How to Build a Business Case for Your Braze Project
In today’s digital-first economy, engaging customers meaningfully is a decisive factor in business success. Companies that prioritize customer engagement not only foster loyalty but also unlock significant financial and operational benefits. For B2C brands leveraging platforms like Braze and Snowflake, the business case for investing in customer engagement has never been stronger. This article explores the tangible and intangible returns of customer engagement, illustrating how loyal customers drive revenue growth, reduce costs, and create a sustainable competitive advantage. We’ll also provide a practical example for quick service restaurants and offer guidance on building a compelling business case for your Braze project.
The Opportunity Cost of Not Running Customer Engagement
Neglecting customer engagement comes at a steep price. Without a structured engagement strategy, brands face higher churn rates, diminished customer lifetime value, and increased reliance on costly acquisition campaigns. The absence of engagement means your business is missing out on valuable customer data, actionable insights, and opportunities to build lasting relationships. Over time, this results in lost revenue, weaker brand equity, and a shrinking market share as competitors capitalize on your disengaged customer base. The opportunity cost is not just in lost sales, but in the erosion of customer trust and the diminished ability to innovate based on real customer feedback.
What Are You Missing?
When customer engagement is overlooked, businesses forfeit more than just immediate sales. Engaged customers are the backbone of brand advocacy, often acting as informal ambassadors who refer friends and family, provide constructive feedback, and participate in loyalty programs. Without engagement, brands lose the chance to personalize experiences, optimize marketing spend, and anticipate customer needs. The result is a transactional relationship that fails to inspire loyalty or differentiate your brand in a crowded market. Over time, this leads to a decline in repeat purchases, lower average order values, and a lack of meaningful customer insights.
How Customer Engagement Drives Revenue Up for B2C Brands
Customer engagement is a proven driver of revenue growth. Brands that invest in personalized communications, loyalty programs, and data-driven marketing see higher average order values, increased purchase frequency, and improved cross-sell and up-sell rates. Fully engaged customers can represent a 23% premium in share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth compared to average customers. By leveraging platforms like Braze, brands can automate personalized journeys, deliver timely offers, and create seamless omnichannel experiences that encourage repeat business and higher spend.
Example calculation: With engagement, both order value and frequency increase, nearly doubling annual revenue per customer.
How Customer Engagement Drives Costs Down for B2C Brands
Effective engagement strategies don’t just boost revenue—they also reduce operational and marketing costs. Engaged customers require less intensive retention efforts, respond better to automated campaigns, and are less likely to contact customer support with issues. Automation and personalization through Braze and Snowflake streamline communications, reduce manual workloads, and increase the efficiency of marketing spend. By proactively addressing customer needs, brands can decrease the volume of support tickets and lower the cost per acquisition.
Example calculation: Streamlined engagement reduces both retention and support costs, while improving acquisition efficiency.
Example Business Case: Quick Service Restaurant
Imagine a quick service restaurant (QSR) chain implementing Braze for customer engagement. By introducing a mobile app and personalized offers, the QSR collects valuable data on customer preferences and visit frequency. With Braze, the restaurant can automate targeted campaigns, such as sending exclusive deals to lapsed customers or promoting new menu items to frequent visitors. For instance, if the QSR has 50,000 active customers and increases purchase frequency from 3 to 4.5 times per year, with an average order value rising from $9 to $12, the annual revenue impact is substantial.
Calculation: 50,000 customers × 3 × $9 = $1,350,000; 50,000 × 4.5 × $12 = $2,700,000.
Beyond revenue, the QSR can reduce marketing costs by automating campaigns and lowering the need for broad, untargeted promotions. Customer support costs also decrease as proactive engagement addresses issues before they escalate.
How to Value Your Customer Database
Valuing your customer database requires segmenting your users by behavior, loyalty, and value. A granular approach provides deeper insight into the true worth of your database and helps prioritize marketing efforts. Below is an example of a granular segmentation for a database of 1,000,000 users:
This segmentation reflects a more nuanced view of your database’s value. By identifying and nurturing high-value segments, you can maximize ROI and tailor engagement strategies to move customers up the value chain. Adjust segment definitions and values based on your business model and data.
This View Is Indicative, Not Exact
Despite these limitations, this view is a useful starting point for strategic planning, highlighting where to focus engagement efforts and investment for maximum impact.
- Customer lifetime value (CLV) is an estimate based on historical data and assumptions about future behavior, which may not always hold true.
- Segment definitions can be fluid—customers may move between segments over time, impacting the accuracy of static valuations.
- The model does not account for external factors such as market changes, competitor actions, or economic shifts that can affect customer value.
Building a Business Case for Your Braze Project
A compelling business case for your Braze project should align with your company’s strategic goals and clearly articulate the expected benefits. Begin by identifying pain points such as high churn, inefficient marketing, or lack of customer insight. Quantify the potential impact of engagement on revenue, costs, and customer satisfaction using real data from your business or industry benchmarks. Outline the investment required—including technology, training, and change management—and compare it to the projected returns. Address potential risks and mitigation strategies, ensuring your case is robust and credible. By presenting a data-driven narrative, you can secure executive buy-in and drive organizational alignment around your engagement strategy.
Inputs Needed to Make a Business Case
To build a robust business case, gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Key financial metrics include current customer acquisition costs, retention rates, average order value, and customer lifetime value. Operational metrics such as marketing efficiency, campaign performance, and customer support volumes help quantify potential savings. Collect customer feedback to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. Competitor benchmarks provide context and help set realistic targets. Finally, use scenario modeling to project the impact of engagement initiatives under different assumptions, ensuring your business case is grounded in evidence and aligned with your company’s objectives.
These inputs form the foundation for ROI calculations and scenario modeling.
Conclusion
Investing in customer engagement through platforms like Braze is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity for brands seeking growth, efficiency, and long-term loyalty. The opportunity cost of inaction is significant, with lost revenue, higher operational costs, and weakened customer relationships among the consequences. By building a strong business case grounded in real data and aligned with strategic goals, organizations can unlock the full potential of loyal customers who buy more, more often, and stay longer. The evidence is clear: customer engagement is the engine of sustainable business success.
