Journeys vs Relays: Why You Need Both in Your Marketing Arsenal

For marketers in the B2B SaaS world, automation is everything. In fact, 74% of marketers agree that automation has freed them to focus on creative tasks. This is where Journeys and Relays, two of WebEngage’s powerhouse tools, come into play.

Journeys is our hero feature, built to orchestrate complex, multi-step campaigns tailored to the user lifecycle—from onboarding to retention. On the other hand, Relays focus on automating real-time, event-driven updates tied to the business lifecycle, ensuring immediate engagement with customers when it matters most.

In this blog, we’ll break down:

• How these features differ
• How they complement each other
• Why together, they form a marketer’s dream team

If you’ve tried and loved Journeys, Relays is the next step to fine-tune your automation game. Let’s break it down!

Journeys: Your Hero for Complex Campaigns

Our Journey Designer is the perfect tool for marketers to create long-term, multi-step workflows that guide customers through a personalized experience. It allows you to design automated campaigns that respond to user behavior, delivering the right message at the right moment.

Example: A SaaS company could use Journeys to create an omnichannel onboarding experience. It could start with a welcome email, followed by an in-app tutorial, and SMS reminders to encourage users to complete their profile.

Each step would be seamlessly connected across different channels, ensuring a smooth, engaging journey from start to finish.

Relays: Your Automation Assistant

Relays automate real-time, event-driven campaigns, ensuring users receive instant updates based on critical business events. They are meant for immediate, trigger-based communication that keeps users informed and engaged in the moment.

Example: A customer subscribes to back-in-stock alerts for multiple products. When those items are replenished, a Relay is automatically triggered, notifying them:
“The wait is over! Items from your wishlist are back in stock. Shop now!”

Relays empower marketers with real-time engagement, multi-channel flexibility, and customization options to deliver timely and relevant updates. They are ideal for scenarios like price drops, new arrivals, flight delays, or new course launches.

Relays make your communication faster, smarter, and more impactful, complementing the long-term strategies built with Journeys.

Key Differences

Real-world Use Cases: Journeys

1. Customer Onboarding: Automate welcome emails, product tutorials, and feature tips to help new users get started.
2. Upselling / Cross-Selling: Design a sequence to recommend complementary products or premium features after a purchase.
3. Abandoned Cart Recovery: Engage users who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase with reminders and offers.
4. Event-Based Campaigns: Build multi-step workflows around time-sensitive promotions or events like Black Friday sales.

Real-world Use Cases: Relays

1. Back-in-Stock Alerts: Instantly notify users who showed interest in an item when it’s back in stock.
2. Price Drop Notifications: Inform users about discounts on products they’ve browsed or wishlisted.
3. Real-Time Service Updates: Keep users informed with timely updates like flight delays or appointment reschedules.
4. Limited Stock Alerts: Notify users when a popular item is running low on stock to create urgency.

Why Relays is the Perfect Add-On for Journey Lovers

If you’re already using Journeys to nurture your customers over time, Relays is the perfect complement to elevate your engagement strategy. Here’s how they can work together to provide a holistic, personalized user experience:

1. Onboarding + Instant Updates: Set up a comprehensive Journey to onboard new users through product tutorials over a week. Use Relays to instantly send notifications about new features or limited-time offers, triggering real-time engagement.

2. Product Recommendations + Price Drop Alerts: Nurture customers through a Journey with personalized product recommendations over time. Then, use Relays to immediately notify them about a price drop on items they’ve shown interest in, driving instant action.

3. Event Reminders + Flash Sale Notifications: Use Journeys to guide users through an event series, sending reminders and preparing them for the big day. Once the event is live, use Relays to notify users about flash sales or limited-seats availability, encouraging immediate participation.

4. Milestone Progression + Re-engagement Triggers: Celebrate milestones as users progress through a Journey (e.g., completing 50% of a course). Simultaneously, to keep them engaged, use Relays to trigger real-time updates like new content or back-in-stock items.

5. Customer Education + Instant Alerts: Educate users through a Journey with ongoing product tips and tutorials. Use Relays to instantly alert them when new resources, courses, or updates are available, ensuring they stay engaged and informed.

By combining Journeys and Relays, you can create a dynamic experience that nurtures long-term relationships while also delivering timely, context-specific updates that drive immediate action.

Wrapping Up

As marketers, we’re all striving to deliver the right message at the right time. By combining the long-term engagement power of Journeys with the instant, event-driven action of Relays, you can create a seamless experience that adapts to your customers’ needs—both over time and in the moment.

In the B2B SaaS world, the balance of proactive and reactive communication is crucial. Don’t just nurture your leads—engage them when it matters most.

Have any questions or queries? Check out our knowledge base to learn more about Journeys and Relays. Also, feel free to contact your Account Manager or write to us at product@webengage.com.