Have you outgrown your current marketing automation platform and are getting ready to switch over to a more advanced one that is a better fit for your business? Before making the switch, there are some important items to keep in mind. While the launch of a new automation platform is a great opportunity, it is important that it is launched properly so that no data is lost and all loose ends are tied. You must keep in mind that once your former platform has been cancelled, that information will be lost forever unless it is transferred over to the new platform properly!
To help with this all important transition process, we’ve created some key guidelines to help establish a project schedule:
- Create a Timeline: Changing marketing automation platforms requires a sizable amount of work to be performed in a compressed timeframe. You should give your team, at minimum, one month to complete the transition.
- Clear your Schedule: It is essential that you carve out a window of availability to schedule the migration for all of the individuals that will be involved in the process.
- Inform your Team: Make sure that you announce the migration timeline to your internal team. There may be individuals at your company that are reliant on the old platform, so it will be important to make sure that no one is taken by surprise by the migration.
- Reschedule External Communications: Because this is a time of transition, you may not have much overlap time between phasing out your old platform and setting up your new one. You may need to shift the timing of batch email distributions and other marketing automation platform-dependent programs to before or after the migration.
- Define Stages: The transition will work better when split into multiple, well-defined phases. This will minimize project risk into controllable parts.
- List Potential Risks: You should define risk factors for the marketing automation migration and create mitigation strategies for all risk factors. By being forward-thinking and developing action plans for high-or medium-risk items, you will ensure that you are ready to deal with any issue that may crop up.
Now that you have solidified your timeframe and schedule, it’s time to export all of the information that you could ever need from your old platform. Remember, once your old marketing automation platform is gone, so is all of its history! Even old emails that have been sent from that past platform will be filled with broken links. Data that you will want to export includes, but is not limited to:
- Lists
- Images/Files
- Email Templates
- Forms
- Landing Page Templates
- Reports
- Automation Rules
- Contacts – Note: If you sync all of your contacts with a CRM that you will be keeping, this step may not be necessary
By following this guideline and taking these items into consideration, your migration is much more likely to run smoothly. We wish you the best of luck with your new platform. Happy migration!
