Migrations are a lot of work. Whether you’re moving from HubSpot or Pardot over to Marketo, or just shifting from one Marketo instance to another, there are a lot of moving pieces and it takes real effort to get right. So before you dive in, it helps to slow down and think through a few things.

Start with an honest inventory

The first thing we do on any migration is take a technical inventory across your systems. Look at what you’re running and why you’re running it. What are all these processes actually doing? Do you still need them? Is there something else that can handle the same job in the new system?

This step matters more than people expect. A lot of the time, clients want to bring something over simply because that’s what they’ve always done, or because they’re worried that leaving it behind might cause an issue. That’s understandable, but when you migrate on autopilot, you give up one of the best parts of the whole project.

Treat the migration as a cleanup

A migration is your one real opportunity to clear things out and get back to ground level without another major overhaul down the road. Since you’re already putting in the effort, you might as well use it to tidy up while you’re in there.

So question everything! Ask what each process is for and whether it still earns its place. This is where a partner with a lot of Marketo experience can save you a real headache, because we can point out the pieces you don’t actually need. Sometimes a process you’ve maintained for years is handled automatically in the new setup, or it can be done in a much simpler, lower-effort way.

Know the data you’re keeping

Redundant fields and processes are tempting. It feels safe to hang on to every bit of information, just in case. And yes, having it all there means you can get to any data you might want. But that extra baggage adds up pretty fast.

When someone on your team insists you need a certain field or report, ask yourself when it was actually used last. Is it something people look at daily, weekly, or once a quarter? Or is it one of those “we might need it someday” things that never really comes up? You’ll often find that a field marked as absolutely necessary hasn’t been touched in ages. Being realistic here keeps your new instance lean and much easier to manage.

Keep your expectations grounded

When you move to a brand new platform, you’ve just come off the sales process and the new tool feels like a shiny new toy. At this point, it’s easy to believe it’ll solve every problem you’ve ever had. And this isn’t only about the main platform; it happens with all kinds of tools, where you think, “finally, we’ll be able to do that thing we’ve always wanted to.”

A new system can do a lot. But it works best when you go in with clear eyes about what it will and won’t fix. Get the foundation clean, keep what actually matters, and you’ll set yourself up for a migration that holds up long after the excitement wears off.

We help teams migrate platforms every single day. If you need a helping hand, reach out to us here!