# Fine-Tuning SoundCloud’s Onboarding — Troubleshooting Segmentation Issues

- Link: https://phiture.com/success-stories/soundcloud-case-study/
- Published: 2020-07-23T10:06:32+01:00
- Author: Otas Temelis

# Fine-Tuning SoundCloud’s Onboarding — Troubleshooting Segmentation Issues

![Soundcloud case study](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SoundCloud-
img-01-min.png)

600%

increase in daily Welcome Emails sends

507k

extra users each year will play a track within 1 day

4.5%

uplift in Plays within 1 day

4.2%

uplift in Likes within 1 day

---

Table of Contents

 * [The Challenge](https://phiture.com/success-stories/soundcloud-case-study/#the_challenge)
 * [The Solution](https://phiture.com/success-stories/soundcloud-case-study/#the_solution)
 * [The Results](https://phiture.com/success-stories/soundcloud-case-study/#the_results)

## The Challenge

After creating test accounts via Google, Apple and Facebook, SoundCloud discovered
that new users using any of these sign up methods, who made up a big part of the
app’s user base, were unable to receive Welcome Emails and were, therefore, missing
out on a crucial part of the user journey. Phiture had already been working closely
with the SoundCloud team on their Listener Onboarding journey. As the Phiture Retention
team scoped and implemented their current Welcome Emails and are experts in Braze,
they were asked to help them solve this problem.

“Phiture’s CRM expertise has helped us overcome various technical challenges over
time. We’ve been able to move faster and regularly iterate on campaigns which were
vital for our users’ journey. Added to that, working with a team of smart and dedicated
people is always a joy.”

**Dora Trostanetsky, Senior Manager, Growth & Optimization**
 **@ SoundCloud**

## The Solution

The Retention team at Phiture realized that SoundCloud had a trigger/segmentation
conflict within Braze and with a small alteration to the user segmentation, they
solved the problem.

SoundCloud explained that the user registration event and the email confirmation
event happen simultaneously for users on Google, Facebook and Apple. This was problematic,
as the canvas through which the Welcome Email was sent, was segmenting users based
on having performed the user registration event and then triggering the email confirmation
event. As a user first needs to satisfy the user segmentation logic within a Braze
canvas and then perform the trigger event, this was causing Google, Facebook and
Apple users to fall out; the user registration and email confirmation events were
happening simultaneously, not one after the other as the Braze canvas logic stipulates.

This was fixed by moving the user registration event to the step level targeting
and adding a couple of minutes delay to the step.

![Soundcloud case study](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SoundCloud-
img-02-min.png)

![soundcloud case study](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SoundCloud-
img-03.png)

## The Results

**Welcome Email Send Volume Increased Drastically**

Within one day, **daily email sends increased by over 600%**. Projected over the
course of a year, millions of additional new users will receive Welcome Emails because
of this change.

 

**Impact on Activation Metrics**

Since playing tracks and liking content are two important metrics for SoundCloud
to continually grow, the Phiture team focused on influencing new users to complete
these actions early in their lifecycle. These Welcome Emails show an average **uplift
over control of 4.5% in Plays within 1 day and 4.2% in Likes within 1 day with 99%
statistical significance**.

The data shows us that by sending millions more Welcome Emails per year, an extra
507k users will play a track within 1 day and 315k users will like a track within
1 day. These are key activation steps that are highly correlated with longer-term
engagement and retention.

This minor – but critical – adjustment in targeting logic is likely to make a massive
impact on SoundCloud’s key metrics.

---

![soundcloud logo](https://phiture.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1280px-SoundCloud_-
_Logo.svg-300x175.png)

SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website based
in Berlin, Germany, that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio.

**Client:** SoundCloud
 **Website: **[https://soundcloud.com/](https://soundcloud.com/)**
Services: Tech Audit**
