You realise that ActiveCampaign is the system that has it all. So what next? What does a CRM migration involve?

This post was contributed by Tim Preston of VYBRNT MarTech.

1.So what does an ActiveCampaign migration involve?

Having successfully helped over a hundred businesses setup ActiveCampaign, we can give an honest look into what a Migration involves. Here’s a short summary, followed by some system-specific tips.

Although a System Migration isn’t necessarily difficult, there are some important things to ensure you are aware of. This blog will leave you well supported, and with a clear picture on Migration requirements.

Step 1: Plan your migration.

A short flow chart, or whiteboard exercise can help get things organised, even with a basic migration. Most commonly, you will be migrating your database (Contact, Deal, and Account Records), your custom field structures, your content (Email Templates), any nurture sequences or auto-responders you previously had setup, and your sales pipeline. If you have Custom Object Layers, such as Salesfore Custom Objects, you will need to plan the best way to map this in ActiveCampaign. There are a number of good options for relational data structures. Those are the high-level pillars of a migration.

Step 2. Plan your time frame.

It’s good to have a healthy overlap of timings. Ideally, the current system isn’t expiring in the next two weeks, but rather the next 2-3 months. If it is expiring in the next couple of weeks, CALL US! We can help with an expedited migration process.

Step 3 Migrate and import.

Now that you’ve planned a bit, you are ready to go. It’s best to migrate into a non-active ActiveCampaign account. Generally, in this order. 1. Setup Custom Fields. 2. Conduct an initial Data Migration, without subscribing anyone to a list just yet. Ensure no automations are turned on. 3. Import email templates. 4. Setup auto-responders. 5. Setup your web forms in ActiveCampaign. 6. Subscribe your customers to a list. Star with some small batch sending, to ensure your sender reputation is of a high quality, and there are not issues with switching servers.

HUBSPOT MIGRATION TIPS

Hubspot is one of the most straightforward systems to manage a migration from. Export Contacts, Deals, and Accounts is a similar 1:1 mapping exercise between systems. The Deals Pipeline is also very similar. A good way to start is to create your Deals Pipeline in ActiveCampaign, and all the relevant Custom Fields. For Hubspot Migrations, you will want to be comfortable with the “Deal Import” option in ActiveCampaign. Hubspot has a few differences to be aware of, such as the “Products” option. ActiveCampaign can be mapped similar to the “Products” section using a deals pipeline, or Custom Objects.

MAILCHIMP MIGRATION TIPS

Because Mailchimp is primarily an Email Marketing Tool specifically, it makes migrating to ActiveCampaign relatively easy. You can conduct an easy data import, into the Contact Layer of ActiveCampaign. Additionally, if you have Email Templates and Nurture Journey’s and Forms will also need to be migrates. It’s reccomended you re-build your emials into the ActiveCampaign Builder. Lastly, be mindful of where your contacts are in the Automation Sequence irself. If this is too complicated, we can help with this step. We call it “Stepping” contacts into the nurture sequences, to carefully and thoroughly migrate your data over. One tip to be mindful of is that the best practices for Subscribers is to NOT import any unsubscribers into ActiveCampaign.

SALESFORCE AND COMPLEX SYSTEM MIGRATION TIPS

To be very clear, there are few CRM system setups that are cleaner and more powerful than using ActiveCampaign as an all-in-one system. But if your running an existing instane of Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or Netsuite, it may make sense to integrate into ActiveCampagn. Here is where you may want to consider ‘Integrating’ rather than a full migration. In this case, you could use AC as your lead nurturing and email marketing add-on. Salesforce and ActiveCampaign have a fantastic Native Integration option, and many SF users are choosing ActiveCampaign over Pardot. We’ve handled numerous Pardot Migration, keeping Salesforce in place as the core Admin CRM. But if you see the opportunity to migrate into ActiveCampaign entirely, the primary consideration wil be Custom Objects. ActiveCampaign’s custom objects are a growing aspect to the platform, and more than ever make ActiveCampaign the main CRM tool of choice.

WAYS TO GET HELP WITH YOUR MIGRATIONS

DIY. Most migrations can be handled internally, with a few guides and articles to assist. Here is ActiveCampaign’s Migration Guide.

ActiveCampaign offers quite a few Migration Services as well on higher tiered plans. Take advantage if you can!

If you need a consultant to work with, and have a more complex system, VYBRNT is an ActiveCampaign Migration Expert. We can do the heavy lifting for you! Book an initial all to learn more!

FINAL TIPS

You will want to consider these three components before starting.

• • Clean your data prior to importing
  • Plan your migrations carefully
  • Use proper taxonomy and custom fields to keep your new system fresh and organised!

We highly recommend contacting us if you need further help! Book a call here for guidance on how to maximise ActiveCampaign for your business!

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