Platform migration is no small feat. You not only have to get buy-in from key stakeholders and executives, but you have to document the entire process and standardize all of your data to increase efficiency and avoid derailing anything in the works. There are technical aspects, personnel aspects, functional aspects and more. A platform migration can quickly turn into a can of worms that’s impossible to reseal.
To help combat the difficulty of platform migrations, we recently published The Cross-Channel Marketing Platform Migration Guide—a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of what to consider when migrating to a new marketing platform. But, as you can imagine, there’s a lot of information jammed into that one guide. We still recommend you use it, share it, bookmark it, etc. but if you’re looking for a skimmable breakdown of the guide, you’ve come to the right place.
In this second installment of the Platform Migration series we’ll explore the next section of The Cross-Channel Marketing Platform Migration Guide: Organizing Your Team and Your Campaigns. In particular, we’ll focus on the team members you need for a data migration and how to organize campaigns to prioritize migration requirements.
If you missed part one, “Questions to Ask Before a Data Migration,” be sure to check it out.
Gathering Your Team
The cornerstone of a successful migration is assembling a competent team. The size and composition of your team will vary based on your business’s size and structure. Whether you’re a large enterprise with a specialized team of 10-15 members or a startup with a small, versatile group, the key is to designate specific roles and responsibilities.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
Executive Sponsor
The Executive Sponsor champions the project, advocating for it across departments, securing the budget, and ensuring resource allocation. They manage the relationship with the new provider and communicate the project’s importance within the organization.
Marketing Champion
The Marketing Champion will “own” the platform and use it regularly. They bring a marketer’s perspective to the migration and can help ensure the correct campaigns and use cases are migrated in alignment with both the business goals and the objectives of the migration.
Technical Champion
Typically a developer or a team of developers, the Technical Champion oversees the technical integration. They need to understand the new platform’s APIs, SDKs, and technical capabilities. In larger teams, these roles might be divided among front-end, back-end, and mobile specialists.
Project Manager
The Project Manager defines the migration’s scope, creates a project plan, and keeps all team members aligned with timelines and budgets. They communicate progress and identify any blockers to task completion. Basically, they keep the train on the tracks.
For larger teams, with maybe multiple Marketing Champions or Technical Champions, we recommend having one “lead” champion who oversees, delegates, and provides updates to the Project Manager. Involving these champions in the platform evaluation process ensures that the final decision meets everyone’s needs, facilitating a smoother migration.
Document Your Campaigns and Use Cases
With your team in place, the next step is to document your current campaigns and use cases. Think of this as creating a packing list before moving to a new house. You have to think about what needs to go to the new house, what doesn’t, and what you need to buy net-new. Same goes for a new martech platform. It’s an essential step that many overlook, but it sets the foundation for a well-organized migration.
Creating a Campaign Master List
Set aside time to compile a comprehensive list of all your campaigns. You may need to check multiple systems and might even discover campaigns you weren’t aware of. This often happens with triggered campaigns built into existing systems, which can be easily overlooked by marketing teams.
Partner with your engineering team to get a full picture of your current setup. As you document your campaigns, tag them with the following information:
- Channel Type: Email, push notification, in-app, SMS, etc.
- Campaign Type: Batch Message (one-off or recurring), Triggered Message (action or time-based), or Journey (a series of messages over time).
- Message Type: Marketing/promotional or transactional.
- Lifecycle Stage: At what stage of the customer lifecycle is the message sent (e.g., Activation, Nurture, Reactivation)?
- Audience/Trigger: For batch campaigns, identify the audience. For triggered campaigns, specify the trigger. For journeys, detail the start and end triggers.
- Personalization Data: What data is used to personalize the message? Include user, event data, and other relevant information.
- AI-Readiness: Consider how AI can enhance your campaigns. Identify areas where AI can generate subject lines, predict user behavior, or improve calls to action.
Evolve Your Messaging Strategy
Once you’ve documented your campaigns, it’s time to audit and refine your messaging strategy. Refer back to that packing list. Now is when you can ask yourself these key questions to determine which messages to keep, update, or eliminate:
- Which marketing messages could be more engaging or better influence key business metrics?
- Can any batch-and-blast campaigns be converted into more effective real-time messages?
- Are there messages that feel off-brand or poorly designed?
- Are you sending the right amount of communications to the right audience at each lifecycle stage?
- Is your call-to-action still relevant?
- Does the journey flow logically and align with current customer behavior?
Reviewing your messaging with a critical eye allows you to refresh your strategy, making your communications more effective and aligned with your business goals as you move to a new platform.
Keep Your Migration Clean
Migrating to a new cross-channel marketing platform is not just about transferring data. It’s an opportunity to assess and improve your processes. By assembling a dedicated team and thoroughly documenting and auditing your campaigns, you set the stage for a successful migration and a refined messaging strategy.
This meticulous approach ensures that your brand is well-positioned for success, from the initial migration to the ongoing implementation and beyond. Embrace this chance to clean up and enhance your marketing efforts, creating a robust foundation for future growth.
To learn more about how the Iterable team can help aid in your platform migration, schedule a demo today. And, be sure to check out the full Cross-Channel Marketing Platform Migration Guide.
