BrazeAI: AI-assisted customer engagement

I love how Braze AI Decisioning Studio™ seamlessly integrates, making my life easier. It makes things quicker and more efficient, reducing the demand on tech resources. It empowers me to make decisions faster, which means I don't have to lean as much on others for support, making everyone happier. nothing. I use Braze AI Decisioning Studio™ to make decisions faster and more efficiently without relying heavily on tech support. It integrates seamlessly, saving resources and making me happier.

Expertise and team service. Innovative spirit Nothing especific. Room for improvement in partnering strategically Acceleration of business transactions. Better more personalized experiences at sacel

I like that Braze AI Decisioning Studio allows me to personalize interactions on a one-to-one level, moving beyond the impersonal many-to-one approaches we used in the past. It helps me understand which agents have the most impact, as well as identify relevant features for each customer, enabling me to measure uplift against my business as usual program. Additionally, I appreciate being able to understand the specific times of day, days of the week, frequency, channels, and content types that impact our customers on an individual level, something we couldn't do with our previous customer data solution. There are a few areas where Braze AI Decisioning Studio could improve for us. One thing that's been a bit tricky is that while we can see the uplift, it's challenging to understand the incremental nature of that uplift without additional analysis. We also find ourselves spending a lot of time managing the model, and if we want to make changes like reducing our frequency, we end up having to do a champion-challenger setup to reintroduce changes. It feels unexpectedly complex; I thought it would be easier to manage such changes. Braze AI Decisioning Studio™ allows me to personalize interactions at a one-to-one level, deeply understanding customer impact by time, channel, and content, which was impossible with our prior system.

Braze is constantly coming out with new features that make CRM more efficient and advanced. There's always something new to explore and improve our CRM program. These features sometimes come with an additional cost and without being able to test it and have a proof of concept it's hard to sell to decision makers. It would be great if we could test the features as a trial beforehand and build a business case to present. We've been able to manage the customer lifecycle way more efficiently. We used to have 3 different places to manage email, SMS and push notifications but since we've migrated everything to Braze it's way easier to manage the full customer lifestyle in one place.

I've been using Braze for over three years now and compared to other tools, it offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface. At my company Braze is our only customer engagement platform and it's covered all our different use cases across multiple channels (push notifications, email, in-app messages, and content cards). I particularly like the advanced segmentation features which allow us to customize our targeting in highly specific ways. Braze offers a lot of features which can feel overwhelming for new users at first. There are several ways to accomplish the same task which isn’t a bad thing but does require some learning to figure out the best approach for each scenario. We use Braze in CRM to engage our customers with our brand at the right time across different channels. Automated journeys help us reduce manual work and create a smoother customer experience.

4 points I love the most about Braze. Firstly, the help of Customer Success Manager and support team. They're always quick and genuinely involved into finding a solution for any tricky use case. Secondly, the platform allows lots of customisation (e.g. with liquid logic, key value pairs etc.). Thirdly, Braze is continuously improving. Clients are welcome to leave product feedback and it is actually implemented. Lastly, speed. Braze works smoothly and that saves lots of nerve to the CRM managers. Limited analytics & pricing transparency, specifically for the SMS channel. It's hard to analyse the overall volume and cost of SMS sent from Braze in the past as well as predict it for the future. The pricing is, however, based on detailed future predictions. Building automated personalised communications with clients across multiple channels.

Has been great overall. Has made a huge impact on our business and still have some work to do to continue to improve that.

Overall, having Braze as part of the tech stack where I work has been a net positive. The layout is intuitive, easy to use and well defined. Braze documentation on their website is pretty detailed and helpful, and their dedicated solutions consultants are quite helpful. Overall a useful CRM tool, with good UI/UX and overall good experience, with a few key areas for small improvement

Its overall fine, I think it suits the business needs well. However, the SMS product needs improving and strategic guidance from internal staff.

We use Braze as our primary cross channel marketing communications platform to send email & SMS campaigns, in addition to using it for automated journeys triggered by user actions on our app. We also use Braze for ad hoc communications such as In App and push messages that are easier to launch within the platform as opposed to developing within our product.

Braze is where all our marketing and transactional communication lives. We send emails and SMS in automations, batch sends, and lifecycle journeys. Braze helps with acquisition and customer journeys.

I use Braze to run our NPS survey programme. It has custom built integration with Iterate, the survey platform we use to build NPS, and it works seamlessly. All the responses are instantly transmitted to Braze and get populated against every user. Using that data, we have managed to build performance evaluation dashboards for our sales team with data getting updated in real time without needing any manual intervention. Options to experiment using tools like Intelligent Timing have allowed us to achieve more than 20% response rate. In addition, I also use Braze's Audience Sync to dynamically sync our existing customer lists with Facebook and Google Ads, allowing us to exclude them from prospecting campaigns and also create powerful lookalike audiences, making the overall ad spend a lot more efficient.

What is our primary use case? I have implemented Braze, trained people on it, and set up automated journeys in Braze using Canvas, the CDI Sync via data warehouses, and created custom journeys based on different types of use cases, utilizing Braze to a very large extent. One of the journeys I set up in Braze involved an RFM score built via a data science model residing in the data warehouse that is sent on a specific cadence for a certain number of users, pulling in data via the CDI Sync in Braze from the data warehouse, allowing for updates to specific attributes for users, which results in customized messaging such as emails, in-app messages, content cards, or SMS at specific times using Braze's Intellisense sending, thus providing messages tailored to their RFM score. I have multiple use cases with Braze, including dynamically created reports customized for specific customer requests related to different funds at BetaShares, which previously involved manual input. Now the information dynamically updates based on the fund requested, using a CDI Sync via an API from the data warehouse, which keeps it running automatically without manual intervention. How has it helped my organization? Before I joined BetaShares, they had been using Braze for three years after migrating from another tool called Marketo, where frustrations arose due to a lack of proper use, leading to non-customized and static email campaigns. Upon my arrival, I have since customized the campaigns based on user attributes, resulting in an increase of about 28% in user opens and a significant click-through rate jump by over 48%. Contributing to the jump in click-through rates involves multiple factors such as design changes and customized content based on user segmentation. What is most valuable? Some of the best features Braze offers are not just the features themselves but the integrations with other tools like Mparticle, Segment, Rudderstack, High-touch, and others, along with powerful new features like AI Decisioning and the ability to create Canvas journeys that can communicate with external tools using webhook functionality, making data handling very efficient by allowing the use of specific attributes while also removing unnecessary ones. The integrations in Braze are very good. However, I acknowledge that I am likely a very advanced user, making the learning curve steep for many new users. Once fully understood, though, it is quite powerful and easy to use. I advise that practical experience is often more beneficial than just reading the documentation, which can sometimes leave users expecting to understand Braze without hands-on interaction. What needs improvement? Braze could improve its documentation regarding functionalities. While I enjoy the AI Operator feature, I believe there should be a clearer verification method to ensure that the operator executes tasks correctly. Additionally, I have found Braze's reporting functionalities somewhat lacking as we often rely on Amplitude for comprehensive reporting. Braze support is generally very good, but I feel the onboarding process could be enhanced, especially for clients investing significant sums, to guarantee they get maximum value from the tool, thereby preventing any awareness concerns from financial officers regarding tool usage and effectiveness. To attain a perfect score, improvements in the onboarding process would be necessary, allowing users to adapt more easily to Braze's functionalities without incurring extra service fees for onboarding. I believe we have covered a significant amount already, unless there are specific improvements we have not yet addressed. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Braze for over four years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I find Braze to be very stable, with no issues observed during its usage. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Scalability is exceptional with Braze, allowing us the flexibility to grow without constraints that could hinder our operations. How are customer service and support? Customer support has been great overall. We did experience some difficulties with our previous Customer Success Manager, but the rest of the team has performed excellently. I rate customer support as an eight due to experiences with the previous CSM's response times. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? The previous platform we used was Marketo, which was phased out because our team deemed it inadequate for our evolving requirements. My involvement commenced a couple of years after the switch to Braze, which provides a superior fit for our event-based architecture and extensive integration needs. What was our ROI? While I cannot disclose specific metrics regarding cost savings or time efficiency due to contractual constraints, we have transitioned to require fewer employees after enhancing our automated functionalities. Since my involvement with Braze, we have seen time savings translating to around 10 to 12 full-time employee hours annually, with projections for even greater savings as we optimize usage further. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? My experience with Braze's pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been largely positive. Having personally managed contracts, I employed various strategies to adjust our agreement favorably, ensuring we attained the necessary functionalities without incurring excessive expenses. Which other solutions did I evaluate? I do not know if evaluations of other solutions occurred prior to Braze's selection. However, the ultimate choice was made by our CEO, who values Braze's extensive capabilities, particularly for in-app messaging and comprehensive personalization, features that competing tools like Iterable struggle to deliver. What other advice do I have? I would rate Braze an eight or nine out of ten, primarily due to the onboarding challenges for newer users and the lack of included onboarding in the pricing. My overall rating for this review is nine out of ten. Concerning Braze's AI capabilities, the discussion around governance and security feels premature since the rapid evolution of AI makes it difficult to predict how these aspects will hold up in future developments. While Braze's AI capabilities are impressive, it is not infallible. Thus, diligent data governance is necessary to manage potential issues concerning personal data security. I find Braze's accuracy is quite good. While not perfect, it generally performs better than average when benchmarked against human output, especially concerning AI Decisioning features integrated into Braze that enhance personalization capabilities. We utilize Snowflake as our cloud provider. I advise others to clarify their specific usage needs before adopting Braze and prioritize establishing direct connections to a data warehouse for an efficient data flow over intermediary systems. Proper training and knowledge of Braze's functionalities ahead of integration can ensure immediate and significant value. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Private Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Other

What is our primary use case? My main use case for Braze is Canvas, which is Braze's flow creator, and I also use the email and push sender extensively. I use Braze for sending specific email blasts that did not necessarily need to go through a journey, as well as for building retention journeys and personalization initiatives. I also use the data functionality to analyze the results of the blasts we conducted. The reporting and analytics functionality in Braze was something I used in very specific ways to examine the results of blasts, but I did not always end up using it because we had an external dashboard that consolidated all the impacts we made. How has it helped my organization? Braze has positively impacted my organization by directly helping to increase LTV and retention and by helping with the independence of the marketing team. Having an intuitive tool with its surrounding functionalities helped achieve these goals. Braze helps me significantly with reducing the time of operationalization compared to other tools we previously used, mainly because of the ease and intuitiveness of the tool. What is most valuable? The best features Braze offers include the flow creator, Canvas, as it is very intuitive and easy to manage to integrate all contact channels, especially if the company's data is well structured. I also find the interface really nice and easy to use compared to other tools on the market. The specific tool in Braze that helps me achieve my marketing goals is the email and push sender, which I used most frequently. I appreciate the push notification feature for its ability to pull user data when sending the push based on people's behaviors, allowing me to do segmentation within the tool itself. The fact that it handled images, GIFs, and included interactive buttons was also really cool. However, I found that we needed substantial dependence on developers, so we needed to have engineering very well set up to capture all the event tokens. I am referring to location-based features in Braze, and I thought these features were extremely strategic for the campaign we were creating, mainly because we could create physical points on the map or mobility dynamics, which added a lot to what we were building. However, it was not something we used that often. The personalization capability in Braze is very good, as I find it very easy to personalize, especially in specific blasts where we could personalize at the time of sending. This was really cool, unlike other tools where I would have to create a new data extension with all this data. The mobile experience with Braze is good and easy to use. The segmentation feature in Braze is very easy, and as I mentioned before, that was one of the positive points, enabling me to use the segmentation part in specific blasts, which would be more complicated in other tools. What needs improvement? Braze could be improved by adding video lesson tools, similar to what HubSpot does, as I find that regarding tutorials and information about Braze, it is somewhat difficult to access. I found the original format of reporting and analytics in Braze to be easy to use, but not very complete. This is why it did not meet all our needs, and it did not make sense for us to use only it since we needed data that came from outside Braze. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Braze for one year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? From my experience, Braze is very stable and has been reliable on a day-to-day basis. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? In the company itself, we had several similar solutions, and we did not use only Braze. I am not certain why we specifically chose Braze, as I was not the one who integrated it. How was the initial setup? I was not the one who integrated Braze; I only operated the tool, mainly on the marketing side. Therefore, I am not certain how to answer about the ease of integration. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It was not my responsibility to take care of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing aspect. I did not find out if the setup cost and pricing were straightforward or confusing. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Before choosing Braze, I did not evaluate other options. What other advice do I have? Braze is a good tool that has many configurations inside that allow us to solve day-to-day problems. However, Braze is not as widespread, and information about it is not as easy to access as with other tools. Regarding Braze's AI capabilities, I do not have strong knowledge regarding governance and security, as I did not focus on that aspect when I used it. Regarding Braze's AI capabilities, I believe it meets expectations in terms of accuracy and reliability of output, even though it was not a feature I used. I would rate Braze a seven out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Amazon Web Services (AWS) Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

What is our primary use case? Braze's main use case for our organization is marketing automation, creating automated workflows triggered with action-based logic. I can discuss the abandoned cart canvas, or the cart reminder with personalized products. Braze is very useful for this type of workflow since it allows me to insert personalized data using Liquid content, and it is straightforward once you master the Liquid logic. I use Braze on a day-to-day basis for one-off campaigns as part of our marketing plan, and it is very handy because it allows me to put forward offers from Braze catalogs, which are directly linked to our data warehouse. We also use it on a day-to-day basis to run analysis, whether simple or more complex. I also find the SQL query builder very helpful when I want to run deeper segment analysis or a user's behavior analysis. What is most valuable? The best feature that Braze offers is Canvas, which has many components including action paths, audience paths, delays, user updates, decision splits, send to destination, and feature flags. I also value all of the analysis features that Braze has, such as email performance, the deliverability center connected to Postmaster and Microsoft SNDS, the report builder, and many other report features that are very useful. I rely most on Canvases, Connected Content, and Liquid code because all of this, combined with cloud data ingestion and the synchronization between our data warehouse, BigQuery, and Looker, makes it very easy to use our backend data without overly complex development. Thanks to Braze and particularly the training and learning paths that exist within Braze Lab, it is very easy to get trained and practice whenever needed or when I have more time. Even though the learning paths are very long, I found the certifications very useful because they force you to master the tool and to really engage with it and practice hands-on. One of the very positive impacts that Braze has had on our organization is how easy it is to train, practice, and how clear the documentation is. What needs improvement? Braze still has some improvements to make on the user interface. Sometimes it is lagging and taking time to load pages when I have many Canvases or campaigns open. I have also noticed that sometimes in the email performance dashboard, when selecting tags or Canvases, the interface is a bit buggy. When we send too much data or large amounts of data, the interface is not as fast as expected and can be somewhat frustrating, but nothing really blocks us. Regarding support, I can definitely say from my experience that sometimes the technical support is very helpful and provides answers that I would not have guessed without their help because the information is not appearing in the documentation, or it is just very easy and fast for Braze technical support and experts to find the solution to our issue. However, I feel this was more fluent in the past, roughly five to eight years ago. Following the years, I felt the support team really grew larger, increased in size, and the technical expertise decreased, which makes sense because the larger the team, the less experience each individual can have. However, the faster you answer and the less frustrated users you have. In my case, when I contact support, it is really for technical matters or very specific technical issues that I could not find any solution for, and I know it is not always an easy task because I have been working on Braze for years. In my case, I have noticed that it is not always straightforward to have a solution. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Braze for eight years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Braze has presented stability issues. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Braze's scalability is very good. How are customer service and support? Braze's customer service is faster to reply and pretty helpful. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? In other companies, I have used Adobe Campaign, Brevo, Sendinblue, Batch for push notifications, Airship, and Actito, which is a French CRM tool. In almost all the companies where I was a CRM team lead or head of CRM, I managed to change the CRM tool and migrate to another one, and it was always Braze that won the request for proposal, simply because they performed the best during the technical demonstration. The fact that I was already certified and I knew the tool very well also helped a lot in the decision, even though I was always open to switching to another tool, especially because of the pricing. What was our ROI? Braze has allowed us to reduce the time of creation and setup by half for campaign creation, for at least one-off campaigns and automated workflows, which is really great. When it took one hour to create a campaign from start to finish before, it now takes only thirty minutes. Regarding performance measurement, it is really a game changer; it takes literally three minutes to check and write analysis about a Canvas, a campaign, or a segment's behavior. It is not only a matter of time-saving but also of data enablement; all of this data were not always available before in legacy or previous tools, so having them in Braze is really valuable. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Braze is a pretty expensive tool, but because it is also a very qualitative one. Given the higher price than other tools, we would expect in that case the tool to be very fluent, one hundred percent perfect, with no bugs and no latency, and that is not always the case. I have a mitigated experience when it comes to pricing. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We always evaluated other options and compared Braze to Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Brevo, Batch, and Emarsys. What other advice do I have? I would advise new users to practice, train, and get certified. This review has been rated eight out of ten. Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.