Buyer Engagement Platform Migration Technique and Tip…

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Many firms depend on inflexible, outdated, legacy programs that don’t empower them to maintain up with the fast-paced nature of recent customers or scale to fulfill their development. Others rely upon a large number of built-in level options that make it difficult to execute engagement successfully.

Nonetheless, shifting to a brand new system can appear extremely daunting; it means rewriting your processes and procedures, studying a brand new answer from scratch, and migrating your valuable knowledge. And with this shift come dangers, together with how safe the info switch is, how lengthy it would take to be taught the brand new system and execute campaigns, and the way lengthy earlier than you’ll get worth from the prices related to the migration.

It’s no shock then, that many firms have nervousness round making this shift. Regardless of realizing {that a} change will definitely be helpful, it means leaving the perceived security of what you already know and venturing into the unknown. Nonetheless, this ‘security’ is absolutely solely primarily based in your familiarity with the system, and never its precise capacity to ship the shopper engagement options and capabilities required to fulfill buyer expectations.

Potential dangers apart, with out the appropriate system in place, you’re lacking out on essential engagement alternatives since you don’t have an optimized advertising and marketing tech stack for buyer engagement.

On this article, we’ll make it easier to get a kickstart on navigating the advanced (and generally scary) migration course of by explaining the advantages of platform migration and tips on how to do it efficiently.

What’s Platform Migration & Why is it Necessary?

A platform migration is the method of transferring your group’s digital belongings from an present answer to a brand new one. This implies migrating all your knowledge, together with buyer particulars, account info, campaigns, content material, and extra.

Client conduct is consistently altering which signifies that entrepreneurs should commonly assess and consider the expertise they use to interact them..  On the identical time, expertise can also be evolving quickly. Failing to adapt can result in vital drops in effectivity and output, resulting in larger buyer churn and misplaced income.

Updating your tech stack is essential to make sure your operations can keep tempo as you scale and develop. Typically, this may be accomplished utilizing an improve to your present answer, an add-on, or a third-party integration, however in different circumstances, it could be time for a full platform migration.

What Does a Buyer Engagement Platform Migration Entail?

A buyer engagement platform (CEP) migration includes consolidating knowledge out of your present programs and migrating it to a brand new CEP. By the top of a CEP migration, you’ll have absolutely migrated all of your knowledge and have your new system absolutely arrange and operational. This implies transferring all buyer knowledge, marketing campaign knowledge, and buyer journey knowledge.

When migrating to a brand new buyer engagement platform, you’ll must take quite a few essential steps. The platform migration guidelines under lists just a few of the principle issues you have to do to finish the migration.

• Set up your new knowledge taxonomy and construction: Design the info taxonomy you propose on utilizing in your new platform and restructure your previous knowledge to suit this new system. Be sure you’re considerate about your construction and configure your knowledge so that you’re in a position to leverage new options and capabilities successfully.
• Arrange your integrations: It’s typically ultimate to have your integrations arrange as a lot as attainable earlier than migrating knowledge to keep away from points. Arrange your integrations for net, iOS, Android SDK, electronic mail onboarding (and for different channels), and APIs so the back-end is operational.
• Migrate person profiles and buyer knowledge: Migrate your buyer knowledge, together with person attributions and properties like their private particulars and account info, in addition to buyer exercise knowledge and preferences. 
• Migrate all related marketing campaign knowledge: Salvage your present (and successful) campaigns by migrating all marketing campaign knowledge, together with metadata, segments, content material, and scheduling. Be sure you preserve your main campaigns whereas becoming them into your new system so you possibly can combine extra options.
• Migrate buyer journey knowledge: Hold profitable journeys intact by migrating all buyer journey knowledge, together with buyer journey maps, web site and cell app navigation insights, cohort insights, and so on,
• Migrate knowledge for extra performance: Now’s the time emigrate any knowledge associated to elective options you’re trying to make the most of, together with any knowledge related to a Dynamically Customized Messaging (DPM) setup, a content material API setup, or PII tokenization.

You have to migrate all of your knowledge securely with out loss. It’s a frightening job and you have to belief the supplier you select together with your knowledge. That can assist you make the appropriate alternative, we’ve created a CEP purchaser’s information, full with a breakdown of an enterprise-level migration course of.

Find out how to inform your buyer engagement platform isn’t working

In case you aren’t seeing the engagement you anticipate out of your campaigns, or they merely take an excessive amount of effort and time to deploy and handle, it could be an indication that you have to replace your CEP.

Beneath, we have a look at some high alerts that your present CEP is not performing as much as normal (and will should be changed).

1. Lack of automation capabilities: As your enterprise grows, it turns into unimaginable to do work manually, at scale. These processes may cause operational friction and inefficiencies, and might even result in bottlenecks that fully halt operations.
2. The tech stack is simply too sluggish: Whether or not your workforce is simply too reliant on builders, your knowledge is siloed, or the interface of your present CEP is subpar, points together with your tech stack can lead to gaps between your planning and execution and might make it extraordinarily tough to react shortly and proper course when issues go south.
3. The present system has turn into too advanced: In case you’re working too many campaigns and initiatives throughout varied platforms and struggling to successfully preserve observe, arrange, and handle all of them, chances are you’ll must consolidate your efforts with a single answer that may do extra.
4. Restricted integration capabilities: A CEP wants to have the ability to combine seamlessly with the opposite instruments and software program that make up your Martech stack. It should additionally empower your workforce to ship higher buyer experiences whereas bettering operational effectivity.
5. Inadequate buyer help: Your vendor shouldn’t simply promote you a product, they need to help you from onboarding, to integration, and thru to ongoing use, making certain that you simply’re persistently getting probably the most out of your CEP. Enough help is essential to make sure you could resolve points proactively and reduce downtime.
6. Lacking intuitive options: A single particular person has a restrict on how a lot they will check and implement. With AI, firms can transcend human capabilities and do issues people can’t, like predict buyer actions, check quite a few campaigns at scale, and make course-corrections in real-time.
7. Buyer and marketing campaign insights are unclear: A CEP must empower you to know your clients’ exercise and conduct so you possibly can present higher buyer experiences. In case you’re fighting knowledge silos, don’t have real-time analytics, or your knowledge merely isn’t complete or correct sufficient, you’ll wrestle to seek out actionable insights and run efficient campaigns.

For a extra in-depth evaluation of why you ought to be utilizing a contemporary, mobile-first buyer engagement platform that’s insights-led, evaluation our full checklist of warning indicators you want an clever buyer engagement platform.

6 Buyer Engagement Platform Migration Methods to Observe

Now that you already know the fundamental steps to comply with within the preliminary section of the migration and what to search for in your personal system that will warrant a migration, it’s time to take a look at high methods for finishing up your migration efficiently to completion.

Beneath, we cowl a few of the finest CEP migration methods and finest practices to comply with.

1. Make clear the required steps and phases to ascertain a sensible timeline

Work together with your new vendor to map out every stage of the migration, together with migration components, what every step entails and timelines, and who would should be concerned from each groups. Evaluation this together with your workforce and your CEP’s workforce to set it in stone.

• Be particular: Don’t simply establish “knowledge migration” as a stage, however checklist the info parts (like person attributes and properties), and the way it’s being imported (CSV or API) to ensure every part is accounted for.
• Be real looking: Guarantee your workforce has the bandwidth to contribute to every stage as you’ve mapped it out, and ask for examples out of your CEP of migrations they’ve accomplished that require an identical quantity of labor to set a sensible objective for a way lengthy the migration will take.
• Maintain everybody accountable: Guarantee all workforce members comply with the established timeline and designate somebody answerable for policing this all through the migration course of.

💡Enjoyable Truth: Drop, a card-linked gives and rewards app, went dwell by way of MoEngage in simply seven days. Our flexibility and ease of integration ensured that they had well-documented SDKs and APIs so they might simply import historic knowledge, combine buyer and occasion knowledge, and arrange server-to-server backend occasions so they might shortly and simply activate electronic mail and push notifications.

2. Set up a workforce and designate clear tasks for every particular person

You’ll doubtless wish to appoint a delegated workforce for the migration job, with stakeholders from all vital groups and departments, comparable to product growth, advertising and marketing, IT, and knowledge administration. The objective is to have a CEP that permits all your workforce members to do their jobs extra successfully and effectively, so that you’ll wish to faucet their insights and experience when planning and implementing the migration to make sure every workforce’s wants will likely be met.

• Be inclusive: Embody stakeholders from all departments so that each division has direct entry and might present enter.
• Keep in contact: Don’t simply meet as soon as in the beginning of the method; be sure to verify in commonly with one another and have open traces of communication so you possibly can work cooperatively in the direction of the identical objective.
• Appoint a pacesetter: You continue to need all groups to have an equal say, nevertheless it’s a good suggestion to place somebody answerable for the challenge to assist preserve it on observe and supply a centralized administration system for the migration course of.

3. Automate any parts of the method you could

Guide procedures could be a enormous time suck on the migration course of and infrequently result in vital downtime, trigger bottlenecks, and lead to an extended wait earlier than your engagement campaigns are deployed. Automating as a lot of the method as attainable will make it easier to save time and allocate assets extra successfully.

• Automate and simplify knowledge switch: Streamline the info migration course of by leveraging instruments that make it straightforward to robotically switch bulk knowledge directly. Use an API to create a direct connection and leverage CSV imports reasonably than copying knowledge manually from spreadsheets and databases.
• Cooperatively handle your workflow: Create an intuitive system for managing and monitoring your progress. Guarantee all groups have entry, can simply share their enter, and observe what they’ve accomplished so all stakeholders are within the loop. The extra automated this workflow course of is, the extra time might be dedicated to the precise migration.

4. Doc the method totally to be used post-migration

It’s necessary that your workforce can perform every part they should effectively and doubtlessly even replicate the method sooner or later. Your new supplier ought to provide you with thorough documentation for APIs and SDKs so you possibly can confidently arrange knowledge transfers, and doubtlessly refer again to this documentation.

• Be sure you have what you want: Evaluation the documentation totally in the beginning to be sure to have every part you want, and don’t be afraid to request up to date documentation or clarification the place wanted so your migration can proceed easily.
• Hold notes for later: You by no means know whenever you’ll must make adjustments to your infrastructure, and there could also be a time when you have to migrate extra knowledge. Be sure you preserve clear documentation and thorough notes on the method so it may be repeated sooner or later.
• Be exact: Ensure that the documentation you’ve (and the notes you permit for yourselves) are exact and detailed so that individuals can simply interpret them and comply with them. Ideally, a completely new migration workforce ought to be capable of go off the documentation alone if want be.

5. Check and repair any points in the course of the migration – not after 

Regardless of your finest efforts, whenever you flick the ‘on’ change, it’s unlikely that completely every part works and not using a hitch. Be sure you enable time to check your system and that you’ve a well-defined plan for doing so. Don’t simply verify off straightforward bins, however rigorously check that the brand new platform will carry out as anticipated. It’s essential you run these checks instantly after setup whilst you nonetheless have the seller’s help.

• Be calculated: Set up a transparent plan to check whether or not the platform meets your expectations. Have clearly outlined, measurable strategies of testing the efficiency of your campaigns by way of the brand new CEP.
• Be complete: Keep in mind how we insisted that every one stakeholders and departments have enter? That’s essential at this stage as nicely. Ensure that all groups check the system and guarantee it would allow them to carry out their roles as anticipated.
• Vigorously check efficiency: Now’s the time to ensure every part is working appropriately. Don’t conduct easy-to-pass checks at this stage, check the answer to its limits and check out the capabilities of various options to make sure the CEP is assembly your wants.

6. Leverage onboarding and post-onboarding help out of your vendor

Even with all of the preparation on this planet, you received’t be poised to make the most of all of the CEPs capabilities on day one. Ensure that to get some onboarding help to get aware of the software, full with coaching and extra time to acclimatize your self. However ensure your supplier doesn’t simply disappear after setup, and that they’re round to offer constant help within the coming months as your workforce adjusts to the brand new platform.

• Set up a coaching program: Work together with your vendor to arrange a transparent coaching program with a inflexible schedule. Onboard and get everybody on top of things as quick as attainable whereas making certain they will make the most of the brand new platform’s core options and capabilities.
• Work post-onboarding help into your timeline: Earlier than you even begin, set a transparent goal to your workforce to completely make the most of the brand new platform. Set up this timeframe together with your vendor and make sure you’ll have satisfactory help.
• Host periodic catch-ups together with your vendor: Keep a degree of contact together with your CEP vendor. Meet commonly to debate marketing campaign efficiency and have updates, and brainstorm future concepts that may make it easier to leverage the CEP to optimize your campaigns and take away any bottlenecks.

💡When working with ClickRain, the MoEngage Skilled Companies workforce clearly outlined all phases and steps of the onboarding course of and offered full transparency on progress alongside the way in which. This ensured a swift, seamless migration from their legacy answer and weekly coaching on key contact factors in order that they could possibly be absolutely operational as soon as the migration was full.

Full a Fast, Stress-Free CEP Migration with MoEngage

Whether or not you’re a small enterprise or an enterprise-level group, a CEP migration is a frightening job that naturally brings with it some fears and nervousness. Whereas this new answer could also be intimidating within the brief time period, most manufacturers know {that a} shift to a extra fashionable, intuitive answer is for one of the best. Nonetheless, although, making that leap—and a ultimate choice—can nonetheless be tough.

Right here at MoEngage, we perceive that this course of might be uncomfortable, which is why we purpose to make it as painless and expedient as attainable. Our Buyer Engagement Platform (CEP) has a future-ready tech stack that’s agile and scalable, so you possibly can adapt to your clients’ ever-changing wants and preferences.

But it surely isn’t nearly comfort and peace of thoughts, it’s additionally about mitigating downtime so you possibly can keep operational. We work shortly to get you reside and operational so your campaigns can get again on observe. And our job doesn’t finish there both; we help our clients nicely past onboarding, providing them end-to-end help to allow them to at all times get probably the most out of MoEngage.

Find out how seamless the implementation course of was for manufacturers that moved to MoEngage with real-life examples from our shoppers.

Additionally, schedule a demo with our gross sales workforce at this time to find out how we deal with CEP migrations and the way we may also help your enterprise obtain its engagement targets.