What if getting more users to take a key action, like starting a free trial, referring a friend, or opting into notifications, could be as simple as making a small change to your existing campaigns, like adding an image or message trigger? These are just a few of the approaches Braze research has found to be effective at generating higher levels of engagement among new and active users.

The following six strategies build on research Braze conducted in 2021, insights from which are included in our list of top tips for making the most of your customer activation campaigns. Here we provide even more valuable insights based on our updated 2023 analysis.

#1: Get More Conversions from Your Anonymous User Campaigns

For most brands, activating anonymous users represents a huge opportunity to produce more sign-ups and sales. That’s because according to Braze data, as many as 86% of shoppers are unknown users with data-lean profiles that marketers often exclude from customer engagement campaigns.

Using these approaches can help brands activate this often overlooked segment:

• Send campaigns after anonymous users engage with your brand’s app: App usage-triggered messages are the most effective at driving conversions for anonymous user campaigns, resulting in an uplift of 4.8X.

• Leverage action-based messaging: Action-based anonymous user campaigns have a 2.1X higher conversion rate.

• Use the right in-app message format: The modal style in-app message (IAM) is the top-performing format for anonymous user campaigns with a 2.5X higher conversion rate.

• Engage anonymous Android users via push notifications: With an uplift of +40%, Android push is the most efficient channel at driving conversions for anonymous users campaigns.

#2: Increase Your Free Trial Sign-Ups

If you want to get more mileage out of your free trial campaigns, implementing these tactics can make a huge difference.

• Send action-based free trial campaigns. These have been shown to result in a 2.2X higher conversion rate, and triggering a campaign to send immediately after customers use your brand’s app can boost sign-ups by as much as 2.7X.

• Use the most impactful channel for free-trial campaigns: IAM campaigns can generate a 2.3X lift in conversions compared to other channels. Of all IAM formats, modal in-app messages have shown the highest conversion rates for free trials, generating a 27X uplift in results.

• Add an image to your campaign: Including creative assets in a message could lead to a 51% increase in your conversion rate.

#3: Bring More Users Back with a GIF or an Image to Increase Abandoned Intent Campaigns Effectiveness by up to 31%

With, on average, 75.7% of initiated online orders being ditched before the checkout process is successfully completed, abandoned shopping carts can add up to billions in lost revenue annually, $111 to $136 billion, in fact. Abandoned intent campaigns offer the chance to recover some of these missed sales, and adding images or GIFs to these messages has been shown to result in 11% and 31% more conversions, respectively.

#4: Generate 5.6X More Subscribers by Triggering Opt-In Campaigns After Customers Engage with Your App

Customers who agree to receive updates from your brand via out-of-product messaging channels, such as push notifications, SMS campaigns, and email marketing campaigns, are high-value customers interested in deepening their relationship with your brand. If you want to see your opt-ins grow significantly, action-based messages have a 1.8X higher conversion rate and sending campaigns after a specific trigger, such as when a user interacts with your app, can accelerate conversions by as much as 5.6X.

#5: Enhance Your Referral Campaigns to Achieve Higher Conversion Rates

Encouraging your existing customers to recommend your brand to friends and family is a science. Making just a few tweaks to your efforts can have a sizable impact.

• Trigger referral campaigns to be sent immediately after a relevant customer action. This has been shown to increase conversion rates by 2.4X and campaigns that get sent after a customer engages with a brand’s app can have a 2.7X uplift on conversions.

• Use the right channel: Referral campaigns that are delivered via IAM have a 2.3X higher conversion rate, compared to other channels.

Unlock even more effective strategies for improving your customer engagement campaigns. Check out the 2023 Braze Inspiration Guide for expert and data-backed guidance for marketing, growth, and engagement teams on how to maximize the results of your activation, monetization, and retention campaigns.