Lesson

Playbook: Message Channel Testing

With SDK initialization and data ingestion fully tested, it’s time to make sure that you can send messages with Braze. This lesson focuses on channels enabled by SDK integration – push, in-app messages and Content Cards.

Key Areas for Testing

Once you have messaging channels integrated, you should be able to:

  • Send messages to users
  • Track analytics from message interactions

During testing, you’ll want to confirm that:

  • Messages are arriving
  • Customizations are operating as expected
  • User engagement data is being recorded

Key Tools

Testing your message sending via the SDK will rely primarily on the following tools:

  • Braze User Profile page
  • Event User Log
  • Campaign Sending
  • Message Activity Logs

Example: Message Testing

In the video below, you’ll see how PantsLabyrinth tested their message sending integrations.

Push

Push is used to allow your marketers to use the Test Sending feature in the campaigns and Canvas tools. For this reason, we recommend that you configure and test push before other channels.

To test whether push is properly configured, follow the steps below:

  1. Go through user registration/login flow in your app.
  2. Ensure that push opt-in is correctly triggered.
  3. Confirm the foreground push token is shown in the Braze user profile page’s Engagement tab.
  4. Verify that push is listed as "opted-in" or "subscribed" in Braze User Profile in the Engagement tab.
  5. Verify that local device settings allow push.
  6. Send push with test send or full campaign send in Campaigns tool.
  7. If push messages are not displaying, check the Message Activity Logs or their Braze user profile's push information under Contact Settings.
  8. When push is displaying correctly, verify that clicks are correctly recorded in the campaign analytics.
Push Permissions

Push permissions may be controlled at many levels on some devices. Users who appear opted-in with a valid push token may sometimes not receive push due to other settings. You can verify sending of push via Campaign analytics, the Braze User Profile page (campaigns, message engagement) and the Event User Log.

In-App Messages

To test whether in-app messages are correctly configured:

  1. Create and launch an action-triggered in-app message campaign. If push is configured, you can also send a test campaign.
  2. Ensure that a new session has started for your test user.
  3. Trigger an in-app message and observe that it properly renders.
  4. Verify receipt in Event User Log and Campaign Analytics.
  5. If you have customized in-app message delivery, verify that analytics are being correctly logged in the Campaign Analytics page.
Time Intervals and Re-eligibility

If you are rapidly sending multiple in-app messages, they may not appears for one of two reasons:

  1. Braze defaults to requiring a minimum 30-second interval period between in-app messages. This can be reconfigured in code for testing, but we recommend the default for ideal user experience (Android, iOS, Web).
  2. When sending a campaign, you need to make sure you choose a short period for re-eligibility, for example a 1-minute re-eligibility period.

Content Cards

To test whether content cards are sending and displaying correctly:

  1. Create and launch a Content Card campaign in the Braze Dashboard. If you have push configured, you may use a test send.
  2. Begin a new session in your app or website.
  3. Navigate to the Content Card feed view in your app
  4. Confirm that the Content Cards display as intended
  5. Select the Content Card and ensure any underlying links work as intended
  6. Open the Campaign Details page for the campaign in the Braze Dashboard and verify analytics are registering correctly