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Migrating to Marketo Doesn’t Need to Be Hard

You can expect only the best from Adobe’s B2B marketing platform; it’s designed to make marketers’ lives much more manageable. Marketo is one of the many top marketing automation platforms, similar to HubSpot or Pardot, and essentially makes your marketing obligations and tasks seamless to manage.

Marketo is a phenomenal marketing automation software, simple enough for rookies while always exceeding the expectations of Marketo loyalists. It suits all needs and varying skill sets.

We know you might feel overwhelmed by the process of migrating to another marketing automation platform; obviously, you don’t want to disrupt workflow. However, we’re here to walk you through the basics to allow you a fresh start as you transition to Marketo. With a bit of advanced preparation, the migration process is more straightforward than you’d expect.

Here’s how you can plan for a seamless Marketo migration.

Refile and Backup Your Information

We know what you’re thinking, but don’t be alarmed by the sub-header. It sounds like a lot of work but think of it as spring cleaning; you engage in one intensive cleanup and it sets you up for success and makes everything easier to manage. Just remember: you won’t have to do it again for a long time!

If you haven’t already, it’s crucial to organize space for all your marketing, CRM and Salesforce, and operational information. Backing up your data has multiple advantages; it will ensure nothing is lost in the process, all data can be retrieved, and you will know where to find it.

We suggest using excel spreadsheets to organize your data and ensure it’s all easy to locate. Include all necessary digital marketing information, from images and landing pages to email templates; make sure you can find everything for reference. This will give you complete peace of mind while migrating to Marketo.

Begin A Massive Cleanup

If you’re going to be organizing all your files and information, maybe it’s time to do a massive spring cleaning of your marketing materials themselves. Just like a once-a-year spring cleaning, it gives you a new reset.

To add extra efficiency, assign different tasks to each individual on your marketing team. One person can focus on CRM, while another marketer can organize all marketing campaigns for later reference. Assigning individual tasks will help your marketing spring cleanup run as smoothly as possible.

Engage your marketing team to work together and clean up your information for a fresh start. This not only helps you avoid disrupting your workflow functionality but gets your marketing team working together. Your sales reps can focus on cleaning up the data from your Salesforce CRM integration. Delegate tasks to the appropriate roles for better efficiency.

You and your team can also rename all your information for better organizational efficiency. You might not think it’s the right time, but it’s best to do this now and start off your Marketo implementation on the right foot. Take this time to re-define and re-categorize pre-existing data and information. Any overarching changes like these are best made before Marketo migration.

Refresh Your Marketing Strategy Before Marketo Migration

Assuming you’ve backed up all your CRM data and marketing necessities, and that your marketing team is cooperating to clean up files, it’s time to consider refreshing your marketing strategy as you prepare to migrate to Marketo.

Take time to look over what you’re currently doing for strategy and consider improving your marketing direction. You can encourage your marketing and sales team to work together to find solutions to strategic roadblocks.

As you clean up and reorganize all your content, it’s an ideal time to take a critical look at what you have; you can brainstorm new ideas and eliminate what isn’t working.

Before you fully migrate to Marketo, have a freshly updated strategy with attainable goals for the future.

Whether you’re migrating to Marketo from HubSpot, Pardot, or any other automation software, using these tips will provide a smooth transition for your marketing team. These tips will give you and your marketing team a better understanding of your marketing strategy and goals and improve overall functionality, all as added benefits of your preparation for migration to Marketo.

Make Sure You Complete These Steps Before Your Marketo Migration

Step 1: Inventory and Cleanup

Migrating to a new marketing automation platform can be tricky. You really want to take a full inventory of all your assets so that nothing is left behind or accidentally discarded during the migration process.

This is also a great time to do a little “spring cleaning” with your database. You can take this opportunity to cleanse contacts and tighten up your file structure and conventions and make a fresh start in Marketo.

Step 2: Archive Valuable Items

Beyond cleaning, you may be unsure of what you should migrate or what you should archive for potential use later down the road. So here are a few considerations to review as you plan your archival process.

• HTML Templates
• Emails & Landing Pages that may be needed later
• Campaign workflows
• Form submission data
• Reports/Analytics

Step 3: Planning & Timeline

It’s important to note that your migration can take several weeks depending on the size of your database and content. Many of your assets can’t be transferred and will need to be re-created, so be sure to create a project management plan for your migration and set a reasonable timeline.

Step 4: Testing

When it comes to your automation sequences and triggers, make sure you test everything before you cancel service with your current provider. This ensures that you can “retrace your steps” and pinpoint any by comparing your new campaign to its predecessor.

Ready to Migrate?

Now that you have a good understanding of Marketo, it’s strengths and weaknesses, you’ll have to decide if moving to this platform is the best for your sales and marketing teams. If so, we welcome you to use our customized checklists to help guide your transition.

Hubspot to Marketo
Mailchimp to Marketo
Eloqua to Marketo
Pardot to Marketo

Don’t have the bandwidth to commit to a migration effort? Worried that assets might fall through the cracks and campaigns won’t function properly once in Marketo? Let us help!

At Interrupt Media, we are automation experts and we provide a white glove approach to migrating your database from your current automation tool to Marketo.

Reach out today and let’s set up a time to chat.

Topics: Marketing Automation, Marketing Operations, Marketing Tools