Implementation

How to Plan Your Braze Implementation

Plan your Braze implementation — from configuration to solution enablement — with the help of the leading Braze implementation partner, Stitch. We'll help you accelerate time-to-value on Braze and set you up for success.

How can we help?

Thank you! Your submission has been received! We will follow up shortly.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Our experts will guide you through your Braze implementation from initial configuration to organizational change management, accelerating your adoption and kickstarting your success.

Braze is for marketers who want better solutions. Stitch is for marketers who use Braze.

Braze Implementation

Want to accelerate your company’s time-to-value metric with Braze? Implementation is the first step in your Braze journey. Getting your Braze implementation right without any glitches is key to getting the most out of this software and boosting your ROI in the quickest time possible.

Successful implementation requires a deep dive into Braze’s features and strategizing how you can leverage those to meet your brand’s specific needs. This alone requires in-depth Braze knowledge so onboarding a Braze implementation partner from the get-go can be an immense time-saver. Here are the specific steps that a Braze implementation partner can help you with:

  • Implementing the Braze SDK: Your Braze partner will help set up the SDK that connects Brazeto your app or website so that there’s a free flow of information between the two.
  • Implementing Messaging Channels: Braze features many messaging channels so our team of Braze experts can implement
  • Setting up your Data: This is where your marketing team will work with the Braze implementation expert to make sure that every customer action taken on your app or website is picked up by Braze. They’ll engineer a very personalized customer journey for your marketing campaigns.
  • Making some customization. : If you want additional customization like Connected Content and API-triggered launching, discuss this with your developers or Braze implementation partner so that they can get this done.
  • Test, Test, Test: To make sure that everything is all good and working as it should, you will have to send test messages using the test apps for Android and iOS.

Get to Know the Top Braze Features 

A Braze demo gives you a sneak peek of the platform. In a nutshell, these Braze features make this software a very nifty tool for brands that take their customer-centric marketing seriously.

Currents

Effective marketing requires the effective use of customer data. And with this premise, Braze uses Currents to seamlessly stream and manage your customer data in real time. So you get to deliver highly personalized messages and experiences for your customers.

Canvas

Canvas is Braze’s unique customer journey tool. Using this tool, you can easily create multivariate, multi-step, and multiple relevant messages to form a cohesive campaign for your brand. Throw in comprehensive analytics and you can continuously tweak and optimize the process.

Cross-Channel Messaging

Reach out and communicate with your customers virtually in different channels with Braze’s cross-channel messaging. Whether through email, push notification, SMS, news feed, web browser, in-app messaging, or WhatsApp, there’s no longer any excuse why you can’t grab your customer’s attention.

Content Cards

You can send a highly targeted message to your customers without being too intrusive through the use of Braze Content Cards. This subtle reminder can be displayed within your app or website and your customers can opt to pin, swipe, or dismiss it. Working together with other channels, Content Card is a very clever way to connect with your customer.

Liquid

Using Liquid tags, you can turn any template or message into a highly personalized and dynamic one. You can tell Braze to substitute a specific part of the message with your customer’s details by putting those expressions between two sets of curly brackets. So instead of the generic salutation to greet your customers, you can be on a first-name basis with them.

Feature Flags

Want to enable or disable Braze functionalities for selected users without touching a line of code? Braze feature flags allow you to do just that. You can use feature flags to release new updates to a given population gradually. This allows you to test the launch first and catch bugs early on before deploying the new updates to all of your customers. 

Technical Specifications for Braze Implementation

Braze's flexible design allows you to combine it with other leading tech platforms so that you draw more value out of the integrated system. To configure this software so that it meets the specific requirement of your organization, you need the expertise of developers or a Braze implementation partner like Stitch to take care of the technical side of Braze integration. Here’s a rundown of the process:

Implementing Braze SDK

Onboarding typically starts with Braze SDK integration. A software development kit (SDK) is premade, small blocks of codes that are used to get and send information from your app or website. With Braze SDK integration, your developers or Braze implementation partners don’t have to start from scratch to create the tools necessary for data processing, campaign analytics, segmentation logic, delivery options, etc.

This means that for Braze integration, you simply have to add the SDK code to the larger overall code powering that site or app. This ties up Braze to your website so that there’s a smooth flow of action and information between them.

Data Aggregation

Braze SDK captures huge volumes of data at the user level. So to facilitate ease of navigation and segmentation, you will need to have data configuration. For example, you will group similar apps into a single app group. The iOS or Android version of your app should go into the same group or the paid and free version of the same app will make another app group. After adding your app to a group, you will use its API to make requests between the Braze API and your app.

Segmentation and Delivery Rules

In-app messages in a campaign will be sent to all versions of the app in the same app group by default. For instance, the same message will be sent to mobile and web users if they’re in the same app group. If you want to send the message exclusively to mobile users only, you will have to configure and segment the campaign accordingly.

Understanding Key Braze Integrations

Braze integrations create a flexible ecosystem of tech stacks so brands can amplify the value of their tech solutions. Some key Braze integration partners include:

Segment

Segment is Twilio’s own customer data platform (CDP). This software provides the necessary data infrastructure to help you collect, clean, unify, and activate your user data. You can use Braze’s real-time, bidirectional integration to send data from Segment. Or you can also use Currents to seamlessly stream data from Segment.

Snowflake

Snowflake is a data warehouse, which collects and aggregates data from numerous sources and then analyzes it to generate valuable business insights. Braze supports bidirectional integration with Snowflake so you can easily bring data to Braze using Cloud Data Ingestion. From Snowflake’s platform, you can also sync user attributes, purchases, and events and use it in Braze to trigger campaigns, segment audiences, and craft personalized messages.

Shopify

If you use this e-commerce platform to sell products online, you can set up your Shopify store with Braze. This allows you to create webhooks around the order lifecycle or transactional campaigns. You get to send timely and personalized messages and optimize customer journeys, which results in reduced abandoned carts and better engagements for your shoppers.

Study Up on Braze Documentation

Braze documentation provides a thorough guide for users of the platform. The software also has a Braze developer guide and API guide for people who will take care of the technical side of implementation for your business. Here’s a quick overview of the platform’s documentation:

User Guide

Administrators and marketers can go over this extensive guide to learn everything they need to know about Braze and its features. Popular topics in the guide include:

  • Braze Currents
  • User Import
  • Liquid
  • Custom Attributes
  • Custom Events
  • Managing User Subscriptions
  • Making an API Call
  • Message Engagement Events
  • Customize In-App Messages

Developer Guide

Developers can get as technical as they want with Braze's comprehensive documentation that details all available integrations for this platform. For more resources and support, developers can find kindred spirits on the Braze Developer Portal. 

API Guide

This is where you can find all available Braze API endpoints since the platform also provides REST API so you can export data, track users, and send messages.

Of course, if you want to fast-track the time-to-value with Braze, partnering with an implementation expert who knows the ins and out of the platform is still the wisest move. They could set up Braze, make custom configurations, provide training, and even ongoing support so you do away with the learning curve and benefit from the software right away. 

Connect with Braze Alloys

Braze Alloys is a carefully vetted ecosystem of technology and solutions partners that can help your organization implement and integrate Braze with other technologies to provide a full-service offering that suits your company.

Technology Partners

Braze integrates seamlessly with other technology leaders to provide brands with a full suite of tools and features to create a more meaningful experience for customers. Here are some of Braze’s popular technology partners:

  • Segment
  • mParticle
  • Snowflake
  • Google Ads
  • Google Cloud
  • Foursquare
  • AccuWeather
  • Tealium
  • WhatsApp
  • Twilio
  • Zapier

Solutions Partners

Solutions partners consist of varied agencies, consultancies, and system integrators that are adept in integrating Braze along with other tech solutions to offer a wide range of services for your brand’s marketing needs.

For example, Stitch is a Braze Alloy that’s comprised of a team of marketers, analysts, strategists, and tech experts that harnesses the dynamic power of Braze and Segment. From strategy, implementation, end-to-end migration, configuration, and data analytics, to training and support, this solution partner offers a wide range of services to help your marketing get to the next level. 

Invest in Your Brand's Growth: Understanding Braze Pricing 

As for Braze pricing, the website doesn’t divulge the exact cost of the software. You will have to contact the sales team to get an accurate quote for their service. Braze’s price would largely depend on your company’s onboarding plan, the number of users, the number of customers, and data points. 

For its price, you get a feature-rich platform, complete with Braze documentation, as well as other free-to-us editing tools like Braze API Postman. Another thing you have to consider in allocating a budget for this software is the cost of the Braze implementation partner. Although onboarding a solutions partner increases Braze’s upfront cost, keep in mind that this will drive more value and speed up time-to-value in your investment.