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Data hygiene is a never-ending, often daunting task - just like laundry. Not long after the dirty pile is gone, a new one appears that requires sorting and washing. As with many things in life, there are two types of people in the world – those who do things reactively and those who do them proactively - and this includes data hygiene. However laundry fits into to your schedule, it ultimately requires a process to go from dirty to clean and sorted. In a previous Brazed and Confused video , we provided a solution for the bulk handling of duplicate customer profile data via a carefully planned and multi-phased process. This will work for some who may not have dedicated resources or allocated time to cleanse the data, but for those that do their laundry more often, we’re excited to share a new Braze function. Now, if you wanted to only update a few records at a time Braze can merge duplicate records from within the user interface via their new Merge Duplicates capability! This added feature provides the ability to remove duplicate records once a doppelganger record has been identified in a user profile search. And the best part is you can do it without getting IT involved! As you can see, the user interface to initiate the merge is pretty intuitive. The first step is to evaluate a merge. Just take a look at the duplicate profile data by just clicking the Next > option (box A). Clicking this will allow you to ensure that the duplicate profile is qualified for the merging process. When you are ready to merge the user profiles, clicking on the “Merge duplicates” (box B) button will start the process. The merge process is fast as it invokes a Braze job to perform the merging activities for you - no dry time required. To help illustrate how the merge process works, imagine a single customer (ex. repsaj@gmail.com) is used in two different user profiles (Profile # 1 = User ID: 777777777 and Profile # 2 = User ID: 5555555555) For the purposes of our example, we’re going to use Profile # 1 as the target user profile because it meets the necessary marketing data element requirements and has the most robust profile. Then, we’ll classify Profile # 2 as the one to be merged into the target Profile # 1. There are a couple of items to watch when performing the merge. The first is understanding the key attributes required in user profiles should be part of user profile unification planning. This will direct your decision-making and strip away any subjectivity. Next, is the direction of the merging action. Remember, we want Profile # 2 to be merged into Profile # 1. If Profile # 2 has an attribute not already in Profile # 1 this attribute will carry over into the target profile. In our example , Profile # 2 has an attribute "pets" with a value of "dog." After clicking on Merge profiles , the updated target profile now includes the "pets" attribute with value of "dog". As you can see in the last screen shot, the “Multiple users match your search criteria” note no longer exists because the duplicate profile has been merged. But what if the target profile already had a value in the “pets” attribute but it is different? In cases where both profiles have the same attribute, but different values are assigned to those attributes, the target profile (Profile #1 ) attributes will be used in the unified profile. Target Profile (Profile # 1): Merging Profile (Profile # 2): Resulting Unified (Merged) Profile: That's all there is to know about on-the-fly in-GUI duplicate profile merging fun! If your duplicate profile scenarios are on a grander scale (and piling up in the corner), remember there is the strategic option to mitigate the burden shown in this video . Or, you can opt for a more programmatic approach through the Merge Users API (which we will dive into in a follow up article). If you’ve ever considered using drop off laundry service, or have a pile of pesky duplicate user profiles, just let us know here and we'll gladly help you out. Happy laundering!

The last five years have seen some profound changes in the marketing technology space. From businesses, to consumers, to marketers, the experience is ever-changing. Starting with the proliferation of available marketing technologies. Since 2018, Chief Martech has seen a near doubling of options with over 11,000 marketing software solutions at last count! Only adding to the mix is the impending demise of the "cookie" as web browsers phase out third-party cookies. Fueled by a stay-at-home pandemic, the US Census Bureau tracked the total sales of retail purchases being made digitally rose from 9.4% to 15.6% since 2018. Amidst this dynamic landscape, one element is/should be rising to the forefront of every marketer's agenda: application integration. In the age of the API economy, ensuring seamless communication between systems is crucial to achieving the hyper-personalization consumers now expect. Here we’ll explore three compelling reasons why application integration is becoming the new currency in the database marketing world. 1. Seamless Collaboration For businesses managing a multitude of apps and software, the ability to facilitate a smooth data transfer between systems is paramount. Well-designed application integrations not only make data transfer effortless but also save time and reduce errors associated with manual entry. When data networks are in harmony, team productivity follows suit. 2. Driving Agility and Efficiency Effective application integration allows organizations to stay nimble by swiftly incorporating new technologies and being more adaptable to change. By having already integrated systems it alleviates some of the challenges of launching new products and tweaking processes, thus preventing them from becoming overwhelming tasks. Likewise, the consolidation of customer data enables more personalized experiences, while streamlining business tasks leads to significant cost savings. 3. Unleashing the Power of Integration In an era where cloud infrastructures and hybrid tech are becoming the norm, integration acts as the invisible glue binding disparate systems together. Connecting on-premises data warehouses with cloud-based CRM and intuitive AI marketing systems creates some real exciting possibilities. It's about extracting meaningful insights from a unified dataset, making data-driven decisions, and gaining a competitive edge in today's business landscape. Security is not overlooked either, with cloud identity and access management systems acting as vigilant bodyguards for integrated apps and their data. As businesses navigate the evolving landscape, the ability to connect disparate systems will likely be a defining factor in their success. Those adept at leveraging application integration stand to gain a tactical advantage over their competitors and open doors for future agility and adaptability. For further insights into future-proofing your strategies, explore our article on The Rise of Zero Party Data .

An open letter to all MarTech software vendors: There’s no question that the recent public fascination with Large Language Models (LLM) has impacted your software development roadmaps. We believe, for the most part, it has been a positive change. The cultural acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) is a game changer now that more marketers can truly see themselves using the AI features we’ve all been working so hard to incorporate over the last few years. We’re talking about suggested customer segmentations, recommended asset tagging keywords, and content generation capabilities, just to name a few. However, as the official-unofficial messengers for all the in-the-trenches software users out there, we'd like to pose a challenge to you, the MarTech makers. What if you harnessed the power of AI to directly benefit software coders, developers, and administrators? Having worked in the Marketing Automation space for almost two decades we have seen all sorts of error messages, from the good, to those that require decoder rings to even get a whiff of an idea. Now imagine if these error messages were generated by, and processed through, AI to create more meaningful and actionable error messages for the software users. Instead of getting the typical ambiguous or overly general message, the AI actually read and analyzed the error logs for you. No more, “please talk to your administrator for more help” or “your session failed,” but instead the error messages were more insightful like: I’m sorry, it appears you need write permissions in the “daily_output” folder. Unfortunately your process failed because your code was erroneous. After our review it looks like you’re missing a close parenthesis. (and this could apply to any sort of code like HTML, SQL, Liquid, etc.) Drats, the export job failed because your data isn’t formatted correctly. Your “Product_Name” file has a value 20 characters long, but the target field has a 18 character limit. Uh oh, your organization has reached their allotted API call limit. Please try again in 3 hours. What a wonderful world that would be, not only would it enhance the MarTech user experience, but also their productivity! Furthermore, this would also reduce the number of level 1 support tickets coming in. Seems like a win-win to us. Sincerely, - All the consultants @CovalentMarketing

Have you ever heard the phrase, “just because I assigned it to you, doesn’t mean you have to do all the work!”? I think we all have, and sometimes it seems counter intuitive especially when your team is made up of only a handful of resources. How are we supposed to complete an assignment without doing the work? Dependent on who you are and who said it, it’s either a confusing or empowering statement. The word “assigned” can be interpreted as something different based on your role, professional maturity/ experience, and cultural norms. In our role as marketing consultants, we’re assigned tasks daily to ensure our clients achieve successful outcomes efficiently and without disruption. We wouldn’t be effective without some fundamental agreements about roles and responsibilities. Let’s be literal for a moment. According to Merriam-Webster, in the context of a project or work assignment, “assign” means: “to appoint as a duty or task. ” This isn’t very helpful at work without context or a clear understanding of expectations. On large project teams, we have a dedicated project manager and kick off the project with a formal RACI chart to ensure everyone on the team is aligned on role and task expectations to move forward as coordinated team. But what about those smaller projects or skunk works teams? Who has time to develop formal assets? In fact, many smaller projects many not even have a formal Project Manager! Just because you don’t have a PM assigned to create a RACI for a four-man team doesn’t mean you can’t implement the principles and achieve many of the benefits. At minimum, on any working team of more than one person (you only need three for a party!), you must identify who is (R)esponsible and who is (A)ccountable for each task or assignment. Outlining who to (C)onsult and who to (I)nform within a small project team doesn’t add any value as you’re already doing this along the way. Making sure the RA is clearly stated in your task list or project plan helps maintain clarity in roles and responsibilities without introducing unnecessary confusion. It can also keep projects moving forward without hearing the dreaded word “bottleneck”. Here's how to keep small projects successful without a full-blown RACI chart: Identify Key Tasks: Start by identifying the key tasks or activities within your small project. Focus on the critical elements that require clear roles and responsibilities. Clarify Roles: (A)ccountable: Designate one person who is ultimately accountable for the success of the project. This person takes ownership of the project's overall outcome. (R)esponsible: Assign specific tasks or components to team members. Each task should have a clear owner who is responsible for its execution. Document Roles and Responsibilities: Create a simplified document or chart that lists the (A)ccountable person for the project as a whole and the (R)esponsible individuals for specific tasks. There are no rules stating someone can’t be both! Describe the (A)ccountable person's high-level responsibilities, such as overseeing the project's progress, making key decisions, and ensuring that the project aligns with its objectives. For each (R)esponsible individual, document their specific tasks, deadlines, and any critical details related to their responsibilities on a shared task list or project tracker. Communicate and Discuss: Share this document with your mini team at the start of the project and ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. Hold a discussion to clarify any questions or concerns. Flexibility and Transparency: While maintaining clarity in roles, also emphasize flexibility. Small projects often require adaptability, so team members should know that they can seek input or collaborate as needed, even if it's not formally designated as "(C)onsulted" in a RACI matrix. Encourage transparency in communication. Team members should openly share updates, progress, and any challenges they face. Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular check-in meetings or updates to review progress and discuss any adjustments or changes in responsibilities. This informal review process ensures that everyone remains aligned with the project's goals. Record Decisions and Changes: Keep a record of key decisions and changes in roles and responsibilities, even if it's a simple document or project log. This documentation helps maintain clarity and provides a historical reference for the project. Emphasize Accountability: Stress the importance of accountability within the team. The Accountable person should take ownership of the project's success, making decisions as necessary to keep it on track. Keep It Simple: Remember that for small projects, simplicity is key. Don't introduce unnecessary complexity, or documentation, that could slow down the project. By using RACI principles in a simplified manner, you can still achieve role clarity, accountability, and transparency without overburdening the team with a formal RACI matrix. The goal is to ensure that everyone knows their role, the project stays on track, and responsibilities are clearly defined, even in small, agile, or informal project settings. The next time someone “assigns” something to you and you don’t have a PM to help guide you on what that means, don’t be afraid to level-set and look super-smart by asking, “Am I (R)esponsible or (A)ccountable for this task?” Our team finds great success in making small changes and transparent communication. Hopefully your team can benefit from some of our learnings as well!

To kick off the "spooky season," Google and Yahoo ! have recently revealed significant policy updates that’ll make most digital marketers shriek! Beginning February 1, 2024, these changes will impact all bulk email senders who dispatch more than 5,000 messages per day to Gmail or Yahoo! email users. This may be a scary change to share with your stakeholders, but the primary goal of these policies is to safeguard marketers AND consumers alike from email spoofing, phishing attempts, and to curtail unsolicited mail. Marketers and organizations that do not fully comply with the new policies will have their messages rejected by both email providers. So, how do you prevent your messages from getting chased away by the policy monsters? Just follow the requirements below and your messages will be happily received like a band of merry trick or treaters! Stronger Email Authentication (DMARC ) – Senders will need to implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance). Most reputable marketing domains already have SPF and DKIM set up when they work with an ESP (Email Service Provider), but DMARC impacts more than just marketing - it's a global policy on the corporate/business domain that affects all the emails your company sends. We’ve pulled together a few helpful DMARC resources to help make sure you’re on the right track. First, to see if your company’s domain is already set up with DMARC, we recommend using MXToolbox.com’s DMARC record check. Next, check out this helpful Google article o n preventing spoofing and spam by implementing DMARC. Finally, ask for help. This isn’t a subject that is frequently talked about, so if you need help navigating or coordinating with your IT department to set up DMARC, let us know, we do it all the time! One-Click Unsubscribe – It’s time to simplify the unsubscribe process. Marketers will be required to include a one-click opt-out link in all promotional campaigns. Additionally, Google will require all opt-outs to be processed within 2 days (as compared to the 10 days allowed by the CAN SPAM Act). Many ISPs (Gmail, Yahoo!, Apple) already support list-unsubscribe headers that put a one-click unsubscribe link when the message is displayed. Spam Complaint Enforcement - While spam complaint rates have always been a factor in how your messages are delivered (more spam complaints, more junk folder placement, less engagement), there has been a bit of flexibility in its enforcement depending on your overall domain reputation. Starting in February 2024, Google (and likely Yahoo!) will enforce a spam complaint rate of less than 0.3%. This means, anything above that threshold will be delivered to the Spam/Junk folder. To stay in front of this, make sure you only send campaigns to recipients who have opted in and are engaging with your messaging. The best way to keep track of your day-to-day spam rate at Google i s through Google Postmaster Tools . These "new" requirements may seem somewhat familiar, many have been established as deliverability best practices for years. The moral of this story is, if you are a reputable sender with a good domain reputation, the concerns regarding unsubscribe and spam rate enforcement are likely minimal. It is worth noting, though, that DMARC adoption is not as widespread as SPF and DKIM. We know that according to SpamResource.com , over 80% of evaluated domains DO NOT have published DMARC records. So, if you have not already done so, now is the time to implement DMARC. Hopefully these updates aren’t too scary, and your team is set up to head confidently into 2024 knowing that simply complying with SPF and DKIM is no longer enough. With DMARC playing an increasingly crucial role in ensuring successful delivery, it's essential to adopt it now. Not implementing it could seriously impact your email deliverability, damaging your reputation and credibility. Don’t be afraid to take proactive steps to protect your domain reputation, maintain trust with your recipients, and keep the conversation flowing seamlessly. If you need help in implementing DMARC or improving your email deliverability our experts can help. And if you found this article helpful, you may also like the one we have discussing deliverability metrics at the ISP level .

Managing MarTech projects can often feel like a wild rollercoaster ride with shifting requirements, bespoke integrations, and fluctuating timelines. To effectively tackle these challenges, adopting an Agile approach feels the wise thing to do. And, contrary to common misconceptions, adopting an Agile approach doesn’t require a certified Scrum Master, formal sprints, and user stories. Instead, it hinges on teamwork, communications, and performance metrics. From our extensive experiencing managing MarTech projects we’ve discovered that the most successful organizations start by fostering a collective mindset that truly values customer feedback, iterative development, and continuous improvement. You can begin to incorporate an Agile methodology into your projects without a disruptive overhaul of your existing practices. Adopting Agile principles and practices incrementally while working within your existing project management framework is a great way to make the transition approachable, it simply requires thoughtful planning and a lot of open communication. To guide you in this journey, here are some steps to help you incorporate Agile thinking into your projects while preserving the important parts of your current projects’ delivery methodology: Start with Small Changes: Begin by introducing small, manageable changes to your current project management processes. Avoid disrupting the entire workflow making the transition smoother. Educate the Team: Ensure that your team members understand Agile principles and practices. Provide training or workshops to familiarize them with Agile concepts and terminology, empowering them for the journey ahead. Identify Agile Practices to Adopt: Select specific Agile practices or techniques that align with your project's unique needs and constraints. Common practices include daily stand-up meetings, backlog management, and iterative planning. Create a Cross-Functional Team: Form cross-functional teams that include members with diverse skill sets essential for the project’s success. Encourage collaboration and shared responsibility, fostering a collaborative environment. Implement Iterative Development: Introduce iterative development cycles that divides work into small, manageable increments. Set regular intervals for review and adaptation, enhancing your project’s adaptability and flexibility. Emphasize Customer Feedback: Prioritize feedback from customers and stakeholders, leveraging it for continuous improvements to the project. Engage them throughout the project lifecycle to ensure alignment throughout the project’s lifecycle. Visualize Work: Use Agile tools like Kanban boards or task boards to visualize work items and their progress. This helps team members stay aligned and focused. Regular Retrospectives: Conduct regular retrospectives to reflect on what's working and what needs improvement. Use these insights to make adjustments to your Agile approach. Iterate and Adapt: Be willing to adapt and evolve your Agile practices based on the project's needs and feedback from the team. Agile is about continuous improvement. Documentation and Reporting: Keep the necessary documentation for compliance or reporting purposes while minimizing unnecessary paperwork. Focus on delivering value rather than getting bogged down in documentation. Communication and Transparency: Promote open communication within the team and with stakeholders. Transparency about progress and challenges is a core Agile principle of collaboration. Measure Success: Define clear success criteria and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track the project's progress and impact. Data-driven decision-making and value demonstration become easier. Seek External Support: Consider involving Agile coaches or consultants who can provide expert guidance and support during the transition. Their experience can be invaluable in navigating challenges effectively. Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate achievements and milestones, boosting team morale and motivation. Positive reinforcement encourages your team to embrace Agile practices wholeheartedly. Stay Patient and Persistent: Incorporating Agile practices takes time and effort. Be patient and persistent in driving the cultural shift toward Agile values. It's important to note that traditional project management, Agile Methodology, and a formal Agile Project Management approach all have their places and need to be leveraged in a “fit for purpose” way. Before making any sweeping changes, evaluate your goals, corporate culture, and your team’s willingness to try new things. Then, in the spirit of agility, test and evaluate if Agile techniques are right for you! Ultimately, the key is to select the approach that maximizes project success and delivery value while aligning with the project's unique requirements. Happy project managing!

In the world of high-volume email campaigns, there’s one thing that can make or break your success, and that’s understanding your deliverability metrics at the ISP level. Each of the big players like Google, Microsoft, Spectrum/Charter, Yahoo, and Apple wield their own unique set of rules and algorithms that determine the fate of your emails - will they land in the coveted inbox or get lost in the abyss of spam folders. Therefore, mastering the intricacies of how your emails perform with each ISP is more than important; it's absolutely essential! Consider this scenario: your emails aren't gaining any traction at Google, and that's a big deal as Google (with its Gmail) represents over 75% of email addresses in the United States. By homing in on deliverability metrics, you gain the power to compare engagement metrics across multiple ISP domains, spot any anomalies, and uncover potential deliverability issues. While this concept holds universal truth across all email management platforms, allow us to illuminate this lesson with one of our favorite tools: Braze. So, let's dive into the world of ISP-level insights and maximize your email campaign's potential. 1) Use Tagging to classify your campaigns and canvases: Tags are your best friends when it comes to organizing your campaigns and canvases. With your Braze dashboard, you can assign tags to each campaign or canvas based on its content, target audience, purpose, or any other criteria that make sense to you. Tagging can help analyze the collective success of multiple campaigns by using segment filters involving tags. Imagine you want to find out the click-thru rate of promotional messages, you can by using segments to provide inputs for calculations. Step 1 – Employ the filter “Has received message from Campaign or Canvas with tag” to calculate your total audience size for your tagged campaigns. Don’t forget to Calculate Exact Statistics to get an accurate count. Step 2 – Utilize the filter “Has Clicked/Opened message from Campaign or Canvas with tag” to determine the audience size for all unique clicks across your tagged campaigns. Step 3 – Divide the number unique clicks (53,685) by the total users who have received the tagged messages (1,242,796) and multiply the result by 100. In this case, that’s 43.2%. 2) Leverage Segments to understand the composition of your ISP groups: Segmentation is a potent tool for dividing your email list into different ISP groups, providing insight into the number of subscribers in each. With the Braze dashboard, you can create segments like 'All Google Users', 'All Yahoo Users', 'All Microsoft Users' – you get the idea. The email counts for these segments will help you understand which ISPs have significant impact (high % of total audience) and which ISPs wield less. Pro Tip: ISP specific segments can also be useful for including or excluding specific ISPs from a campaign’s target audience for campaign sending limits and volume throttling as it may be needed for IP reputation building strategy. Use the “Email Address matches regex” filter to create your ISP segments. Reference these ISP group domains when creating your segments. Here are examples of regex expressions to create ISP segments for popular US based providers: Google – (gmail.com|googlemail.com) Microsoft - (hotmail.com|outlook.com|live.com|msn.com) Yahoo - (aim.com|aol.com|rocketmail.com|yahoo.com|ymail.com|verizon.net) Spectrum/Charter -(adelphia.net|rr.com|brighthouse.com|roadrunner.com|twc.com|charter.net|rr.com) Apple - (mac.com|me.com|icloud.com) Comcast - comcast.net Cox - cox.net 3) Combine Tagging and Segmentation for ISP-specific Insights: While the Braze engagement reports and campaign analytics available in the dashboard do not directly offer ISP level metrics, you can employee segment filters for individual campaigns or by tags in conjunction with ISP segments to achieve the desired insights. Filter the results using the tag of the campaigns you are analyzing (or specific campaigns/canvases), retargeting filters for engagement, and the ISP segments. Based on our earlier example, we know that we have 53,685 total clicks on all promotional campaigns. By including filter AND is in segment “All Microsoft” we know there are 5,980 clicks from Microsoft users. Therefore, we can deduce that the rate of Microsoft click engagement is 11% (5,980 / 53,685 x 100). Now you have the tools to evaluate your own situation. So go apply what you just learned, and achieve valuable insights that may shape your strategic decision-making, and tailor your approaches to suit the engagement patterns of each ISP user group. It's not just about sending emails; it's about optimizing for deliverability and engagement. By using data to your advantage, you can create more impactful email campaigns and enjoy greater success in your email marketing efforts.

Have you ever tried to manage your marketing organization’s ongoing work across campaigns and programs? If you have, you’re likely aware that it is no simple task and only becomes increasingly complex as you aim to expand. When it comes to project management of any kind, the integration of automated solutions has supplied countless hours of efficiency and relief from manual data entry. Perhaps you’re familiar with systems like Workfront and Aprimo which excel at curating this information for leadership and triggering task steps. However, it’s important to emphasize that removing people out of the process would be a grave mistake. Despite the many benefits of automation in Project Management, humans are indispensable because each of us bring unique qualities, such as experiential creativity, emotional intelligence, and ethical judgment to work management that machines and AI cannot fully replicate. Combining the strengths of automation with human capabilities yields a more effective and balanced approach to work management. Let’s delve deeper into what can a person bring to the table that the tool cannot: Creativity and Innovation: Humans possess creative thinking and the ability to generate novel ideas, strategies, and solutions. Automation follows predefined rules and algorithms, making it less capable of ideation and innovation. Complex Problem Solving: Humans excel at solving complex, unstructured problems that require critical thinking, empathy, and a deep understanding of context. Automation is limited to tasks that can be algorithmically defined. Emotional Intelligence: Humans can perceive and understand emotions, which is essential for effective communication, collaboration, and customer interactions. Automation lacks emotional intelligence and cannot establish genuine human connections. Communication and Collaboration: Humans excel at nuanced communication, active listening, and collaboration. These skills are vital in team settings, negotiations, and client interactions where effective human-to-human interaction is essential. Contextual Understanding: Humans can interpret context, including cultural and social nuances, which is crucial for effective decision-making and problem-solving in various situations. Automation may struggle with context-dependent tasks. Intuition: Humans often rely on intuition, gut feelings, or experience-based judgment to make decisions when data is limited or ambiguous. Automation relies solely on data-driven decisions. Complex Decision Trade-offs: Humans can weigh multiple factors, trade-offs, and uncertainties when making complex decisions. Automation systems tend to simplify decisions based on predefined criteria. Continuous Learning and Improvement: Humans can continually learn, adapt, and improve their skills and knowledge over time. Automation requires updates and modifications by human operators to adapt and improve. In our years of helping clients with developing marketing workflows and designing project management solutions, we are often met with the challenge of minimizing human interaction and allowing the “system do its thing.” Efficient work management design can help you do more with less (humans), but there will always be a need for traffic, project and operations managers to handle the finer details and adapt to ever changing circumstances. Never lose sight of the value of your people. Automation has its place, but it’s also a buzzword that continues to gain momentum; it’s up there with AI and machine learning. If you’re curious how it all fits together, check out one of our latest articles, AI vs Machine Learning: Don’t Get Caught in the Buzzword Bonanza!

When talking about marketing automation and data, most people instantly steer towards the demographic data going into the platform to create marketing campaigns. However, an often-overlooked aspect is the data being amassed by their marketing systems themselves. This engagement data can provide invaluable insights into your customer actions, behaviors and intents. Luckily, many of the well managed marketing software vendors of today have thought through this and created pre-configured APIs for porting this engagement data to different systems. In the case of Braze, their mechanism for porting engagement data out is called Currents. It’s an add-on feature they developed for effortlessly exposing event data to an array of 3rd party systems. This includes Data Warehouses, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), and Analytics Platforms. To help illustrate things, we’ve outlined how to connect Braze to an Amazon S3 bucket. Prepare to Launch: As you begin your journey of integrating your Amazon S3 bucket, make sure you have charted your course to: Enable the Currents feature on your Braze Account – ask your Braze Customer Success Manager if you’re unsure Secure an AWS account and have administrative access This is required for creating the S3 bucket to be associated to Braze along with configuring the necessary roles and policies for access to land your Braze data Secure a resource with a Braze administrative account Braze Admin access is necessary to perform the Currents configuration within the Braze interface Set Sail: The first thing you’ll want to do is to setup the AWS S3 bucket for capturing all the event data from your Braze App Group. Make sure you get all the meta data, like BUCKET NAME , from the new S3 bucket recorded somewhere. The next task is to start the configuration of the Currents feature within Braze. To get to the Currents configuration page, navigate to Partner Integrations and then click on Data Export : If Currents is enabled for the target app group in your Braze account, the +Create New Current button will be activated and displayed. Click that button to start the process. Choose Amazon S3 Data Export and this will display a couple options for setting up the integration. In this guide, we’ll focus on the use of the ARN (Amazon Resource Name) option. You’ll notice that once you click on the bullet for AWS Role ARN , the Braze Account ID and Braze External ID will be auto populated with values that you will use in the next step. Pro Tip: Write the Braze Account ID and Braze External ID down before you move on! Once the AWS S3 bucket has been created, and the Braze Currents configuration has started, it’s time to create a security role (via the AWS IAM Portal) that Braze will use to access the S3 Bucket. This role should have the appropriate security policy assigned that gives the assigned entities the privileges to access the S3 bucket utilized by the Currents feature. It is very important that when creating the role within AWS, the role creation route taken must be through the AWS Account . It is during this process where the Braze Account ID and Braze External ID are populated as provided by Braze (see above Pro Tip!). Ultimately, this step should generate the Role ARN that is needed for the Currents configuration within Braze. Now that the AWS Role ARN is available, navigate back to the Currents integration configuration in Braze. Here you’ll need to populate the following fields based on the information collected along the way: AWS Role ARN AWS S3 Bucket Name AWS S3 Bucket Folder (if applicable) It is recommended to Enable Encryption as well Charting Your Course: With the storage repository for events all set up, you’re ready to define what events to capture to further your understanding of customer behaviors. There are many organizations that believe “you can’t have too much data,” but then get lost trying to find the right data in the tsunami of information they created. Don’t get caught in the “paralysis by analysis” net! Let’s talk strategy. Before finalizing your event selections, have a discussion with your stakeholders about what data you need to achieve their marketing goals and KPIs. Just because you have the data available to select doesn’t automatically make it the right choice to take it. Once events are decided and selected, the final step is to click on the LAUNCH CURRENT button. When the Currents feature has been launched, it will take about 15 minutes for data to start landing in the target S3 bucket (assuming there are active campaigns running that directly relate to the events captured). After data starts to land, the observed data transfer frequency has been clocked in at every 5 minutes. Let the data flow! Captain’s Log: It’s clear to see that Braze’s Currents feature is a key utility needed to get granular event-based customer behavior out of Braze and into other parts of your marketing technology ecosystem. And while it may seem overwhelming to set up, it actually requires very little configuration for integration. There are several partner platforms that have pre-made connections to Currents. If you’re not seeing an obvious path forward to capture your event data efficiently, let us know, we’d love to help you achieve success. If you liked this article, then you might also enjoy our video on removing duplicate customers from your Braze database here .

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!