Your Email Migration Checklist

BEFORE THE MOVE: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

Determine Timing

Plan your transition during a quiet period—not right before or during major campaigns like season announcements, subscription renewals, or big single-ticket on-sales. This helps avoid disruptions to your marketing efforts.

You’ll also want to keep your old ESP running for at least 2-3 months after implementing the new one. This gives you a cushion for unforeseen delays in implementation. This overlap also allows time for testing, training, and troubleshooting while still having a way to get your necessary communications out to your audience.

Set Up Integrations

If your CRM and ticketing system integrate with your new ESP, get those connections in place! This is the most important factor to confirm before making a switch. Ensuring seamless integration will make segmentation, personalization, automation, and measurement significantly easier down the line.

Audit Your Email Templates

Moving to a new ESP is the perfect time to refresh your email design. Take a critical look at your templates: Are they mobile-friendly? Do they align with your brand? Do they follow accessibility best practices?

Download Key Data

Export your list of unsubscribes and bounces so they can be uploaded to your new ESP. You don’t want to risk re-engaging users who have opted out! Also, be sure to save any historical reporting that might be useful for benchmarking or future analysis. (Some platforms delete old data upon account closure.)

DURING THE MOVE: CONNECTING THE DOTS

Set Up Analytics

Make sure UTMs and Google Analytics tracking are in place—ideally set up to be automatic—so you can continue measuring performance without interruption.

Pro Tip:

Ask us about building a custom dashboard that pulls data from both your ESP and Google Analytics 4, making reporting easier and giving you a comprehensive view of your email marketing efforts.

Follow Authentication Protocols

Ensure that DMARC, SPF, and DKIM are correctly set up for your domain. These authentication tools improve email deliverability and prevent your messages from being flagged as spam.

Establish Naming Conventions

A clear, standardized naming system for campaigns, lists, and templates will save you headaches down the road. Organizing everything now makes reporting and collaboration easier.

Update Your Sign-Up Forms

If you have email sign-up forms on your website, confirm that they are correctly connected to your CRM or new ESP. This ensures new subscribers are properly tagged and nurtured from day one.

AFTER THE MOVE: GETTING IN THE GROOVE

Warm Up Your IP Address

Your new IP address won’t have a sender score yet, so you’ll need to gradually increase your sending volume to build a good sender reputation. Start by emailing your most engaged subscribers before scaling up. You’ll teach the inbox algorithms that people do engage with your emails so you don’t end up in spam. Here’s a great primer from SendGrid.

Monitor Deliverability and Engagement

Keep a close eye on open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints in the first few weeks after switching. If you notice a dip, troubleshoot by adjusting segmentation.

Final Thoughts

Moving to a new ESP is an exciting step toward more effective email marketing, but it requires careful planning and execution. By following these steps before, during, and after the transition, you’ll set yourself up for success while minimizing disruptions to your campaigns. 

Need support while making the switch? Capacity Interactive is here to guide you through it.