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A customer engagement strategy in Braze is a set of decisions made before any message is written. Decide what counts as success and who is held back for measurement. Decide how often one person can be contacted, and which channel and time suit each user. Set those controls first, then build the Canvases that depend on them.
Key Takeaways
- Treat strategy as the rules every campaign and Canvas inherits: success, measurement, frequency and routing.
- Pick one primary conversion event per Canvas and write the exit rule alongside it.
- Set up a Global Control Group before the first send, because a control group can't be added retrospectively.
- Set frequency caps by channel and by tag, and know that in-app messages and Content Cards don't count toward them.
- Use Intelligent Channel and Intelligent Timing only where users have enough history, and give the rest their own route.
- When send counts look short, check frequency caps, rate limits, channel eligibility and control group size in that order.
What is a customer engagement strategy in Braze?
We treat a strategy as the set of rules that every campaign and Canvas inherits, not as a content calendar. Content changes weekly, while the rules around measurement, frequency and routing should hold steady across all of it. That is why the order of work matters more than the channel mix.
Braze gives you a control for each rule. The Canvas best practices page starts with a short prompt: "Review the what, who, and why." Answer it once for the whole programme, then again for each journey.
- Define the conversion event and the exit rule for each journey.
- Hold out a control group so you can measure uplift.
- Set frequency caps before the first send.
- Choose how each user's channel and send time are decided.
- Check for overlap between journeys that run at the same time.
How do you define success before you build?
Pick one primary conversion event for each Canvas and get the programme owner to agree it in writing. A journey with three equal goals can't be judged, because any result looks like a win against one of them. Braze ties the event to results: "Conversion events power Canvas optimization and reporting."
Know how the number is counted before you read it. A user can convert only once per conversion event per Canvas entry. The conversion is assigned to the latest message that user received for that entry. Review re-eligibility too, because the checklist says the window should be set correctly "to prevent over-messaging or retargeting issues."
Exit rules belong in the same conversation. The Braze checklist says to "Align exit events with your primary conversion", or to add segment-based exits so users leave once they convert or no longer qualify.
How do you prove your messaging is working?
Braze offers three layers of control, and they answer different questions. The table sets them side by side.
| Control | What it answers | What the documentation says |
|---|---|---|
| Global Control Group | What do all your campaigns and Canvases add to sessions and custom events? | Applies to all channels, campaigns and Canvases, except API campaigns |
| Canvas control group or Experiment Paths | Did this one journey change behaviour? | Set it before launch, because you can't add a control group retrospectively |
| Canvas analytics | How did each variant and step perform? | Shows uplift against the control variant for each conversion event |
Braze describes the Global Control Group as a way to "specify a percentage of all users who shouldn't receive any campaigns or Canvases." It compares that group with a treatment sample, so you can see the overall effect of your messaging over time. Users in the group are filtered out before entry. A Canvas control therefore only measures people who were eligible in the first place.
Size matters. Braze advises no fewer than 1000 users in the group and no more than 10% of your entire audience. It notes that a smaller workspace makes a rigorous test harder, and the save form accepts a whole number between 1 and 15.
Transactional messages need a decision. You can add exclusion settings by tag. Campaigns and Canvases with those tags are still sent to every user in the target audience, including the control group.
We recommend writing down the read date and the metric before the group is created. Braze warns that "Ending your experiment early, or whenever you see promising data, introduces bias." A date agreed in advance protects the result from the first good-looking week. For the duration, Braze suggests one quarter (three months) as a starting point, and no shorter than one month.
How often should one person hear from you?
Frequency capping is where a strategy becomes visible to the customer. Braze names the risk plainly. A user who receives too many messages in a short period may turn off push notifications or uninstall the app. Caps are set per workspace under Settings, then Frequency Capping Rules, and they are on by default for new campaigns.
You can cap by channel or by tag, over minutes, days or weeks, up to a maximum of 30 days. A workspace can hold up to 10 rules, and a user must satisfy all of them. When two rules conflict, the strictest applicable rule is the one that applies.
Several details change how you plan.
- In-app messages and Content Cards are not counted as or toward caps.
- Caps follow the user's calendar day, not a rolling 24-hour period.
- A capped user in a Canvas advances to the next step, because frequency capping alone doesn't exit users.
- Capped users generate no send event for that step, so look for them in Currents or a Segment Extension.
Our suggestion is to write the rules in order of importance, starting with the message the customer can least afford to miss. Tag every campaign and Canvas at creation. The Braze checklist notes that tags feed frequency capping rules. A tag added late can't protect a send that has already gone out. The documentation gives no recommended cap, so agree the number with each lifecycle owner instead of copying one from another programme.
How do you choose the channel and the time for each person?
Braze can decide both from each user's history. The two features read different data, so use them for different jobs.
| Intelligent Channel | Intelligent Timing | |
|---|---|---|
| What it decides | The channel with the highest likelihood of engagement for each user | The send time when a user is likeliest to open or click |
| Data it reads | Up to the last 100 messages received per channel within the last six months | Session times, push opens, email opens and clicks, and SMS clicks with link tracking |
| Minimum data | At least three messages on a channel and sufficient data on at least two channels | A fallback time covers users with no relevant engagement data |
| Launch rule | Route users in the "Not Enough Data" group separately | Launch campaigns at least 48 hours before the send date |
Intelligent Channel covers email, SMS, WhatsApp, web push and mobile push. Braze expects the filter to find 5-20% of a usual audience with an established record on a channel. Treat that group as one audience among several. Give the "Not Enough Data" group its own route so nobody drops out silently.
Intelligent Timing needs history to work with. Braze advises sending messages at different times of day beforehand. Inadequate sampling "may result in Intelligent Timing picking a suboptimal time of send for a user." In a Canvas, add a Delay step of at least two calendar days before the step that uses it. For segment filters, allow at least a 3-day window.
What happens when your delivery controls interact?
Controls that work well alone can interact when stacked. Braze documents several of these cases, and they explain many of the surprises in send counts.
Rate limiting and frequency capping run in a fixed order. The rate limit selects the initial pool first, and the frequency cap filters that pool second. Braze does not backfill users once capping removes them, so a send can finish below the rate limit value. If you use both, set the rate limit with that in mind.
Intelligent Timing and rate limiting also interact. When both are used, there is no guarantee about when the message will be delivered. Braze also recommends turning quiet hours off with Intelligent Timing. The exception is policy, compliance or legal reasons that limit when messages can be sent.
When a Canvas shows many entries and few sends, we check in a fixed order. We start with frequency caps, then rate limits, then channel eligibility, then control group size. The Braze checklist names channel eligibility, subscription state, delivery controls and control group size as the usual causes. A fixed order stops the team from rebuilding a journey that was working. Review other live Canvases too. Braze advises checking audience overlap and suppression lists so users don't receive competing messages from several journeys.
How do exit criteria keep a journey honest?
Exit criteria stop a journey from talking to someone who has already done the thing it was built to encourage. Braze documents the pattern with an abandoned ticket purchase. If the user purchases the same ticket they originally selected, they exit the Canvas and stop receiving reminders. If the user purchases a different ticket, they remain in the Canvas and continue to receive follow-up messages about the original ticket.
The pattern needs the entry event and the exit event to share a property, so the comparison has something to match. It carries over to policy renewals, booking reminders and subscription changes. Braze adds a caution that the examples are illustrative, so test every component in your development environment before launching.
We recommend writing exit criteria alongside the conversion event. They are part of the strategy, not a setting to finish at the end of the build. A reminder that arrives after the customer has already acted is easy to avoid and costs trust. Written early, the exit rule also forces a useful conversation about what the journey is for.
What does the strategy look like for a hypothetical subscription app?
Take a hypothetical subscription app that wants more people to try a newly released feature. This is an illustration only. It describes no client work and carries no results.
First, the team sets the conversion event as first use of the feature, not an app open. An app open would count people who never saw the feature. The exit rule is the same event, so anyone who tries the feature leaves the journey. The team creates a Global Control Group inside the documented size limits and writes down the metric and the read date.
Next, the team tags the Canvas as promotional and adds a weekly cap for that tag. A workspace-wide cap still protects other messages. Intelligent Channel splits the audience, with a separate route for users who don't have enough data. Intelligent Timing sits behind a two-calendar-day delay. The team leaves rate limiting off because the send has no technical need for it.
Last, the team reviews other live Canvases for overlap before launch. After launch, a short send count triggers the fixed order of checks described above. Each decision maps to a documented behaviour in the sections before.
How does this connect to the rest of the programme?
A strategy needs the channel work underneath it. Building Multichannel Engagement Campaigns in Braze covers how messages work together. Top 10 Customer Retention Strategies Using Braze covers what to do once users are active.
The measurement choices above depend on clean data. Tracking User Events for Better Campaigns in Braze comes first for many programmes. Connecting Braze with External Analytics Platforms covers reading results elsewhere.
Two journeys pair naturally with a strategy. How to Automate Your Onboarding Journey Using Braze Canvas covers the first weeks. How to Build Effective Win-Back Campaigns in Braze covers users who have gone quiet. For the control group settings, keep the Braze documentation on the Global Control Group open while you plan.
What should you do first?
As a Braze implementation partner, CustomerIK recommends setting the Global Control Group and the frequency capping rules before the next journey is built. Those two settings change every campaign that follows. They are hard to retrofit once the results have been read. Then write the conversion event and exit rule for the journey in hand.
This post covers documented Braze behaviour. It does not settle questions about consent or marketing preference law for your audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Global Control Group in Braze?
It is a percentage of all users who don't receive any campaigns or Canvases, so you can compare their behaviour with a treatment sample. It applies to all channels, campaigns and Canvases, except API campaigns.
2. How big should a Global Control Group be?
Braze advises no fewer than 1000 users and no more than 10% of your entire audience. If your audience is small, a larger percentage may be needed, and the save form accepts whole numbers from 1 to 15.
3. Does frequency capping remove users from a Canvas?
No, a user who is capped on a Message step advances to the next step. Capped users don't generate a send event for that step.
4. Do in-app messages count toward frequency caps?
No, in-app messages and Content Cards are not counted as or toward caps on campaigns or Canvas components of any type.
5. When does Intelligent Channel have enough data to rank a channel?
A user must have received at least three messages on a channel before it can be ranked, and must have sufficient data on at least two supported channels. Users without enough data fall into the "Not Enough Data" option.
Sources
- Braze, Global Control Group. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Rate limiting and frequency capping. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Intelligent Timing. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Intelligent Channel filter. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Canvas best practices. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Matching exit criteria to entry events. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Canvas QA checklist. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Braze, Canvas analytics. Retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
- Written by CustomerIK, a Braze implementation partner.
CustomerIK is a Braze implementation partner working across onboarding, technical integration, marketing operations and customer data management.
If your engagement programme needs clearer rules before the next journey goes live, let's talk.
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