Best Of
Re: What has your real-world experience been with CDN/SSL/DMARC setup in Braze environments?
Re: What has your real-world experience been with CDN/SSL/DMARC setup in Braze environments?
The certificate needs to be created for the individual click tracking subdomain you plan to use. So if your click tracking subdomain is links.example.com, an SSL cert for example.com is not enough, you need one for links.example.com.
We do not recommend using wildcard certificates are they are unreliable for this function, however you can use a SAN certificate containing the click tracking subdomains if you have multiple.
Rocky
Re: What has your real-world experience been with CDN/SSL/DMARC setup in Braze environments?
Great way of explaining it :) thank you so much
EmPaulin
Re: What has your real-world experience been with CDN/SSL/DMARC setup in Braze environments?
Yes I definitely understand why this is confusing. When we first send the records, the link tracking record must be pointed directly at the ESP. This is because we must validate that record by doing a check for a string that exactly matches what we've generated; this is for security reasons to authorize you as the owner of the subdomain. Once that has been completed, you may change the value of the link tracking record from the ESP to whichever CDN you plan to use for SSL, in order to redirect the traffic to the CDN
Rocky
Re: What has your real-world experience been with CDN/SSL/DMARC setup in Braze environments?
HI @EmPaulin,
Your question is multifaceted and really invites everyone in to share their experience.
I'll be following this question to learn from others experiences and thoughts.
I'm learning more about the Braze platform everyday and questions like yours help me to go a little deeper. While I can't provide insight as a Braze Customer, I can help to connect you and other folks who may have similar questions with some of our latest resources on aspects of your question.
SSL Mismatches.
I've learned in cases of an SSL Mismatch these are the Braze recommended next steps:
Confirm that:
- Your link tracking subdomain points correctly to the CDN via DNS CNAME records.
- Your CDN is properly configured to apply SSL certificates to transformed links.
- SSL is enabled by Braze after proper setup and verification.
If issues persist, contact your CDN provider for configuration help and your Braze customer success manager to confirm SSL enablement.
More Information on SSL
DNS Configuration Issues
For these issues, Braze recommends
- Domain Entry and Record Matching: Ensure the domain is entered correctly and matches what you submitted to Braze. Also verify that the TXT and CNAME DNS records provided by Braze match exactly what you entered in your domain provider's settings.
- Domain Usage Restrictions: You cannot use the same subdomain for multiple workspaces or if it is already in use for your main website or sending domain. Subdomains already assigned or with conflicting DNS records cannot be used for Braze landing pages.
- Connection Stuck on "Connecting": If your custom domain shows all DNS records as "Connected" but remains stuck on "Connecting" for more than four hours, this may be caused by:
- CAA Records: These restrict which certificate authorities can issue SSL certificates. If your CAA records don’t include LetsEncrypt, Braze cannot issue the required SSL certificate. To fix, add a CAA record with:
Record type: CAAandValue: 0 issue "letsencrypt.org". - Cloudflare Zone Holds: If using Cloudflare, a zone hold security feature may block Braze from creating the custom domain. Temporarily releasing the zone hold can resolve this.
- CAA Records: These restrict which certificate authorities can issue SSL certificates. If your CAA records don’t include LetsEncrypt, Braze cannot issue the required SSL certificate. To fix, add a CAA record with:
- Restarting Validation: After resolving CAA or Cloudflare issues, delete and recreate your custom domain in the Braze dashboard to restart validation.
- DNS Record Update Timeframe: For SMS/RCS custom domains, DNS records must be updated within 45 days, or you will need to restart the setup to generate new DNS records.
- Removing Custom Domains: Removing a custom domain requires deleting the DNS records from your domain settings. Landing pages using that domain will revert to the Braze default domain.
DNS Provider Resources: Braze provides links to documentation for managing DNS records for common providers such as GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Amazon Route 53, Google Cloud DNS, Bluehost, Dreamhost, and Squarespace.
Customize Landing Page URLS
Self Serve Custom Domains
Propagation Delays
For this type if issue, using Intelligent timing may be helpful - but may lead to challenges if you're also using rate limiting. I think this resource might be a handy one for folks working through that challenge.
Intelligent Timing
Re: Lifecycle Markting Temp for Mat Leave Coverage
Apologies. The company is Sittercity and it is a remote position.
Please share resumes with nchand@sittercity.com and iplante@sittercity.com.
Re: From rough idea to structured hypothesis - what's your process?
Great question — we've landed on a two-part system: one for planning what to test, one for capturing what we learn.
On the planning side, we anchor each quarter to one clear theme — something like "let's focus on personalization" or "let's try messaging differently for technical vs. marketing audiences." We track it in a Google Sheet, but the structure is what really matters. Without a theme, you end up with a pile of individually good ideas that are hard to connect back to what's actually moving your key metrics.
For results, we use two things in tandem. First, a running Google Slides deck where each test gets one slide — what we tested, the result, and the winner if there was one. A summary slide up front gives us a quick "what's working / what's not" view and helps us revisit inconclusive tests rather than just abandoning them. More recently we've also started feeding experiment notes into NotebookLM so we can query things like "have we tried X before?" — really useful as the team grows and you don't want that knowledge living in one person's head.
We've been refining this for a couple of years and it's scaled well beyond lifecycle — now anyone on our marketing team who sends to prospects or customers can use some version of it. Curious what your current setup looks like!
Re: Using event attributes in html templates (in app messages)
Hey @chazm
There are two options.
- Create a canvas that listens to checkin_completed events and increment a value of custom attributes. Then you can use this attribute in IAM
- Use the context step to call the /users/export/ids endpoint with custom_events value and it will return the events and the counts. The response can then we used in message step for personalisation
sample paylod:
Sample code:
{% capture body %}
{
"braze_id": "{{${braze_id}}}",
"fields_to_export": ["custom_events"]
}
{% endcapture %}
{% connected_content YOUR_BRAZE_ENDPOINT/users/export/ids
:method post
:headers {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
}
:body {{body}}
:content_type application/json
:save response
:retry
%}
{% assign event_count = 0 %}
{% for custom_event in response.users[0].custom_events %}
{% if custom_event.name == "YOUR_EVENT_NAME" %}
{% assign event_count = custom_event.count %}
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}
You have done this {{ event_count }} times.
Manoj__
S’more May Around The Bonfire
May brings us another month closer to Forge 2026 and if you’re reading this, you are the right person to consider applying for Bonfire Leader of the Year!
- Have you helped to provide feedback on the new site, asked or answered a question recently?
- Maybe you’ve raised a hand to share something special with Bonfire.
We’d love to celebrate your special contributions and the first step is submitting an application!
The awards are officially open, our new Community is up and running, and each of you has been bringing new energy, ideas, and excitement to this Community!
Bonfire Updates
Torchie Awards Field Guide 🔥
May brought the publication of a new Torchie Award Field Guide to help you prepare your award application. We have unique applications for customers and partners. Gind the information you’ll need here:
Update to Top Contributors in Bonfire 🏆
Special shoutout to @Nirnay for the feedback on the leaderboard points calculation!
Inspired by this important feedback we’ve made some changed to the leaderboard calculations you’ll see in Bonfire.
📈 Popular Discussions in May
Is anyone using Braze Agent console and seeing success?
Hello all, curious whether anyone's had real success with the Braze Agent Console yet.
Has anyone found a way to dynamically assign variables in Liquid?
We're building a translation architecture using Braze catalogs to serve localised email content across 30 markets. We want a universal content block where marketers simply define which keys they need for each email (subject line, preheader, header text, CTA etc.) and the block fetches and assigns the translations dynamically based on the user's locale.
Claude Connector - Use Cases and learnings
I have just connected Braze with Claude - and I am looking for some inspiration and stories about how Claude could help you scale.
What has your real-world experience been with CDN/SSL/DMARC setup in Braze environments?
Would love to hear real-world experiences from teams managing the infrastructure side of Braze/email setups.
📆 Coming up Next
June 3 Torchie Awards Office Hours : Live assistance with your Torchie Awards Applications
June 5 San Francisco: Agent Console & Operator Hackathon (In Person)
June 16 Em Português: Estratégias de Customer Engagement
🫱🏾🫲🏽 Share Your Thoughts
From rough idea to structured hypothesis - what's your process?
How do you manage your CRM experiment backlog? Every week I have more campaign ideas than time to run them, but the hardest part isn't execution - it's getting from a rough idea to a properly scoped hypothesis with a segment, trigger, metric, and expected effect)
Right now it lives in a mix of Google Sheets, Slack threads, and markdown files. No structure, no prioritization framework, no way to see if I've already tested something similar
Curious how others handle this.
🏆 May's Champions
Your posts, questions and replies to support each other make this Community a place where we can can skill build and innovate together!
@Nirnay 🥇
@phil_l , @sm , @Ruby_Campbelll , @Manoj__ , @TedScott ,🥉
Thank you for making time to connect, and share here in Bonfire!
Lifecycle Markting Temp for Mat Leave Coverage
Coverage needed from June 2026 - January 2027 for a full-time role.
About the Role
We’re looking for a contract Lifecycle Marketer to step in during a planned leave and own day-to-day lifecycle marketing execution and strategy. This role will manage customer communications across email, push, SMS, and other owned channels using Braze. Your primary goal will be to drive engagement, retention, and conversion across key user journeys and large-scale sends.
You’ll operate as the owner of lifecycle marketing, partnering cross-functionally and ensuring programs run smoothly, while identifying opportunities to optimize and improve performance.
This role is highly hands-on but supported - you’ll work with a technical contractor who can assist with more complex builds, allowing you to focus on strategy, prioritization, and execution.
Expectations
Lifecycle Campaign Execution (Braze)
- Build, QA, and launch campaigns across email, push, in-app messaging and SMS in Braze
- Manage campaign calendar and ensure timely delivery of all sends
- Own segmentation, targeting, and personalization within Braze
Journey Management & Optimization
- Maintain and optimize automated lifecycle journeys (onboarding, activation, engagement, retention, reactivation)
- Ensure journeys are functioning properly and aligned with current product experiences
- Identify gaps and quickly implement improvements
Testing & Experimentation
- Develop and execute A/B tests across messaging, audience, timing, and channel
- Analyze results and translate findings into actionable optimizations
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with Product, Marketing and Customer Service on launches and lifecycle touchpoints
- Collaborate with our copy writer, designer and a creative agency to create effective, on-brand messaging
- Work with a technical lifecycle contractor for more complex campaign builds or logic
Performance Tracking & Reporting
- Monitor key metrics (engagement, activation, retention, conversion)
- Provide regular reporting and insights to stakeholders
- Use data to inform prioritization and optimizations
What You Bring
- 4+ years of experience in lifecycle marketing
- Hands-on experience with Braze
- Proven ability to both build and strategize lifecycle campaigns
- Experience managing automated, triggered messaging at scale
- Strong analytical mindset and comfort running experiments
- Ability to operate independently and keep programs moving
- Excellent cross-functional communication skills
Nice to Have
- Experience working in a 2-sided marketplace
- Experience partnering with technical resources (engineers and/or developers)
- Basic HTML/CSS for email