Hey there, savvy marketers! If you're looking to take your Braze campaigns from "meh" to mesmerizing, it's time to tap into some Liquid magic! You might be wondering - "When's the right time to dive into Liquid wizardry?" Well, grab your wands (or, you know, keyboards) because we're about to show you.
Level Up Your Personalization Game
It may seem like a tall order to increase personalization of your messages if you're only using static templates or basic merge tags. Pro tip: The most basic use of Liquid is substituting dynamic values into an email greeting, subject line, or something of that nature. It’s the stuff every non-marketing muggle thinks of when they hear personalization.
Liquid will empower you to send email campaigns showcasing perfect-fit products based on each user’s demographics, past transactions, and current behaviors.
Time to Get Liquid-fied!
One of the benefits of using Liquid is that you can create personalized messages on the fly without having to wait for a developer to make the necessary changes to your codebase. Now that you know you have Liquid power, where’s the best place to start with your Braze campaigns? Depending on your use case, there’s a number of ways to insert Liquid logic into your existing messages. Based on our experience, the following values can help you achieve some quick wins taking your marketing to the next level.
Basic User Information:
Leveraging attributes like first name, last name, and email address allows you to immediately start creating a more personalized experience for each user. It’s real ground level stuff that should come quite easily, but also a nice way to dip your toe in the custom coding waters. For example, instead of a standard message greeting like "Dear Customer," use the user's first name and open with “Dear Susie,”.
To use these attributes to personalize a message, add relevant tags, such as {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, and {{email_address}} to your greeting content.
Custom Attributes:
If you are collecting additional data beyond the ordinary, it’s considered a custom attribute in Braze. Just like basic user information it can be used to personalize your messages using Liquid. If you’re a retailer, this could be loyalty member level. Or, with insurance, it could be the policy holder’s renewal date. These custom attributes allow for specific data to be stored at the user level that might not be covered by default user attributes. The example below demonstrates a common use case, using a custom attribute to inform which credit card will be replaced with the new one that’s already on the way.
Custom Events:
Personalizing based on user attributes is foundational, the next level is capitalizing on a user’s behavior. Leveraging custom events can capture a number of different user behaviors like making a purchase, or not (a.k.a. abandoning a cart), or subscribing to a newsletter. Moving beyond the fundamental aspects, custom events enable you to build a strong relationship and communicate with users about past, pending, and upcoming payments, express gratitude for their participation in an event, and acknowledge significant milestones within loyalty programs.
Best Practices for Using Liquid in Braze
Now that we’ve shared our favorite ways to use Liquid in Braze, here are a few best practices to help you get started.
Keep it simple - use the available Braze documentation; it provides all you need to start creating your custom messages.
Test, test, test - test your Liquid code properly before you send messages to production.
Plan and be consistent - have a taxonomy to avoid duplicating tags and have a naming convention to stay organized.
Liquid isn't just a tool – it's your ticket to marketing awesomeness. You’re now ready to create and transform your traditional marketing efforts into unforgettable experiences. Now go get Liquid-fied and take your Braze campaigns to new levels!