How To Customize Event Forwarding From mParticle to Branch

Key takeaway:
Customers who want precise control over event forwarding between mParticle and Branch can create rules to determine exactly which events to send.


Branch offers several powerful integrations with mParticle, including the mParticle Data Integration and mParticle Branch Kit. With the Data Integration, you can forward events tracked via the Branch software development kit (SDK) to mParticle, allowing you to view them alongside your existing analytics data. You can also import events tracked via the mParticle SDK into Branch. The mParticle Branch Kit simplifies the process further by enabling Branch SDK functionality and automatically sending events to both mParticle and Branch Dashboards. 

While these integrations enhance your data, some automatically forwarded events, like content events or user lifecycle events, may not align with your key analytics needs or key performance indicators (KPIs). Plus, they can have cost implications under Branch’s volume credits model, so it is important to manage what data gets sent to Branch. 

Filtering events imported from mParticle into Branch

When you set up a Data Integration to import mParticle events into Branch, all commerce, content, user lifecycle, and custom events you track will flow into Branch. To avoid duplicate data, Branch will warn you if you try to import events already being tracked. However, you may want to further specify which events are sent from mParticle to Branch. 

Using forwarding rules in the mParticle Dashboard

  1. Navigate to the ‘Connections’ section of your mParticle Dashboard and select your configured Branch output destination. 

A screenshot appears of the mParticle dashboard on the 'Connections' section. Under a 'Transform Tools' heading, an 'All Outputs' button is selected, which branches off to a bubble that says 'Android.' The unselected button, 'Specific Output,' branches off to a bubble that says '1 Output.' Under a 'Connected Outputs' heading, the configured Branch output destination is selected.

  1. After selecting the output, click the ‘Forwarding’ tab to create a rule. 

Three tabs appear, 'Rules,' 'Forwarding,' and 'User Sampling.' 'Forwarding' is selected.

You can create two types of rules:

  • ‘Only Forward’ events that meet specified criteria.
  • ‘Do Not Forward’ events that meet specified criteria.

Under a 'Forwarding Rule' heading, there are two radio buttons labeled 'Only Forward' and 'Do Not Forward.' 'Only Forward' is selected.

In this example, we’ll leave the ‘Attribute Type’ set to ‘Event Attribute.’ The other option, ‘User Attribute,’ is more relevant when configuring rules around the user info present on the event. 

Under an 'Attribute Type' heading, 'Event Attribute' is selected from a dropdown. Under an 'Attribute Name' heading, 'Select Attribute' is selected from a dropdown. Under an 'Attribute Value' heading, there's a text box that reads 'Enter Attribute Value.'

Next, specify the ‘Attribute Name’ (e.g., event_type or event_name) and the ‘Attribute Value.’ 

For instance, to prevent commerce events, like ‘Add to Cart’ and ‘Purchase,’ from being sent to Branch, set the ‘Attribute Name’ to event_type and the ‘Attribute Value’ to commerce. 

Under a 'Forwarding Rule' heading, there are two radio buttons labeled 'Only Forward' and 'Do Not Forward.' 'Do Not Forward' is selected. Under an 'Attribute Type' heading, 'Event Attribute' is selected from a dropdown. Under an 'Attribute Name' heading, 'event-type' is selected from a dropdown. Under an 'Attribute Value' heading, a text field reads 'commerce.'

To only send purchase events to Branch, for example, set the rule to ‘Only Forward,’ with the ‘Attribute Name’ as event_name and the ‘Attribute Value’ as purchase. 

Under a 'Forwarding Rule' heading, there are two radio buttons labeled 'Only Forward' and 'Do Not Forward.' 'Do Not Forward' is selected. Under an 'Attribute Type' heading, 'Event Attribute' is selected from a dropdown. Under an 'Attribute Name' heading, 'event-type' is selected from a dropdown. Under an 'Attribute Value' heading, a text field reads 'commerce.'

By setting up these simple forwarding rules, you’ll have more granular control over the data imported from mParticle into Branch, avoid duplicate data issues, and prevent overages in volume credit usage.

Want to learn more about Branch’s integrations with mParticle?

Check out the following help documentation: 

For troubleshooting assistance with data export setup, reach out to your account team. To get started, request a demo today!