How to build User Milestones in BigQuery using RudderStack data

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The Architecture: Headless Product Intelligence

To implement User Milestones effectively, you need to move beyond simple event tracking, interactive funnel analysis and siloed dashboards. By leveraging your existing BigQuery infrastructure, you can create a single source of truth for your GTM and Product teams.

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The "Logic Gap": Why Manual Implementation is Hard

1. Definition Drift: What defines 'Onboarded'? If you change the definition in one SQL script, you have to update it in 10 other dashboards.
2. Triggering Automations: Knowing a user hit a milestone is useless if you can't instantly trigger a 'Congrats' email. SQL doesn't send emails.
3. Historical Re-statement: If you change a milestone definition, recalculating it for all historical users is a massive compute operation in BigQuery/Snowflake.

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Implementation: The BigQuery-Native Code

If you were to build this manually, your dbt model or SQL query in BigQuery might look like this:

/*
   Generic example for User Milestones
   Tailored for BigQuery architecture
*/

WITH raw_events AS (
    SELECT
        account_id,
        event_name,
        timestamp
    FROM `bigquery.raw_data.events`
    WHERE event_name IN ('onboarding_completed', 'first_project_created', 'profile_updated')
),

calculated_metrics AS (
    -- BigQuery-specific logic for User Milestones
    -- e.g., using specific window functions or time-travel
    SELECT
        account_id,
        COUNT(*) as signal_volume,
        DATE_TRUNC('day', timestamp) as metric_date
    FROM raw_events
    GROUP BY 1, 3
)

SELECT * FROM calculated_metrics;

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The GrowthCues Advantage: Automate the Signal

While the code above provides a starting point, GrowthCues eliminates the need for manual SQL maintenance entirely. You can define User Milestones using our no-code Milestone Editor, and GrowthCues will automatically:

• Calculate the signal at the account level using your RudderStack data.
• Detect anomalies and behavioral shifts using robust statistical methods.
• Push actionable signals back into your BigQuery, where you can activate them directly into the tools your team uses (Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce).

GrowthCues acts as the Headless Intelligence Layer for your BigQuery. It connects directly to your RudderStack tables and automatically:

• Calculates User Milestones at the account level.
• Detects anomalies and behavioral shifts in real-time.
• Pushes actionable signals back into your warehouse, where you can activate them directly into the tools your team uses (Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce).

Deep Dive: Milestone-Based Growth

Build a smoother path to value. Read our playbook on Automating Your Onboarding Flow.

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