact of product changes. Tools like PlainSignal and GA4 can be used to collect, process, and visualize NPS data, enabling data-driven decisions across marketing, product, and customer success. Ultimately, NPS helps businesses focus on improving customer advocacy and driving sustainable revenue growth.

Illustration of Net promoter score (nps)
Illustration of Net promoter score (nps)

Net promoter score (nps)

NPS gauges customer loyalty by asking recommendation likelihood and calculating the difference between promoters and detractors.

Definition and Importance of NPS

This section explains what NPS is and why it has become a cornerstone metric for measuring customer loyalty and predicting business growth.

  • What is nps?

    NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, a metric that gauges customer loyalty by asking the question: “On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend X to a friend or colleague?” Responses are categorized into Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), and Detractors (0–6).

    • Promoters

      Customers who respond with a 9 or 10, indicating high loyalty and satisfaction.

    • Passives

      Customers who respond with a 7 or 8, indicating satisfaction but limited enthusiasm.

    • Detractors

      Customers who respond between 0 and 6, indicating dissatisfaction and risk of churn.

  • Why nps matters

    NPS is widely used as a benchmark for customer loyalty and growth potential. It’s simple, comparable across industries, and correlates strongly with revenue growth. High NPS scores often indicate strong word-of-mouth referrals.

Calculating Net Promoter Score

Learn how to design the core survey question and compute your NPS from raw responses.

  • Survey question

    The core NPS survey asks: “On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product or service?” This simplicity drives higher response rates.

  • Score calculation

    Calculate NPS by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters: NPS = %Promoters − %Detractors. Scores range from -100 (all Detractors) to +100 (all Promoters).

Implementing NPS Tracking in Analytics Tools

Practical guidance for capturing NPS data using popular analytics platforms like PlainSignal and GA4.

  • Tracking with PlainSignal

    PlainSignal supports custom event tracking and surveys without cookies. Integrate NPS by embedding their lightweight script:

    <link rel='preconnect' href='//eu.plainsignal.com/' crossorigin />
<script defer data-do='yourwebsitedomain.com' data-id='0GQV1xmtzQQ' data-api='//eu.plainsignal.com' src='//cdn.plainsignal.com/plainsignal-min.js'></script>

    Then configure an NPS survey event in your PlainSignal dashboard to capture responses.

  • Tracking with GA4

    In Google Analytics 4, send NPS responses as custom events. Name the event nps_response and include parameters like score and comment. Use GA4’s Explorations to analyze the distribution of Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.

Best Practices and Common Pitfalls

Tips to maximize the effectiveness of your NPS program and avoid misleading results.

  • Best practices

    Keep the survey concise, time it after key customer interactions, and follow up on feedback. Benchmark against industry averages and segment NPS by customer cohorts for deeper insights.

  • Common pitfalls

    Beware of survey fatigue and self-selection bias. Avoid overemphasizing NPS without examining underlying qualitative feedback. Don’t use it as the sole measure of customer health.

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