Custom events

Custom events are actions taken by, or updates about, your users. They’re best suited for tracking high-value user interactions within your application. Logging a custom event can trigger any number and type of follow-up campaigns, and enables the listed segmentation filters on the recency and frequency of that event.

Use cases

Some common custom event use cases include:

• Trigger a campaign or Canvas based on a custom event using action-based delivery.
• Segment users by how many times they performed a custom event, when the last time the event occurred, etc.
• Use dashboard custom event analytics to view an aggregate of how often each event occurred
• Find additional analytics using funnel and retention reports.
• Leverage persistent entry properties to use metadata from your customer event for personalization in your Canvas steps.
• Generate more sophisticated analytics with Currents.
• Set up Canvas exception events to define when users should not advance to the next step of your Canvas.
• And more!

Managing custom events

To create and manage custom events in the dashboard, go to Data Settings > Custom Events.

From this page, you can view, manage, or blocklist existing custom events, or create a new one. If you block a custom event, no data will be collected regarding that event, existing data will be unavailable unless reactivated, and blocklisted events will not show up in filters or graphs.

Logging custom events

The following lists the methods across various platforms that are used to log custom events. Within these pages, you will also be able to find documentation on how to add properties and quantities to your custom events.

Custom event storage

All data stored on the User Profile, including custom event metadata (first/last occurrence, total count, and X in Y over 30 days), is retained indefinitely as long as each profile is active.

Custom event segmentation filters

The following table shows the filters available for segmenting users by custom events.

Custom event analytics

Braze notes the number of times these events have occurred as well as the last time they were performed by each user for segmentation. You can view these analytics at Analytics > Custom Events Report.

On the Custom Events Report page in the dashboard, you can view in aggregate how often each custom event occurs, as well as by segment over time for more detailed analysis. This is particularly useful to view how your campaigns have affected custom event activity by looking at the gray lines Braze overlays on the time series to indicate the last time a campaign was sent.

Custom events analytics not showing?

Note that Segments created with custom event data cannot show previous historic data from before they were created.

Custom event properties

With custom event properties, you can set properties on custom events and purchases. These properties can then be used for further qualifying trigger conditions, increasing personalization in messaging, track conversions, and generating more sophisticated analytics through raw data export.

Expected format

The properties values should be an object where the keys are the property names and the values are the property values. Property names must be non-empty strings less than or equal to 255 characters, with no leading dollar signs ($).

Property values can be any of the following data types:

Event property objects that contain array or object values can have an event property payload of up to 50 KB.

You can change the data type of your custom event property, but be aware of the impacts of changing data types after data has been collected.

Using custom event properties

Trigger messages

You can use custom event properties to further narrow your audience for a particular campaign or Canvas. For example, if you have an eCommerce application and want to send a message to a user when they abandon their cart, you could improve your target audience and allow for increased campaign personalization by adding a custom event property of cart value.

Nested custom event properties are also supported in Action-Based Delivery or conversion processing.

Personalize messages

You can also use custom event properties for personalization within the messaging template. Any campaign using action-based delivery with a trigger event can use custom event properties from that event for messaging personalization.

For example, if you have a gaming application and want to send a message to users who had completed a level, you could further personalize your message with a property for the time it took users to complete that level. In this example, the message is personalized for three different segments using conditional logic. The custom event property called time_spent can be included in the message by calling {{event_properties.${time_spent}}}.

Considerations with filters

• API calls: When making API calls and using the “is blank” filter, a custom event property is considered “blank” if excluded from the call. For example, if you were to include "event_property": "", then your users would be considered “not blank”.
• Integers: When filtering for a number custom event property and the number is very large, don’t use the “exactly” filter. If a number is too large, it may be rounded at a certain length, so your filter won’t work as expected.

Data points

In regards to subscription usage, custom event properties enabled for segmentation with the following filters are all counted as separate data points in addition to the data point counted by the custom event itself:

• X Custom Event Property in Y Days
• X Purchase Property in Y Days

Canvas entry properties and event properties

You can leverage canvas_entry_properties and event_properties in your Canvas user journeys. Check out Canvas entry properties and event properties for more information and examples.

• Canvas Entry Properties
• Event Properties

Nested objects

You can use nested objects—objects that are inside of another object—to send nested JSON data as properties of custom events and purchases. This nested data can be used for templating personalized information in messages, for triggering message sends, and for segmentation.

Limitations

• Nested data is supported for both custom events and purchase events, but not other event types.
• Event property objects that contain array or object values can have an event property payload of up to 50 KB.
• Event property schemas are generated through sampling custom events from the last 24 hours.
• The following SDK versions support nested objects:

Schema generation

Generating a schema for events with nested event properties allows you to access the nested data. To generate a schema, follow these steps:

1. Go to Manage Settings > Custom Events.
2. Select Manage Properties for the events with nested properties.
3. Click the icon to generate the schema. To view the schema, click the plus button.

After generating a schema, you’ll be able to reference the nested data during segmentation and personalization.

Usage examples

API request body

• Music Example
• Restaurant Example

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...
"properties": {
  "songs": [
    {
      "title": "Smells Like Teen Spirit",
      "artist": "Nirvana",
      "album": {
        "name": "Nevermind",
        "yearReleased": "1991"
      }
    },
    {
      "title": "While My Guitar Gently Weeps",
      "artist": "the Beatles",
      "album": {
        "name": "The Beatles",
        "yearReleased": "1968"
      }
    }
  ]
}
...

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"properties": {
  "r_details": {
    "name": "McDonalds",
    "identifier": "12345678",
    "location" : {
      "city": "Montclair",
      "state": "NJ"
    }
  }
}
...

Liquid templating

The following Liquid templating examples show how to reference the nested properties saved from the preceding API request and use them in your Liquid messaging. Using Liquid and dot notation, traverse the nested data to find the specific node you would like to include in your messages.

• Music Example
• Restaurant Example

Message triggering

To use these properties to trigger a campaign, select your custom event or purchase, and add a Nested Property filter. Note that message triggering is not yet supported for in-app messages. However, you can also add nested objects after generating a schema.

• Music Example
• Restaurant Example

Segmentation

Use segment extensions to segment users based on nested event properties. Once you’ve generated a schema, the nested objects explorer will display in the segmentation section. Segmentation uses the same notation as triggering (see Message triggering).

Personalization

Using the Add Personalization modal, select Advanced Event Properties as the personalization type. This allows the option to add a nested event properties once a schema has been generated.

Event property segmentation

Event property segmentation allows you to target users based not just on custom events taken but the properties associated with those events. This feature adds more filtering options when segmenting purchase and custom events.

These segmentation filters include:

• Has done custom event with property Y with value V X times in the last Y days.
• Has made any purchases with property Y with value V X times in the last Y days.
• Adds the ability to segment within 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days.

Event properties with custom events are updated in real time for any segment that uses them. You can manage properties under Manage Settings > Custom Events > Mangage Properties. Custom event properties used in certain segment filters have a maximum look back history of 30 days. Reach out to your Braze customer success manager to discuss using event property segmentation for your custom events.

Frequently asked questions

Does this consume additional data points?

There is no change in how we charge data points as a result of adding this capability.

How much nested data can be sent?

If one or more of the event’s properties contains nested data, the maximum payload for all combined properties on an event is 50 KB. Any request over that size limit will be rejected.

Custom event property storage

Custom event properties are designed to help you increase targeting precision and make messages feel even more personalized. Custom event properties can be stored within Braze in both the short and long term.

If you would like to segment on the values of event properties, you have two options:

1. Within 30 days: Braze support personnel can enable event property segmentation based on the frequency and recency of specific event property values within Braze Segments. If you’d like to leverage event properties within Segments, contact your Braze account executive or customer success manager. Note that this option will impact data usage.
   
   
2. Within and beyond 30 days: To cover both short-term and long-term event property segmentation, you can use Segment Extensions. This feature enables you to segment based on custom events and event properties tracked within the past two years. Note that this option will not impact data usage.

Contact your Braze customer success manager for recommendations on the best approach depending on your specific needs.