Braze is a comprehensive customer engagement platform that enables brands to orchestrate real-time, personalized experiences across multiple channels, including mobile (push notifications, in-app messages), web (in-browser messages, web push), email, and SMS. Braze Canvas Flow, its journey builder, incorporates AI (often referred to as “AI in Canvas” or similar AI-driven features) to optimize these journeys, personalize messaging, and predict user behavior.
AI Focus: AI is used within Braze for intelligent segmentation, predictive churn, send-time optimization, message content personalization (e.g., subject line optimization, copy suggestions), A/B/n testing optimization, and predictive recommendations.
Key Features:
- Cross-Channel Messaging: Supports push notifications (mobile & web), in-app/in-browser messages, email, SMS, Content Cards (flexible in-app content feeds), and more.
- Braze Canvas Flow (Journey Orchestration): A visual journey builder that allows marketers to design complex, multi-step, cross-channel customer lifecycle campaigns.
- AI in Canvas:
- Intelligent Timing / Send Time Optimization: AI determines the optimal time to send a message to each individual user to maximize engagement.
- Predictive Churn: Identifies users at risk of churning and allows targeting them with proactive retention campaigns.
- Personalized Variant Selection / Winning Path: AI can automatically test different message variants or journey paths and dynamically route users to the best performing one.
- Next Best Action/Offer (potentially): AI can help determine the most relevant next message or offer for a user within a journey.
- Segmentation & Audience Targeting: Robust segmentation capabilities based on user attributes, custom events, campaign engagement, and predictive insights.
- Personalization: Deep personalization of messages using Liquid templating, user attributes, event data, and AI-driven content suggestions.
- A/B/n Testing: Comprehensive testing framework for messages, creatives, and entire journey flows.
- Data Analytics & Reporting: Detailed dashboards and reporting on campaign performance, user engagement, and journey effectiveness.
- SDKs & APIs: Robust SDKs for mobile and web integration, and APIs for custom data flows and integrations.
- Content Cards: Flexible in-app/in-browser surfaces for delivering persistent, dynamic content.
Marketing Use Cases:
- Customer Onboarding & Activation: Guiding new users through personalized onboarding sequences to drive product adoption.
- Lifecycle Marketing Automation: Creating automated journeys to engage users at every stage of their lifecycle (e.g., welcome, nurture, re-engagement, churn prevention).
- Behavior-Triggered Campaigns: Sending real-time messages based on user actions or inactions (e.g., cart abandonment, feature usage, inactivity).
- Personalized Promotional Campaigns: Delivering targeted offers and promotions across multiple channels.
- Mobile App Engagement & Retention: Using push notifications and in-app messages to drive app usage, feature discovery, and user retention.
- Improving Customer Loyalty: Building stronger customer relationships through relevant and timely communication.
- Optimizing Message Timing & Content: Using AI to send the right message, through the right channel, at the right time for each user.
- Reducing Customer Churn: Proactively identifying and engaging at-risk users with targeted retention efforts.
Pricing Overview:
- Primarily targets mid-market to enterprise businesses, especially those with a strong mobile presence.
- Subscription-based SaaS model.
- Custom Pricing: Pricing is typically based on Monthly Active Users (MAU) or data points consumed, as well as the specific product modules and features required (e.g., advanced AI capabilities, premium support).
- Requires Consultation: Businesses need to contact Braze sales for a demo and a tailored quote.
- Significant Investment: Positioned as a premium customer engagement platform, representing a considerable investment.
- No Standard Free Tier: Does not usually offer a standard free tier for its full platform.
Expert Notes & Tips:
- Braze is particularly strong for mobile-first businesses that need to orchestrate sophisticated cross-channel customer journeys.
- The Canvas Flow journey builder is a powerful and flexible tool. Start with simpler journeys and gradually build complexity.
- Leverage Braze’s AI features (Intelligent Timing, Predictive Churn, etc.) to enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns.
- Ensure your data collection is robust and that user attributes and events are accurately tracked to fuel personalization and segmentation.
- A/B test extensively – from message copy and creatives to journey paths and timing – to continuously optimize performance.
- Personalization is key; use Liquid and other personalization features to make messages highly relevant to each user.
- Pay close attention to user permissions and messaging fatigue; provide value and avoid over-messaging.
Direct Link: https://www.braze.com/
