Migrating from Smartrmail to Klaviyo

If you’ve found yourself here, in this corner of the Internet I feel safe in assuming you’ve got an interest in migrating from Email Service Provider (ESP) Smartrmail, to Klaviyo.

But migrating can seem daunting when you don’t know how to do it. Which is exactly what this guide is about.
We’re going to hold your hand and walk you through the steps you need to take to seamlessly migrate from Smartrmail to Klaviyo.

But just in case you need some convincing that this is a worthwhile move for your ecommerce business, let us tell you exactly why we recommend Klaviyo to our clients.

What’s so good about Klaviyo?

Personal (strategic), automated emails sent to your customers at different stages of the buying journey, are one of the pillars of ecommerce business success. Klaviyo is a digital marketing platform that makes it possible for you to send more personal, better-targeted emails to your customers and subscribers in a matter of seconds. One of the things our clients appreciate the most about Klaviyo is the way it seamlessly collects and stores all relevant data about your customers, so you can use that information to sell more, deliver a better service and create stronger, longer-lasting relationships with your customers.

Klaviyo makes it possible for you to unleash the full power of your email marketing potential because its focus is on making it possible for you to offer your customers great experiences that feel like one-on-one conversations. Of everything Klaviyo does well, it’s this ‘mission’ that makes recommending it to our clients a no-brainer.

Here’s an overview of Klaviyo’s main capabilities:

Migrating from Smartrmail to Klaviyo – Step by Step

1. 1. 1. Clean your list/s prior to importing them to Klaviyo (see more on this below).
      2. Switch existing sign up forms from Smartrmail to Klaviyo forms. This ensures that your new subscribers are added to your list/s in Klaviyo.
      3. Redirect integrated subscriber forms to Klaviyo. For example if you are using Wufoo, Facebook Forms or another integration.
      4. If you’re automatically collecting subscribers through the checkout process, make sure these subscribers get synced to Klaviyo.
      5. Import current bounces and unsubscribes into a suppression list in Klaviyo. Klaviyo has a great guide to suppressed profiles. We recommend reading this before you complete this step.
      6. Migrate existing autoresponders to flows and turn them live.
      7. Migrate saved email templates to Klaviyo. Follow Klaviyo’s guide on importing a custom HTML template to help you complete this step.
      8. Ensure all existing subscribers are added to Klaviyo. As there is no integration between Klaviyo and Smartrmail you will need to complete this step manually by either importing or copy/paste your subscribers into Klaviyo. This information will help you if you’re unsure of how to do this.
      9. Continue to watch your Smartrmail lists for a few days after you make the switch to Klaviyo. If subscribers are still being added to your Smartrmail list/s, trace where those subscribers are being added from – this is an indication that you’ve missed bringing at least one form across to Klaviyo.

Importing Contacts From Smartrmail into Klaviyo

Like all good ESP’s Klaviyo recommends that you import clean lists and send to an engaged list from your first few emails using the platform. Sending to an unengaged list could put your email deliverability at risk.

“Your former ESP most likely provides a way to analyze the engagement level of your main list, using data points such as open rates, bounce rates, etc. Before you migrate any existing subscriber lists into Klaviyo, we recommend using all data available to isolate and remove any invalid or inactive emails that will only bloat your sending and drag down your deliverability. This should all be done in advance of your first send with Klaviyo.”
– Klaviyo

Following this important best practice will help to avoid delivery problems and reduce complaints and bounces. And it may even help to boost engagement which is exactly what you want as an ecommerce store owner – an engaged list of subscribers who take action on the emails you send them.