I use Braze at my organization to engage and communicate with users on our mobile app. With some of the tools that Braze offers, I can encourage users to become active, remind them to complete onboarding, and share important updates such as product changes, news, or revised terms and conditions. Braze helps solve our challenge of staying connected with users through email and push notifications, especially since our app doesn’t have a built in-app notification center.
Pros
Email targeting and timely notifications
In-app content cards
Tracking events tied to each communication channel
Audience segmentations and attributions
Cons
Enabling GIF/videos to be directly uploaded on to Braze's platform
Easier way of creating canvases; right now it is too complex for someone new who is starting off in the company to understand what things do and where things are
Ability to track duplicate user profiles within the entire audience segment
Automated deduplicating email addresses/phone numbers in each targeting segment; right now it's done manually after extracting csv files
Likelihood to Recommend
Braze is well suited for providing any updates to users or retargeting them based on their past behaviors. This is one of the more robust platform that I have used and something that is incredibly automated. Prior to using Braze, I've had to extract audience segments manually and analyze them prior to strategizing which behaviors to prioritize. But Braze does this really well and it's a lot easier to use. It's less appropriate to use if you want to use a more comprehensive emailing platform if you have animations or videos that you want to use. For example, I had to launch a new product for my company and I've created animation GIFs to help users understand where the product lives in the app visually. But, given that Braze has very limited functionality when it comes to uploading GIF or videos, I had to swap out these animations for more static images.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Marketing (Computer Software company, 11-50 employees)
We use Braze for member communications, including monthly franchised emails and product updates. Braze makes it super easy to reach the members we want to contact, and the automated features are great for keeping consistent contact with users both new and old. The templates mean building emails is simple and doesn't take longer than necessary.
Pros
Automation
Email campaigns.
Analytics
Cons
Lots of features, so finding the right page can take time.
Likelihood to Recommend
We use Braze for all member email communications, and this approach works well as we can see all the previous email touchpoints.
VU
Verified User
Contributor in Customer Service (Computer Software company, 1001-5000 employees)
Braze is our communications service provider; Through Braze, we send all communications to consumers (push, email, in-app, and content cards). It involves marketing communications as well as transactional communications. In Braze, we have a centralized view of the consumer through attributes and actions; therefore, we centralize all orchestration of consumer messaging there.
Pros
Orchestration
Audience Management
Ease of Use
Cons
Analytics
Predictions (ML)
Needs more conversion events
Likelihood to Recommend
Braze is the best ESP out there. I work for a massive media company, and Braze is ideal for ensuring the orchestration of the consumer. As a media company/streaming service, the consumer has many attributes and actions, and Braze ensures we can automate as well as delight the consumer with transactional and marketing communication. 100% of the lifecycle messaging is covered seamlessly.
VU
Verified User
Director in Marketing (Broadcast Media company, 5001-10,000 employees)
We will be implementing Braze in the coming months. Earlier, we used SMC, which is now outdated and not perfect in today's time. We are a very big business and depend a lot on our email list which we will be using.
Pros
Dynamic Segmentation
User Journey
Exceptional Scheduling features
Easy to use even for the naysayers
Cons
Pricing - Pricing needs to be looked at. Braze is very good, but the price seems to be very high.
Training Costs - Braze offers good training, but the certification costs are very high. Need to look at that.
Promotion - Braze is an exceptional platform, but you do not seem to market it that well. I haven't seen a single ad till now.
Likelihood to Recommend
Braze is very easy to use and understand. There is plenty of training material and live sessions, which are great. Cost needs to be reduced for both buying it and for training (certification).
We use it predominantly as an ESP but also use canvases to add messaging directly to the site. Marketing Insights use it for analytics. My role is within customer lifecycle marketing so I specifically use the tool for customer segmentation, testing, campaign roll out and personalisation, using targeted comms to drive customer engagement. We regularly use the Content Cards and In Product Messaging and build automated journeys within lifecycle stages mainly for retention use cases.
Pros
The canvas builder is clear, and encourages adding complexity to campaigns. It is visually very easy to work with.
The documentation is very detailed and helpful, the Google-like search functionality is a good addition, making finding information easier.
The segment building is also clear and easy to use, again allowing simpler builds but also more complex builds.
Cons
I find it frustrating that I can't see previews of active/idle/stopped/archived canvases without going into the canvas, having to click edit canvas, wait for it to open etc - makes it difficult when quickly trying to find a visual example when you're not sure on the canvas name.
It's difficult to navigate between canvas's quickly.
When you add from Media to try and change and image, the image preview is so small it's really difficult to select the right asset when you're working with a block of very similar assets with only small visual tweaks.
Likelihood to Recommend
I work a lot in the Canvas builder, building out automated journeys for customers. Braze has been a great tool for me to add complexity into my targeting using liquid (the AI liquid tool is particularly useful for guidance). I think the newer addition of the last step before scheduling a canvas is particularly helpful, where it provides a step-by-step run through of your set up to check before hitting send. I work predominantly in email so majority of the Braze tools are highly suitable for my role.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Marketing (Computer Games company, 1001-5000 employees)
We handle complex business solutions with Multiple sub-brands and manage their communication under a single main brand. Braze is helping us deliver a personalized experience. The training they provide in the initial phase, along with the support during implementation, is appreciable. We are primarily focused on email marketing, where Braze excels in terms of providing an easy-to-use interface for creating mobile-friendly emails.
Pros
Personalisation
Segmentation
Customer Journey through Canvas.
Cons
There should have been separate section for managing the emails.
Option for SQL for segmentation.
Static segmentation.
Advanced option for the reporting.
Likelihood to Recommend
The user interface is good. The new-age functionalities offered by Braze, such as intelligent timing and an AI assistant for copywriting and liquid, are a game-changer. The segmentation capabilities Braze offers, with the ability to show the estimated customer count in the particular segmentation block, help determine whether it’s working correctly or not. If there were a SQL segmentation option, then it should have helped in the case of complex segmentation. There should have been a separate section for managing the emails. Creating and managing emails in Canvas or campaigns directly can be a tedious task.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Marketing (Publishing company, 5001-10,000 employees)
We are using Braze to automate emails and campaigns. We are using catalog to connect with our Data, we us an API within Liquid code to get data directly from our Website and we segment all our different use cases. From Newsletters, Marketing Mails to Onboarding Journey or Activity Mailings. It is a big tool that used around our entire company with more than 50 people.
Pros
Orchestration
AB Testing
Segmentation
Cons
Analytics
Current Streams
Localization Features
Likelihood to Recommend
Braze thrives in Big companies with a CDP or Snowflake integration. It is great within the EU as Data is stored here and offers a lot to bigger companies for its extensive user rights, rich features, fast support and quick release of new features.
It's probably not recommended if you just need a plain and simple solution as it needs training due to the vast amount of features available.
I use it to create unique emails while also gaining knowledge of how well each email performed. I enjoy building the emails whether that is through internal or external use. We are able to send out mass emails as well as build them through one platform without having to use other softwares. It eliminates having to use different softwares when Braze has everything.
Pros
The platform is user friendly
It populates metrics well
It is easy to build emails
Cons
more marketing metrics
more versatility of creating unique emails
Likelihood to Recommend
overall it is a great tool to use for beginners. I just started in my position a few months ago and since then had to build numerous emails by myself which i quickly grasped how to use the platform. It gives me a great understanding of how targeted emails are sent out.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Marketing (Newspapers company, 501-1000 employees)
Braze is really helpful for my organization because our television station does not have full-time web staffing on weekends. With Braze, we are able to schedule out news alerts days in advance so we can push content to our audiences even without staffing. I have been able to use Braze to great effect to allow us to navigate the busy news landscape and compete with other stations without missing a beat. The software is easy to use and allows me to onboard other people quickly and without fuss.
Pros
Scheduling push alerts
Ease of use for new producers
Saves time by allowing me to schedule content in advance
Cons
More flexibility in editing content
Mobile app for creating content on the go
More granular scheduling options
Likelihood to Recommend
I think that Braze is particularly well-suited for a newsroom environment, because as I mentioned previously, we are low or not staffed at all on weekends. As the station's digital content manager, I can quickly and easily schedule push alerts days in advance. This gives me peace of mind for the weekends because I know fresh content is going out to our audience. The software is not as well suited to breaking news scenarios that require a more nuanced touch to ensure the most accurate and timely information is going out.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Social Media (Newspapers company, 11-50 employees)
As a Lifecycle & Email Marketing Manager, I used Braze daily to built automations, welcome flows, and various nurture journeys in addition to monthly one time campaigns. Braze provided clarity in reporting, attached revenue to each email, and held various workspaces for client and business needs. When I departed the organization, we were fairly far along in migrating all company and client email campaigns solely to Braze. The geotargeting features and ease of implementing their SDK were fantastic. Prior to using Braze, I had used Marketo, Pardot, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, and Klaviyo. User experience on the platform and the onboarding/check in meetings with the Braze team really set them apart from all other platforms.
Pros
Data Visualization
Targeting and Segmenting
Drag and Drop Editor/Builder
Onboarding
Training and Learning Resources
Cons
Mapping out plug-ins and what the cost/development requirements are
Likelihood to Recommend
Our team at Braze were some of the best people I've worked with to date. They are so helpful and willing to go the extra mile. The platform itself is extremely intuitive. Customization is always on the table. Segmenting audiences was extremely simple and dynamic in count to each filter I would add.
