What we're talking about this month — proving impact in Braze with strategic measurement, the best Braze features from recent releases, our top resources, and more! ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏    ͏      Welcome to the February edition of Cutting Edge: the monthly newsletter for marketers who use Braze! February is a good gut-check month. Budgets are set. Goals are locked. The initial momentum of the year is still there, but now it’s about proving impact. Are we testing ideas big enough to matter? Are we measuring the right actions? Are we giving credit where it’s actually due? This month’s edition is focused on tightening the feedback loop. From smarter testing strategies and attribution guardrails to optimization and deeper performance visibility, we’re breaking down how to move from activity to accountability. What we're talking about this month: 📊 Proving impact in Braze 📌 Braze tips & tricks 🛠️ The most relevant updates from Braze’s recent releases 🪡 Resources you can use to hone your craft STITCH IN TIME Proving impact in Braze: How to test, attribute, and measure what matters 📊 “Did marketing actually move the needle?” We spend a significant amount of time designing, writing, building, and testing our marketing campaigns, and it’s essential to take the time to reflect on and review the impact these campaigns may have had on our company/department's goals. Proving impact comes down to how you test, what you measure, and how long you give credit — and you can set up your Braze campaigns and Canvases to measure your results effectively. Here are our top tips to set yourself up for measurement success. Test Big Ideas (Not Just Subject Lines) A/B/n testing only works if the test(s) is meaningfully different from the control. To prove impact, test big ideas: Timing changes Channel mix Different messaging/content Braze Intelligent features And be sure to check on the results of your test at regular intervals! Leverage a statistical significance calculator (throwback to high school/college math classes) to determine when a test has truly “won” so you can roll out your next iteration and continue learning. How to Structure Tests in Braze Braze gives you the ability to execute and measure marketing effectiveness in two different ways: 1) Global holdouts These are audiences that receive no messages for a specific channel. You can leverage Braze functionality for this or work with your Marketing Analytics team to create a true random sample as a segment that gets withheld from all campaigns. What it measures: whether a channel or program is effective at all Question it answers: “Does lifecycle marketing drive incremental value?” 2) Test vs control variants Test variants, what usually comes to mind when marketers talk about testing, involves taking your baseline (aka your control) and comparing performance against a bold new approach. What it measures: lift between approaches Question it answers: “Is version B better than version A?” Effective marketing teams use both so they can prove the effectiveness of their overall marketing efforts as well as specific enhancements of different tests. TL;DR: Holdouts prove marketing effectiveness. Variants prove optimization. Measure More Than Just Revenue Businesses grow on revenue, but there are also other important business metrics, and what these are depends on your specific company and goals. You may want to measure: Account / app login Feature activation Subscription start Specific content / page visited Your campaigns often (and should!) drive to a specific call to action. Leverage Braze reporting to track your effectiveness towards those specific goals, and you’ll be able to see impact faster so you can test more often. Keep Attribution Windows Realistic Few topics spark more discussion than how to attribute marketing impact when multiple campaigns may influence a subscriber’s actions. Timing is a big component of the marketing attribution calculation. If I send an email promoting a SALE on Tuesday, and a subscriber buys on Saturday — does my email get the credit? Our general guidance: Align your conversion timelines with how “big” your action is A CTA to order dinner tonight could look for a purchase event for 1-2 days Booking a new vacation could look back longer, for example 14-30 days Remember that Braze's conversion timeline accounts for the time a person is in the Canvas. So if the maximum time a person could be in a Canvas is 10 days, and you set your conversion timeline to 7 days, your “actual” conversion timeline is 17 days. Generally speaking, shorter attribution timelines can help you prove the effectiveness of your specific tests. The Takeaway Earn a gold star from your CMO by proving your marketing campaigns drive real impact that align to business goals and objectives. Remember to: Test ideas big enough to matter Use holdouts and variants intentionally Measure against your campaigns’ CTAs (the action you are asking subscribers to take) Set attribution windows that reasonably align with your target actions - Cat Mears Associate Principal Marketing Strategist & Certified Mac & Cheese Inspector (we’re just as confused as you are) PIN IT Braze tips & tricks 📌 You can now set rate limits by channel in Canvases! Throttling per channel is a huge win for multi-channel Canvases where marketers only want to set rate limits on certain channels. For example, if you’re firing webhooks against an API with strict rate limits, you can throttle just that channel — without slowing down other higher-volume, faster channels like email, SMS, or push. This granular control means you no longer need to globally restrict your entire Canvas or build separate journeys to accommodate the lowest-throughput endpoint; you can keep all channels in one Canvas and ensure that each runs at optimal speed. - Adam Kaufman Solution Architect - Associate Director & Proud Parent of a Puppy Kindergarten Graduate PATCHWORK Decoding Braze product updates 🛠️ BrazeAI: Content Optimizer (Beta) Braze is making it easier than ever to get smarter, faster with your campaigns. The Content Optimizer is a new AI-powered step in Canvas that lets you continuously test multiple versions of your content. Picture this: you create three versions each of an email’s subject line, pre-header, and call-to-action. That’s 27 different combinations, all automatically tested and optimized to see what clicks best with your audience. Why it matters: This takes the guesswork (and hours of manual A/B testing) off your plate. It dynamically learns and delivers the highest-performing content, helping you connect better with your customers and boost campaign results without lifting a finger. Partnership Highlights This month Braze expanded its integration lineup: LinkedIn Canvas Audience Sync: Push Braze behavioral data to LinkedIn to serve ads triggered by user actions—making your ads timely and hyper-relevant. Oracle Crowdtwist: Ready-to-go loyalty workflows that let you engage customers with personalized experiences faster. Fullstory: Combine digital behavior data with your analytics for smarter, more actionable insights. Open Loyalty: Sync loyalty info in real time to send personalized messages based on points, tier updates, and more. DOTS.ECO: Reward customers with proof of real-world environmental impact through shareable digital certificates. Mailizio: Easily export branded email templates into Braze and auto-generate in-app messages for fast, consistent campaigns Why it matters: These partnerships help you broaden your marketing reach, speed up campaign builds, and make messaging feel more personal all by syncing key customer data across platforms seamlessly. APIs: Media Library POST APIs (General Availability) Big win for marketers and engineers alike: you can now upload media assets to Braze’s Media Library via API, whether from a file or a URL. Why it matters: No more manual uploads. This smooths out your workflows and lets marketing and tech teams collaborate better, speeding up message creation and scaling your campaigns with less hassle. Currents & Datashare Updates A handful of smart updates to give you better insights and control: Agent Console Events: Get deeper visibility into how your intelligent agents are performing, right in your downstream tools. Retry Events for Channels: Now you can track when frequency capping delays messages instead of dropping them — giving you clearer delivery data. Millisecond Precision for Token Changes: More precise push token tracking means better accuracy for subscription status. Anonymous User Streaming: Stream events from anonymous users to your analytics destinations, filling in gaps in your data. Email Open “machine_open” Field: Tell the difference between human email opens and automated ones for sharper reporting. Why it matters: More detailed data means you can fine-tune your messaging strategies, better understand how automation affects delivery, and get a fuller picture of your audience’s engagement. - Tatum Lynch Consultant Solution Architect & Wannabe Pickleball Player GOING TO SHOPTALK? Swing into Shoptalk with Braze & Stitch ⛳ Ready to talk shop? Kick off Shoptalk 2026 with Braze and Stitch for a special evening at Swingers Golf at Mandalay Bay, hosted the night before the show officially begins. Join a curated group of senior marketing and growth leaders for a casual, high-energy night of mini golf, elevated carnival games, great food, and sharp conversation — all designed to spark meaningful connections before the conference rush starts. When: Monday, March 23, 6:00–8:00 PM Where: Swingers Golf, Mandalay Bay Register with your work email to apply for attendance. Spots are limited. Secure yours and tee up Shoptalk 2026 the right way. We'd love to see you there! Register here > HONE YOUR CRAFT Our top resources this month 🪡 📱 Call me, beep me. Miss our latest Braze Innovation Series webinar on SMS? Getting the replay is almost as easy as a compliant SMS opt-out. In this session, we break down how to build two-way SMS programs in Braze — from strategy and compliance to conversational design and Canvas execution — so you can create experiences customers actually want to engage with. Watch it on demand >   🕴️ The name’s Bond. Braze Bond. The final installment in our Braze Innovations Series is all about Agent Console. We’re going to cut through the AI noise to bring you tangible use cases for Braze Agents. We’ll walk through challenges, goals, and in-depth solution dives for cool sh*t that we've helped marketers build in Braze that has moved the needle in changing the way marketing gets done. Register here > 📚 What we're reading/watching Braze + Databricks is an Incredible Combination - Bobby Tichy The Slow Death of the Magic Quadrant - The Martech Weekly   LOOSE ENDS This month's VIP (very important pet) 🐾 Stitch, 830 Massachusetts Ave Floor 3, Suite 9, Indianapolis, IN 46204, USA Unsubscribe Manage preferences