Migrating to a new email service provider (ESP) is never just a straightforward technical change — it also impacts your data, design, deliverability, and several internal teams. Recently, a growing number of companies have been switching ESPs. This trend is driven both by rapid AI‑driven changes in martech platforms and by the fact that some ESPs are being retired. For instance, one of the first platforms I ever used to send email was Mixpanel. (At that time, it wasn’t only an analytics tool and still supported email sending.) Then there was Bronto, which Oracle acquired and ultimately sunset in 2022. More recently, Yotpo removed its email and SMS capabilities in 2025.
Below are 10 practical lessons I’ve learned (often the hard way) from multiple ESP migrations. They’re meant to help you get ready for an email migration, coordinate with stakeholders, prevent delays, and ultimately boost performance and revenue as a result of the move.
What does an ESP migration actually involve?
Anyone who has gone through an ESP migration knows it’s far more than exporting and importing data or picking up a new syntax for dynamic personalization. A migration can affect:
- Data architecture (lists, attributes, tags, properties, and more)
- Design systems, templates, snippets, and content blocks
- Transactional, automated, and lifecycle email flows
- Deliverability, including domain and IP reputation
- Multiple internal teams (marketing, IT, sales, support, legal, operations, etc.)
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Get started with these 10 lessons, which are organized in the typical order you’ll tackle them, so you…