Email marketing migration

Email marketing migration is the process of transferring your subscriber lists, templates, and automations from one email marketing software to another.

Many businesses decide to switch providers for financial reasons to reduce their monthly costs.

Or in an effort to improve the deliverability of their email campaigns.

However, this transition often raises questions about the process, contact migration, and other elements.

That is why proper planning is necessary to avoid losing information.

In this article, we will outline this process so that migrating your email platform is as seamless as possible.

What is email marketing migration and why is it important for your business to choose the best tool?

Email marketing migration is not just about exporting a CSV file with your contacts.

You must also consider other processes involved in your email marketing strategy.

Therefore, it is necessary to plan the migration carefully to ensure everything is successfully transferred.

An error in the initial setup could lead to reduced sales in your upcoming campaigns.

The main reason for migrating is usually to cut costs.

Whether it is because your current tool keeps raising its prices, or because you want to scale your sending volume.

Choosing a good email marketing tool will also help with the deliverability of your campaigns.

Top reasons to migrate your email marketing platform

There are various reasons to execute an email marketing platform migration.

If you are considering it, you might find yourself in one of the following situations:

· Reducing operational costs

Popular platforms like Mailchimp or Klaviyo charge fees based on the number of contacts.

As a result, you pay for inactive or duplicate subscribers in your database.

This is far from ideal.

On the contrary, migrating to email marketing tools that bill per email sent, or at least don’t charge for storing contacts, is usually more cost-effective.

This allows you to grow without paying more as your list expands.

· Access to technical support in your language

Many mailing tools offer very limited support or only in English.

This lack of support can range from complicating the basic use of the tool to preventing a campaign from being sent at a critical moment.

Having an email marketing service with good support can make all the difference.

That is why Mailrelay offers support via chat, tickets and email across all accounts.

· Improving your email deliverability

Deliverability rates can vary between mass mailing platforms.

If you are not satisfied with your results, trying another platform is completely normal.

Until you find one where your emails actually reach the inbox.

How to prepare your database before migrating

Although migration is usually straightforward, as most email platforms allow exporting and importing via CSV files, you might want to take a preliminary step.

To scrub your list and export your contacts in the best possible way.

· Run a re-engagement campaign

This is completely optional but can be worthwhile to ensure you only export truly active contacts.

· Scrub your subscriber list

Remove invalid emails and accumulated bounces from your dashboard.

A clean list reduces monthly costs and improves your initial open metrics.

· Export your unsubscribe lists

It is necessary to download the record of users who unsubscribed from your mailings.

This way, you can import that list to your new email marketing software.

For example, in Mailrelay’s case, this would be imported into the blacklist.

This way, you will avoid sending emails to people who already stated they didn’t want to receive them (which could generate spam complaints).

Technical steps for a successful email marketing migration

Below are the necessary steps to ensure your email platform migration goes smoothly.

Step 1: Configure sending domain authentication

You must configure your domain’s SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records with your new provider.

These DNS settings in your hosting validate your sender so you can use it from the email marketing tool.

Without this setup, your sender domain reputation could drop rapidly.

Step 2: Export contacts and custom fields

Download your lists in CSV file format using standard UTF-8 encoding.

If you have custom fields, don’t forget to export them as well and keep track of them.

You will need to create these custom fields before importing your mailing list.

And when importing, you will have to map your CSV file columns to those custom fields so they are imported correctly.

This way, you can continue sending personalized email campaigns.

Step 3: Create or migrate your newsletters

Most email marketing tools don’t allow you to export the designs of your newsletters, which can make this step complex.

However, you can often find the option to export the HTML code and import it into the new tool.

For example, in Mailrelay, you can import newsletters in HTML format.

However, be careful with this:

• The code might be incomplete: some tools may alter the HTML before sending, meaning you would not be copying the final version.
• Tags from the old tool: the code might include unsubscribe tags, web version links, or custom fields that will not work in the new service. You will have to replace them.
• Images: the HTML code doesn’t include the image files, only a reference (URL) to them. Once you close your account on your previous platform, they will stop working. The images will not be displayed.

Recommendation!

Try to create your newsletters using the new tool’s editor; it will save you trouble.

Also, try to export the images from your current platform and upload them to the new one so you have them available.

Step 4: Recreate the opt-in forms on your website

If you have created forms with your current email marketing tool for contact registration or subscription, you will need to replicate them in your new tool.

You will have to recreate them and replace the old code on your website or store with the new one.

Finally, test them to ensure they work as expected.

Step 5: Set up automation flows

Another important step is to replicate any automation flows you currently have.

This is typically something that can’t be migrated, so you will have to recreate them in your new email system.

With Mailrelay, creating automation flows is very easy; in fact, you can see some examples here.

And of course, if you have any questions, you can contact our support team.

You can use this migration as an opportunity to review the content of your automations, confirm that they are up to date, or even improve them.

Step 6: Run some sending tests

Before starting your mass mailing campaigns, run some tests to verify that everything is set up correctly.

You might even want to send to a small segment and monitor the results.

If everything looks good, you can consider the migration from your previous tool to the new one complete.

Comparison table to plan your email marketing migration

Comparing email marketing tools can be tedious, so below we have provided a brief and basic comparison.

Focused on the financial aspect, specifically free plans.

· Mailrelay

Send up to 80,000 emails per month for free.

Manage up to 20,000 contacts.

Support via email, chat, and tickets

· Brevo

Daily limit of 300 emails (9,000 per month).

Unlimited contacts in the database.

Support via email only.

· Klaviyo

Monthly limit of 500 emails.

Up to 250 stored contacts.

Very limited technical support.

· Mailchimp

Highly restricted monthly sending limits.

Very low contact capacity.

Unavailable after the first 30 days.

This short comparison makes it quite clear which is the best option for sending mass campaigns of a certain volume while saving money.

The importance of choosing a scalable email marketing tool

Your customer database will grow steadily over time.

Therefore, you need software that allows you to scale at the same pace without skyrocketing your monthly costs.

Choosing an email marketing tool that lets you grow is a smart business decision.

It will allow you to manage high volumes of daily mass mailings while maintaining maximum deliverability.

Likewise, having an intuitive dashboard will make your team’s daily workflow much easier.

Frequently asked questions about email marketing migration

What exactly is email marketing migration?

Email marketing migration is the process of switching from one email marketing tool to another.

This includes your contact lists, templates, forms, and automations.

Will I lose historical data when migrating my email marketing?

You will not lose your contacts.

However, statistical data such as clicks, opens, etc. can’t be imported.

Therefore, we recommend downloading these historical reports in Excel before closing your account.

How do I prevent my emails from going to the spam folder?

To avoid spam, you must, at a minimum, correctly configure your SPF, DKIM , and DMARC records.

Is the email marketing migration process free?

Some platforms offer free migration services for their customers.

However, you can perform the manual transfer yourself quickly and easily.

You just need to follow the steps to export contacts and configure your new sending dashboard.

Should I pause my commercial campaigns during the email marketing migration?

It is not necessary to pause your regular email campaigns during the technical transition.

You can keep both platforms running in parallel for a few days to secure the process.

Once you have verified that the new system is working, you can proceed to close your old account.