Braze Integration

Customers today have many shopping options ranging from traditional brick-and-mortar to numerous online channels, including hybrid online purchasing with in-store pick-up. As a result, marketers need a powerful and flexible set of tools to reach these customers through these various channels. The Braze customer engagement platform provides a flexible platform that allows tools to be seamlessly integrated into your customer engagement ecosystem.

With the Braze platform, you can ingest customer data from multiple channels, such as:

Mobile apps

Email

SMS

Websites

Braze has taken an API-first approach to tool integration with Braze API (Application Programming Interface). Braze integrates products from various technology partners through a REST API. With a REST API, tools can be easily integrated and swapped out, giving you maximum flexibility, scalability, and security to efficiently adapt to a rapidly changing environment. The Braze API is the RESTful technology that makes this flexible Braze integration possible.

Communication is critical throughout the customer engagement process. With Braze API, you can engage with your customers through multiple channels, including:

Push notifications

Email

Messaging

Finally, you will need feedback to determine the success of their marketing campaigns. Braze feeds collected customer engagement data to downstream analytics tools for analysis and action.

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Braze Integrations

For decades, marketers have struggled with technology stacks that were not designed to be integrated, or required clunky and costly customization. To facilitate integration, Braze offers customer engagement tool developers two solutions:

Braze SDK

Braze API

The Braze API & SDK (Software Development Kit) are the glue that makes Braze integration work, connecting a variety of tools in the customer engagement toolchain and enabling external technology partners to seamlessly integrate their tools into the Braze customer engagement platform.

Some notable Braze integrations include Twilio, WhatsApp, Braze Push Notification for iOS, and Braze Facebook integration

For your mobile customers on iOS devices, you can execute your messaging campaigns Braze Push Notifications for iOS.

Twilio Segment integrates with Braze to deliver a unified SMS & email program that works seamlessly without technical resources, making it easy to reach customers at every stage of the customer engagement lifecycle.

The Braze WhatsApp integration enables:

Launching automated WhatsApp campaigns

Cross-channel messaging

Personalized messages

The Braze Facebook integration offers you two major features:

Facebook Messenger integration

Facebook Custom Audiences

With the Facebook Messenger integration, you can message your users in Facebook Messenger through the Messenger Platform API. You can create engaging chatbots to interact intelligently and automatically with their customers.

The Braze REST API integration gives you access to Braze API endpoints. REST is a set of rules standardize the way the web applications communicate and exchange data over the internet. REST API gives you control over authentication and authorization. A Braze API key is a security mechanism. It is a unique encrypted code that authenticates the identity of the application requesting login access Braze API endpoints. (API endpoints and SDK endpoints are different. Be sure to use the appropriate endpoint for the respective integration.)

To find a full list of more than 50 Braze Technology Partners, go the Technology Partners page.  The search feature can even filter by category.

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Braze Alloys

Braze Alloys is the Braze Integration Partners program that builds out the Braze customer engagement ecosystem. Alloys partners are a curated ecosystem of technology and solutions partners to help you integrate, customize, and amplify your customer engagement capabilities. The goals of this program are:

Differentiate your product and service offerings

Join a global community of innovators

Tap into training, certification, marketing, and sales program support

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Braze Alloys consists of two types of integration partners:

Technology Partners

Solution Partners

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Technology partners offer technology solutions in customer engagement categories such as:

Message Personalization

Message Orchestration

Data & Infrastructure Agility

Canvas Audience Sync

Marketers who need to outsource customer engagement resources can get help from Braze Solution Partners can who help implement and manage integrations, map out their architecture and data strategy, and offer services such as migrations, implementations, and ongoing campaign services, and platform management.

Solution partners like Stitch help marketers make the most out of Braze, from strategy to implementation and beyond. Stitch recognizes that Braze offers marketers flexibility, scalability, and value.

Braze is designed to be open with a flexible ecosystem built to work seamlessly with the multiple customer engagement technologies to create more meaningful customer experiences.

Stitch is focused on best-in-breed platforms, including Braze and Twilio Segment to drive customer engagement. Braze and Twilio (another Braze Alloy partner) can expand your reach with cross-channel customer engagement campaigns via SMS & email channels.

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Stitch's services include:

Strategy

Whether you need to improve your customer experience or optimize processes, Stitch listens, dives deep, and creates a path forward that’s tailored to you. This includes:

Customer lifecycle strategy

Journey mapping

MarTech optimization and road mapping

Segmentation and personalization

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Implementation

Stitch builds smart solutions with strategy at the center. From migrations to data infrastructure and configuration, we’ll make sure you’re set up for success. This includes:

Implementation and environment configuration

Migrations

Data architecture and integrations

Customer data infrastructure

Training & enablement

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Program Services

The Stitch staff are marketing technologists— they’re also analysts, strategists, and marketers. Tap into their team for ongoing marketing execution, optimization, analysis, and support. This includes:

Message development

Campaign management and analysis

Product road mapping

Ongoing support

Optimization recommendations

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Data

Measure, iterate, and optimize for maximum impact. Stitch helps you keep data clean, timely, and most importantly, actionable. This includes:

Architecture & modeling

Governance & management

Custom integrations & solutions

Identity resolution strategies

Analysis & dashboards

With the Braze & Twilio Segment integration and Stitch services, marketers can deliver optimum ROI on your customer engagement flow and your customers can enjoy the engagement experience that they desire.

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Braze Documentation

When your company is ready to get started using Braze, your marketing and technical teams will need to get involved. You can readily access Braze documentation on the Braze Documentation web page. There you will find a robust set of online documents that will walk you through the details of installing, setting up, running the platform, and managing user accounts.

The user interface allows you to navigate various topics via linked icons, menus, and lists. A Sidebar menu with collapsible categories can help you quickly navigate to a particular topic of interest. Some document pages are searchable and have filters to help you further narrow your search.

Now that you're ready to get your team started with your marketing campaign. The first step your marketers will take is to set up accounts. The User Guide will walk you through the process from front to back for setting up and managing team accounts.

The administrator, whether technical or marketing, will first set up the accounts and define access permissions.

Your technical team will need to decide which tool integration approach to take. If you go with the SDK approach, you will follow the Braze SDK documentation. If you choose the API approach, you will follow the Braze API documentation.

The Developer Guide will walk you through the integration process for the appropriate SDK depending on the target OS. Braze lists three featured SDK integrations that are most commonly used and a number of more specialized integrations.

Some developers prefer REST APIs because it standardizes the tool interface, thus making it easier to integrate, update, and replace client and server web applications. If the REST API is your preferred integration, you will want to refer to the API Guide.

Finally, the Technology Partners page shows a list of Alloy Partners with links to documentation for their respective integrations. The page has a search bar and filters so that you can narrow your search by category and specialties. 

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Braze Pricing

When making purchasing decisions for a customer engagement solution, there are multiple factors to consider. Certainly price and budget are at the top of the list, but you should also consider factors like resources, time, return on investment/effort, flexibility, and scalability. Taken all together, these factors add up to value.

Compare Braze's pricing with common alternatives such as CleverTap's pricing, Iterable's pricing, and MoEngage's pricing, and you'll see that Braze is competitive with alternative offerings in the customer engagement space.

Depending on the size of your marketing and technical staff, you might consider the cost of integration when it comes to integrating tools into your customer engagement workflow. If the tools in your toolchain are not a seamless fit, an in-house effort not only demands more of your resources up front, but you will also have to consider ongoing maintenance and updates. Time to revenue is another consideration if there are integration delays.

Supplier stability is important for long-term security. You want to know that your tool suppliers will be there tomorrow. Wall Street has shown confidence in the stability of Braze as demonstrated by their November 16, 2021, Braze IPO.

For companies with limited resources, time constraints, or limited expertise, it may be advisable to consider outsourcing some or all of the effort to build or upgrade your customer engagement toolchain.

Braze Solution Partner Stitch can help you with customer engagement services. The Stitch staff has years of experience with customer engagement marketing technology. They have taken a close look at the Braze and Twililo Segment tools and integration and determined that it is the best-in-class platform available.

Braze and Twilio Segment offer the best integration in the industry. It empowers your marketers with tools that get them up and running quickly and creates omnichannel experiences for their customers.

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To see a demo of Braze, contact Stitch or visit the Stitch website.

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