Email platform selection and migration

Choose an email platform by checking what must still work after the move: eligible audiences, subscription choices, automations, reporting and opt-outs. Then plan the migration around those workflows. A feature list cannot show whether permission records and exclusions will survive an import.

Define the job before comparing platforms

List the messages the organisation sends and the systems that trigger them. A newsletter, a campaign and an order update may use different data or sending routes. Record who builds and approves each message, where recipient eligibility is decided and where requests to stop marketing are stored.

Use a requirements matrix to mark each item mandatory, preferred or out of scope. Shortlist platforms that meet mandatory needs and fit the existing toolstack, then test each against the same controlled records and workflows. Record pass/fail evidence rather than relying on feature claims. Choose a platform that clears every mandatory gate and best matches the ranked priorities within the approved budget.

Use controlled example records and the plan under consideration. Compare vendor quotes on the same billing period, contacts, users, expected send volume and required features; record the quoted price and plan limits. An unavailable feature, an untested integration or an export without needed history adds migration work. Confirm current plan terms with each vendor before purchase.

Decide what needs to move

An address labelled “subscribed” does not explain why its owner may receive the next campaign. For each campaign, record how the team will check recipient eligibility, sender identification, contact details and opt-out handling.

For commercial electronic messages, the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) sets consent, sender-identification and unsubscribe obligations, and ACMA enforces the Act. An unsubscribe must be honoured within five working days, so account for that obligation across the marketing routes in the inventory.

Consent may be express or inferred; mere publication of an email address does not establish inferred consent. ACMA describes express consent as best practice and inferred consent as less reliable, while the sender carries the burden of proving consent. Preserve the signup wording, source, date and later changes where that evidence exists.

Keep consent evidence and decisions traceable across the provider change. Bring opt-outs and other do-not-send decisions into the reconciliation before selecting an audience. Check that sender identity and correct contact details can be maintained, and that each commercial message has an unsubscribe option.

Inventory contact and permission records, exclusions, forms, integrations, templates, automations, reporting definitions and sending identities. For each asset, record its source, destination, owner and acceptance check; mark whether it will be exported, mapped, rebuilt, imported or retired. Keep an unchanged source export so mapping errors can be traced.

If permission is unclear or the proposed emails differ materially from the original promise, hold those contacts out of marketing while the basis is reviewed.

Key Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

Include privacy handling in the platform decision

For an organisation covered by the Privacy Act 1988, assess how the destination will handle personal information as part of platform selection. The OAIC says the Australian Privacy Principles govern collection, use and disclosure, governance and accountability, information integrity and correction, and individuals’ access rights.

The APPs are principles-based and technology neutral, allowing organisations to tailor handling practices to their business models. Record which roles need access to migrated personal information, how records can be corrected, and how access requests will be handled after cutover.

The OAIC states that a breach of an APP is an interference with an individual’s privacy and can lead to regulatory action and penalties.

Separate mailbox migration from marketing-platform migration

If the project also moves ordinary organisational email, scope that work separately from the marketing programme.

Google Workspace Migration for Microsoft Outlook (GWMMO) is described as a tool for migrating email, contact and calendar data from Microsoft Outlook profiles and PST files to Google Workspace. That description does not cover the marketing workflows and assets in this plan.

Before using GWMMO, Google directs users to read the system requirements and installation steps. Its download options are Windows installers: an .exe recommended for users and an .msi recommended for admins. Confirm that this separate mailbox workstream has its own owner and acceptance checks, rather than treating it as evidence that marketing records and workflows have moved successfully.

Plan the cutover

Export the agreed marketing assets from the source, map fields and rules to the destination, and import or rebuild them there. Reconcile the result against the inventory before switching forms or automations, and record any item that could not be transferred as planned.

Set up the destination audience and exclusion process before switching forms or automations. Compare controlled records for an eligible subscriber, an opt-out, a contact without marketing permission and a person with a topic choice. Check both their stored status and the rule that would select them for a send.

Map every route that can add or update a contact, including forms, checkout, staff uploads and connected apps. Decide which system owns each field during the transition. If both platforms run briefly, specify how new signups and opt-outs reach the relevant routes. Prevent two marketing automations from responding to the same event.

Move a small, authorised workflow first. Review the received message, audience, sender details, action and unsubscribe path. Set a rollback condition for errors such as a wrong subscription mapping or duplicate automation. If a trial is rolled back, carry forward opt-outs received during it.

Check sending and approve the move

Inspect a received message from each new sending route for its visible sender details and intended content. Confirm the route used matches the migration plan; a completed dashboard setting alone does not establish that.

During cutover, review the first send against the approved audience, message and workflow checks before retiring the old route.

Approve cutover when the team can explain eligibility, show how opt-outs reach relevant marketing routes, demonstrate required workflows and name who will check the first sends. Keep the old platform accessible as needed to reconcile records and outstanding requests under the organisation’s retention and contract arrangements. Record what was checked, what remains untested and which plan limits were confirmed.