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In today’s highly digitized and data-driven business landscape, brands are vying to make their mark and reach out to their customers in multiple channels. Customer engagement platforms help companies do just that for their users. It’s now easy to interact with your customers on their preferred channels because platforms like Braze and Twilio allow you to send SMS, emails, or calls, reach out on WhatsApp, and use live chats in your app or website.
Founded in 2011, Braze started out as a mobile-messaging platform, and this SaaS company has quickly grown to offer an extensive suite of tools that allow your brand to create the right message, for the right audience, to the right channel, at the right time–all in one platform.
Its cross-channel delivery includes in-app and in-browser messaging, mobile and web push notifications, email, SMS, content cards, and WhatsApp. Braze also provides data about customer preferences and behavior so brands can easily segment their audiences, split-test marketing campaigns, and engineer customer journeys in real time.
Twilio, on the other hand, started out as a cloud communication platform, which provides developers with web-service APIs so they can build their own scaleable SMS and voice applications. In 2020, Twilio acquired Segment, a leading customer data platform. With this acquisition, Twilio was able to launch Engage, which allows brands to send personalized, data-driven messages to their customers at multichannel touchpoints. At this point, Twilio became a direct competitor to Braze.
It’s important to note that much of Braze’s messaging infrastructure is built on Twilio’s API. So in terms of communication tools, both platforms offer comparable services. But with Twilio Engage entering the customer engagement platform space just recently, its offering is not as mature as Braze, which provides a more robust marketing solution.
Braze and Twilio are not the only customer engagement platforms in the game. So how do those Braze competitors stack against Braze features and integrations? Here’s a run-through:
Salesforce has carved out a name in the customer relationship management (CRM) niche. It even offers very comprehensive tools for marketing automation and analytics, which also makes it compete with Braze in the customer engagement space. This SaaS platform is very reputable and gives its users access to CRM software. Its integration with other platforms makes it a leader in the marketing technology industry.
However, marketers who want to track user data in real time are better off with Braze, as Salesforce doesn’t offer this function. Braze also features a simpler dashboard compared to Salesforce, owing to the latter’s more comprehensive functionalities. That’s why Salesforce has a longer learning curve. But this is not a problem if you already have people on your team who are well-versed with this platform.
Like Braze, Iterable supports email, SMS, in-app messaging, and in-app notification. Both offer comparable options to ingest data: CSV uploads, APIs, and SDKs. Braze and Iterable have built-in integration with technology partners, which include popular customer data platforms like Twilio Segment, Tealium, Census, and mParticle.
Both platforms make A/B testing different messages within one channel or the same elements in different channels. However, Braze has the upper hand in this space as it supports multivariate testing. Another difference between the two platforms is that Iterable can’t track anonymous users the way that Braze can. This could create data gaps since you can’t associate an anonymous user’s behavior with their data once their identity’s known.
Klaviyo is another platform often pitted against Braze. Although Klaviyo supports SMS and has all the other features that Braze has, like segmentation, seamless campaign creation, and built-in integration, it’s more of an email marketing platform.
In addition, Klaviyo is more tailor-fit for eCommerce businesses, with its easy integrations with platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, and Magento, as well as custom websites for B2C or B2B companies. The downside to this platform is that it doesn’t provide sales analytics the way Braze does.
Unlike Braze, which offers multichannel support, Attentive is a purely SMS marketing platform. Attentive’s tools are designed for small businesses, with the majority of their users in the retail industry. Braze, on the other hand, offers a more comprehensive suite of tools. It serves mid-market companies with 51-1000 employees.
Attentive integrates with a host of eCommerce platforms, email service providers, and shipping services like Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, Zendesk, and Aftership. Attentive’s segmentation feature is very limited to simple customer actions compared to Braze, which allows for more complex segmentation.
Braze offers a flexible ecosystem with its built-in integration with other technologies. This is helpful because you need top-notch services from other platforms to provide seamless multi-channel customer engagement. With this goal, data silos are the last thing you need. And if you need to fine-tune your campaigns, Braze integrations offer all the tools you need. Here are some of them:
Braze and Twilio Segment have bidirectional integration. This allows you to send customer data into Segment and Braze and tap into both platforms’ tools, like Braze Currents, to orchestrate a customized and data-driven message that resonates with your target audience.
Braze WhatsApp integration is the latest in the slew of tech platforms that it supports. By integrating your WhatsApp Business account into Braze, it’s now easier to fine-tune your WhatsApp marketing campaign. You can craft targeted messages in Braze using the platform’s real-time data and send them to a segment of WhatsApp's two billion-strong active users in just a few clicks.
Zendesk Support Suite allows businesses to offer excellent customer service through email, omnichannel support, or social messaging apps. Using Braze API, you can connect Braze to your Zendesk account and check key metrics to improve customer interactions. Just by looking at CSAT scores and open ticket information, you’ll be able to tell if your business has been handling customer concerns really well.
If you have an online store, you know too well that [abandoned carts|https://segment.com/recipes/abandon-cart-stitch-engage/] are common in this business. You’re leaving money on the table if you don’t follow up with users who leave right before checkout. With Braze Predictive Suite working its magic on your Shopify store, you can easily follow up with a personalized message wherever they are in their buying journey.
If you have a marketing campaign on Facebook, you can easily export your Braze segment into Facebook to build lookalike audiences of your high-value customers or retarget existing users.
Technologies are only as good as their documentation. In this regard, Braze's documentation is comprehensive and robust. Comparatively, Twilio Segment’s documentation has largely been designed for developers in the past, while Braze’s has taken on a marketer-focused text. Although, Braze has created separate user and developer guides to ensure that people of different capacities can use the platform effectively.
This documentation is specifically developed for administrators and marketers. This covers everything users need to know to make the most of all the tools in Braze’s arsenal. This will take you through these necessary steps:
* Onboarding actions
* How to set up integrations with Braze API
* How to build a customer journey
* How to check important metrics to gauge your campaign performance using Braze’s tracking and reporting capabilities
This document is where developers can find all the integrations available with Braze. This includes web, iOS, Android, and FireOS integrations, to name a few.
To get more value out of the platform, Braze forged strategic partnerships with systems integrators, consultancies, and agencies to create a curated network called Braze Alloys. These solution partners are often a team of marketing technologists, strategists, analysts, and marketers with varied offerings to deliver the best solutions that drive growth. Braze Alloys core competencies include engineering, marketing, or a combination of both (full-service).
One example of a Braze Alloy is Stitch. As a Braze solution partner, Stitch features a team of martech experts that partners with Braze and Twilio Segment. So with both platforms, you’re getting the most comprehensive suite of customer engagement tools and a team of experts as consultants. Some of the services they offer include:
* Create and optimize customer journey strategy and processes
* Set up configurations, data migration, integrations, and infrastructure
* Provide training
* Craft the right messaging to a highly targeted audience
* Manage campaigns
* Measure results and create iterations
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