Welcome to Braze Bonfire
Whether you’ve been a part of Bonfire since launch in 2019 or you’re just joining us, we’re so glad you’re here. Braze Bonfire is now a one-stop shop of customer engagement resources - strategies, best practices, feedback, and professional opportunities. Below are a few resources to check out to help you better navigate the Braze Bonfire community. Getting Started 1. Introduce Yourself - We want to get to know you. Head over to the Connection Lounge and introduce yourself. Complete the below and help us get to know you better. Learn more about how you can intro yourself from our Welcome to the Connection Lounge post. 2. Start a discussion or ask a question in The Forum. The Forum is the place to ask and answer all of those questions and discussions about customer engagement strategy, executing campaigns in Braze, and technical solutions for using Braze. 3. Share a campaign you’ve worked on or been inspired by in Campaigns That Made You Look. We know you build incredible customer engagement campaigns on the regular. Share something you’ve built in Braze with the community in Campaigns That Made You Look. Whether it’s a screenshot of a push notification you got, an email campaign you built, a creative SMS your team worked on, you name it - we want to see it. Friendly reminder that you shouldnevershare sensitive or confidential information. When in doubt, err on the side of caution. 4. Looking to hire talent or to expand your team - let us know about it in The Job Board. Great talent is critical to executing great customer engagement strategies. If you have an opening on your team or simply want to search open opportunities, post about it in the Job Board. You’ll be prompted to provide a location, description, and salary range for the job you’re posting about. None of those are required but are suggested as a way to help both those seeking new opportunities as well as those filling positions to quickly understand where and what the opportunity is. Helpful documents to review as you get started: Community Guidelines Terms of Use Guide to Ranks FAQs Privacy Policy Why “bonfire,” you ask? To us, a bonfire is an invitation to gather together and share our stories. It serves as an informal yet intentional setting where we can learn, share, and grow together. The more people who contribute to a bonfire, the greater and the brighter it burns… so be sure to contribute and get involved!🔥Introducing 5 new Bonfire Community Groups
At the heart of customer engagement lies a fundamental truth: community matters. This principle drives brand loyalty and fosters shared experiences, and it’s no different for Braze! We are passionate about creating opportunities for you to connect, learn, and grow. In that spirit, we are excited to introduce Bonfire Community Groups—our first open groups designed to enhance your experience. Led by Braze team members, these new groups will focus on specific industries and roles, providing a dedicated space for members to connect and share insights. Similar to our Discussions, these groups will allow you to engage with fellow customer engagement professionals, discuss challenges, share ideas, and receive valuable feedback. Ready to learn more? Here are our new Bonfire Community Groups! Retail and eCommerce Join this group of Retail and eCommerce enthusiasts dedicated to enhancing customer engagement through innovative strategies, shared insights, and collaborative networking. Whether you’re a major brand or a small Shopify store, you’ll find others who share your passion for the Retail and eCommerce space. Financial Services Connect with Braze customers from across the financial services sector to share industry insights and discuss customer engagement strategies that foster trustworthy experiences. In a competitive landscape, it’s essential for brands to connect effectively with consumers on their individual journeys. This group is perfect for anyone in FinServ looking to learn from peers and find solidarity in shared challenges (and solutions!). Creative Collective This group is a space for innovators to explore and share creative strategies that push the boundaries of customer engagement. For too long, there’s been a misconception that creativity and performance are at odds. Research from WARC and Cannes Lions shows that the best brands drive customer acquisition, engagement, loyalty, and retention by leveraging award-winning, data-driven creative campaigns. Join this group to connect with others who are committed to marrying creativity with technology and setting new standards for innovation. Small but Mighty We’re bending the rules a bit with this one: Small but Mighty has technically existed since Bonfire’s inception. The big change? Now, anyone can join this group, which was previously private. By opening access, we hope even more small teams can leverage the collective power of the Bonfire Community and elevate their customer engagement strategies. Bonfire Expert Council While this group operates on a “request-to-join” basis, it plays a crucial role in shaping the future of Braze Bonfire! Apply to become a founding member and be instrumental in helping the community team build our roadmap, introduce new programs and features, and enhance the overall community experience. As a trusted member of the Bonfire Expert Council, you’ll also help answer questions, provide solutions, and share your expertise with the rest of the community. We envision these groups as just the beginning of many more to come. Visit the Community Groups page to find the group (or groups!) you’d like to join, and kick things off by posting a hello or sharing your thoughts on what you’d like to see in the future, or even a current challengeCommunity Groups you’re facing, or a question you have. If you’re interested in leading a Bonfire Community Group of your own, we want to hear from you! Reach out to us at community@braze.com , or mention one of our community managers in a reply on this post—MaggieBrennan, EmilyCalderon, and I are always here to help!Welcome to the New and Improved Braze Bonfire!
Hey Bonfire friends! You may notice things look a little different around here. We took your feedback over the last year to heart and have been hard at work behind the scenes to make your experience even better. These updates will make navigating our community simpler, more engaging, and a whole lot more fun.Follow the neon lights to Forge 2024
Big news, Bonfirers: get ready to go all in on customer engagement. This September, Forge is back for 2024 in a dazzling new place: Las Vegas! With success stories from big, innovative brands, tricks of the trade from industry experts, and networking opportunities galore, you’re sure to hit the inspiration jackpot. Forge is also the place to get certified, trained, and expand how you can use Braze in your day-to-day work. Come for the business, but stay for the fun—it’s not called the city that never sleeps for nothin’. We’ll keep the party going with activations, celebrations, and a few well-deserved awards. Mark your calendar for September 23-25, 2024, and check back in for a Bonfire-exclusive chance to roll the dice and attend Forge on us!Congratulations to the 2023 Torchie Awards winners
Congratulations to the Forge 2023 Torchie Awards Winners and Runner Ups! The annual Braze Torchie Awards is a celebration of the leading brands and marketers who are building the future of customer engagement. This year we’re pleased to recognize an exceptional class of award winners who are finding innovative ways to forge connections and strengthen relationships—one message at a time. We awarded eight total awards this year, six customer awards - Rising Marketing Star of the Year, Bonfire Community Leader, Marketing Leader of the Year, Creative Excellence Award, Collaborative Team of the Year, Campaign of the Year and two partner awards - Technology Partner of the Year and Solutions Partner of the Year. Customer Award Winners Rising Marketing Star of the Year Winner: Samara Halperin, Lifecycle Marketing Associate for Talkspace (CongratulationsSamaraHalperin!) Bonfire Community Leader Winner: Kristijan Arsov, Lifecycle Marketing Manager for Lifesum (CongratulationsKristijan!) Marketing Leader of the Year Winner: Christine Miller, Senior Director, Global CRM Operations for Warner Bros. Discovery Creative Excellence Award Winner: Peacock Collaborative Team of the Year Winner: Grubhub Campaign of the Year Winner: Canva Partner Award Winners Technology Partner of the Year Winner: Census Solutions Partner of the Year Winner: Ogilvy To learn more about the winners and runner ups, check out the Torchie Awards Winners announcementHERE.Meet Elle @ Braze: Our Employee Resource Group for Women at Braze
Elle is the Braze Employee Resource Group dedicated to empowering women across Braze and our wider community. It is our mission to empower women and their allies through a platform aimed at advancing personal and professional growth opportunities.Get to know Sage AI by Braze
Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have created new opportunities for brands to be more inventive, work more efficiently, and drive stronger ROI. And taking advantage of these capabilities in thoughtful ways gives companies an edge in competitive, crowded industries. So how can you and your team unlock the power of AI? Start with Sage AI by Braze. Sage AI by Braze lowers the barriers to exceptional customer engagement by making creativity, personalization, and experimentation easily accessible to all marketers. Sage AI by Braze is built into your existing workflows in Braze, so you can enhance your customer engagement campaigns with AI in a matter of moments. For example, did you know you can use generative AI features in Braze to instantly create message copy and custom images for your campaigns? Imagine how much time you can save by letting AI take on the heavy lifting of routine tasks. Plus, you can run more experiments by generating multiple campaign variants and using AI-powered testing and optimization features to quickly find the best performing version of a campaign. Sage AI by Braze powers generative AI copywriting and image generation features; predictive features in the Predictive Suite; and campaign optimization features like the Intelligence Suite, Personalized Variant, and Winning Paths in Canvas. Sage AI by Braze will soon power AI Recommendations, AI Content QA, and A/B Test Prediction. Braze has pioneered and continues to shape the future of AI-powered marketing. Learn more about Sage AI by Braze here.Torchie Awards 2023: Submissions Now Open
We are excited to announce that nominations for Torchie Awards are now open. We have six customer awards that will be awarded at this year’s Forge 2023: Campaign of the Year: This award recognizes a brand that demonstrates results which drive real, meaningful business impact in terms of customer activation, engagement, monetization, or retention. Marketing Leader of the Year: This award recognizes an individual who is demonstrating exceptional leadership within their organization when it comes to supporting customer engagement. Collaborative Team of the Year: This award recognizes a team who breaks down silos within their organization and exhibits excellence in collaboration in support of their company’s success. Bonfire Community Leader: This award recognizes a customer who demonstrates a passion for the Bonfire community, whether by asking and answering questions or showcasing how they're using Braze as part of the customer engagement efforts. Rising Marketing Star: This award recognizes an early career marketer who is showing promise as their career accelerates. Creative Excellence Award: This award recognizes a brand that’s pushing the limits in terms of creativity and innovation when it comes to their customer engagement efforts. The winner of this award is selected by the Braze 427° Innovation Lab leadership team. Do you have a teammate who seems like the perfect candidate for one of these awards? Do you believe your brand launched the campaign of the year? Submit a nomination here.Get Productive with Braze
Now more than ever, marketers and the teams who support them are under pressure to spend their time and money more efficiently and effectively. Brands are increasing their focus on retention efforts, with 45% of brands spending more than half of their marketing budget on retention in 2022. And marketers are finding new ways to upskill their technical chops and find better tactics for collaborating with their product and engineering stakeholders. That’s why we’ve launched a collection of new productivity features that drive better campaign results in less time and at lower cost. These 13 new features will help you deliver value, experiment faster, and reduce spend. Improve key business metrics with channel enhancements that make it easier to reach, engage, and convert customers across owned and paid channels. Move quickly from ideation to execution to launch with modern no-code tools and an intuitive interface for creating, iterating, and collaborating on customer journeys. Protect the marketing budget with an all-in-one solution that consolidates tech costs, optimizes ad spend, and reduces risk. Learn more HERE.
