Using Feedback Surveys in Braze to Improve Onboarding

Braze onboarding surveys work best when every answer changes what the new user sees next. Ask after the user has had a first moment of value. Log each routing answer to a custom attribute so it can drive segments and branches, and keep open text for learning. Then read completion and partial responses with Braze's timing rules in mind.

Key Takeaways

• Ask only questions whose answers change what the new user sees next.
• Ask after the user's first meaningful action; Braze's own onboarding template sends getting-started tips before the preferences survey.
• Log routing answers to custom attributes, because a response you don't log can't be used for segmentation.
• Long text answers can't be logged as attributes, so use them for learning, not routing.
• Partial submissions have a six-hour grace period before they appear in results.
• Keep a strong default path for users who skip the survey.

What can a Braze survey do during onboarding?

Braze surveys run in in-app messages and on landing pages, and you can collect a Net Promoter Score from email through a linked survey block. During onboarding, the in-app version reaches users inside the product while they're still forming habits.

The part that matters for onboarding is what happens to an answer. Braze lets you log most responses to custom attributes on the user profile. You can segment by those attributes or by whether someone completed the survey. A response you don't log to an attribute can't be used for segmentation.

The mechanics of building a survey in-app are covered in our guide to creating engaging in-app messages. This post is about where surveys belong in an onboarding journey and what to do with the answers.

Which questions belong in an onboarding survey?

Ask only questions whose answers you'll act on in the next few messages. Good examples are a preference that picks the content track or a goal that picks the first feature to show. A role that sets the tone of the follow-up qualifies too.

A question asked for curiosity costs attention you'll want later in onboarding. If nobody can name the branch or segment an answer feeds, cut the question or move it to a later survey.

Choose the block by what the answer must do. The table maps common onboarding questions to the form block that keeps the answer usable.

Turn on randomised choice order for lists of options. Braze notes that it reduces order bias where the first option would otherwise attract extra answers.

When should you ask during onboarding?

Ask after the user has done something worthwhile, not on their first screen. Braze's own onboarding with preferences survey template follows that order. Users who start a session or engage with the welcome email get getting-started tips first, and the content preferences survey comes after.

We'd follow the same principle in a custom journey. A user who has completed one key action can answer from experience, while a user on their first screen can only guess what they'll want.

The template is available when you create a Canvas, under Use a Canvas template and then Braze templates. It's a sound starting structure, and our post on automating onboarding with Braze Canvas covers the wider journey around it.

How should answers route the rest of onboarding?

Decide the routing before you build the survey. For each question, write down the attribute it logs to, the values it can take, and the Canvas branch or segment each value feeds.

Then wire the journey to those attributes. Users who choose one track get that track's next message, and users who skip the survey get the default path. Segmenting on completion status lets you treat non-responders as their own group.

Keep the default path as good as the personalised ones. Some users will always skip the survey, and onboarding has to work for them too.

Open text plays a different role. Long text answers can't be logged as attributes, so they can't route anyone, but they're often the best record of why users struggle. Read them weekly and feed what you learn into the next version of the journey.

How do you read onboarding survey results?

Braze reports all responses, completed responses, partially complete responses and unique impressions for every survey. Partial submissions have a six-hour grace period before they appear in results, so a same-day read will look incomplete.

For likelihood to recommend, use the dedicated block rather than a plain rating. Braze groups its answers into promoters at nine or ten, passives at seven or eight, and detractors from zero to six.

If you analyse responses in a warehouse, Braze exports each answer through the Survey Response event in Currents, one event per respondent per question. The promoter, passive and detractor groups aren't separate Currents fields, so derive them from the score.

Open-text answers need care outside Braze. Braze advises considering your own handling policy for personal data before exporting them, and that's worth agreeing with your security team before the first export.

In what order should you add a survey to onboarding?

Build in this order so every answer has somewhere to go before the first user sees the question.

1. List the decisions in your onboarding journey that would improve with one piece of user input.
2. Write one question per decision, and drop any question that feeds no decision.
3. Choose the form block for each, and set the attribute it logs to.
4. Map each answer value to a Canvas branch or segment, plus a default path for non-responders.
5. Place the survey after the first meaningful action, not at first launch.
6. Preview on iOS if you use long text, because iOS in-app surveys currently cap long text at 250 characters.
7. Save the survey as a template so later journeys reuse the same questions and attributes.

Protect step four. A question built before anyone decides what its answer will change ends up feeding nothing.

Which mistakes should you avoid?

Name the failure modes so they're easy to catch in review. A dead-end question is one whose answer is stored nowhere useful, so it never changes a message.

An essay box is long text used where a routing answer was needed. It gives you rich reading but no attribute to branch on. A day-zero ask is a survey shown before the user has done anything, so answers reflect guesses rather than experience.

A partial trap is a same-day read of results that ignores the grace period for partial submissions. Wait until the window has passed before you judge completion.

Where does this connect to the rest of the programme?

The onboarding messages that follow a survey are covered in ten proven onboarding campaigns. Preference answers feed the personalisation in hyper-personalisation in Braze, and naming the attributes well is part of tracking user events in Braze.

As a Braze implementation partner, CustomerIK recommends writing the routing map before the survey. A short survey whose every answer changes the next message beats a long one that only fills a report.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Where can I run surveys in Braze?

Surveys run in in-app messages and on landing pages. You can also collect a Net Promoter Score from email by linking an email survey block to a landing page survey.

2. Can I segment users by their survey answers?

Yes, if you log the response to a custom attribute. Braze also lets you segment by survey completion status.

3. Why can't I segment on open-text answers?

Long text responses can't be logged as custom attributes. They appear in reporting and exports instead.

4. Why do partial survey responses appear late?

Braze holds partial submissions for a six-hour grace period so users can finish the survey before the response appears in results.

5. Is there a Braze template for onboarding surveys?

Yes. The onboarding with preferences survey Canvas template sends getting-started tips and then a content preferences survey to engaged new users.

Sources

• Braze, Surveys. Retrieved 16 Oct 2026.
• Braze, In-app message surveys. Retrieved 16 Oct 2026.
• Braze, Onboarding with preferences survey. Retrieved 16 Oct 2026.
• Braze, What's new in Braze, checked for survey changes. Retrieved 16 Oct 2026.

CustomerIK is a Braze implementation partner working across onboarding, technical integration, marketing operations and customer data management.

If you're adding a survey to your onboarding journey and want the routing mapped first, let's talk.