Not all popular practices yield positive results; some may be overrated.

"I may get in trouble for this... but, OK, so personalization. Everyone loves personalization... So, it bothers me to a degree because I don't think people really understand the best way to do it, they just want to do it."

Takeaway: • Don't implement personalization without a clear strategy. • Understand that personalization requires thoughtful execution. • Over-personalization can lead to message fatigue and unsubscribes.

Changes in Apple iOS have impacted how marketers measure engagement.

"And we were doing this, that Apple iOS issue was fairly new... So we ended up bringing in people that weren't engaged... So when we reset and we did by clicks, we actually righted the ship pretty quickly."

Takeaway: • Recognize that opens may no longer be reliable due to privacy updates. • Shift focus to click rates for measuring true engagement. • Adapt quickly to industry changes to maintain deliverability.

Rushing an ESP migration can lead to significant problems; patience is key.

"So, obviously, the first thing is to start early. You want to start things very much ahead of time when you're doing an ESP transition... and you have to have a lot of patience."

Takeaway: • Begin planning your migration well in advance. • Be prepared to work on two platforms simultaneously. • Understand that warm-up and transition take time for success.

Overusing personalization can lead to message fatigue among subscribers.

"So personalization. Everyone loves personalization... It bothers me to a degree because I don't think people really understand the best way to do it, they just want to do it... When you use personalization, you definitely lose some of the ability to change up your messaging..."

Takeaway: • Avoid over-reliance on personalization without proper strategy. • Ensure variety in your messaging to keep subscribers engaged. • Be cautious of repeating messages which may lead to customer opt-outs or spam complaints.

Using email and SMS together can enhance your marketing effectiveness.

"So, like you said, we get a lot of our SMS subscribers via email... So what we try to do is not overwhelm them, not over message them. SMS definitely more intrusive than email because it's hitting your phone as a pop-up message or your text message."

Takeaway: • Use email to recruit SMS subscribers. • Be cautious with SMS frequency due to its intrusive nature. • Tailor SMS content to be timely and valuable to the customer.

Keeping your internal teams informed is crucial for a successful migration.

"And then finally, I'll just say, making sure your IT team or your IS team, whatever you call it your help desk team, is very well aware and very up to date, and they have the capacity to support you if needed, if they're involved in your email program in any way."

Takeaway: • Inform your IT and data teams early about the migration. • Ensure they have the capacity to support the transition. • Prevent surprises by keeping all stakeholders in the loop.

Working with experienced vendors can significantly ease the migration process.

"But, well, that is an important factor is having good vendors... but it really made me have less anxiety. To be able to monitor and have another set of eyes, and another person to come to bat for us in case we have an issue."

Takeaway: • Choose vendors who are familiar with your business and can provide support. • Utilize deliverability monitoring tools to detect and resolve issues quickly. • Collaborate closely with your vendors for a smoother migration.

Choosing the right engagement metrics is essential for a successful IP warm-up.

"Now, what happened with us though, is we were solely looking at opens as a form of engagement this last time around. It worked in the past, but this last time around, obviously it didn't work because of the Apple iOS issue... So we ended up bringing in people that weren't engaged."

Takeaway: • Focus on clicks rather than opens due to unreliable open data. • Adjust your engagement metrics in response to industry changes like Apple iOS updates. • Use accurate data to avoid deliverability issues.

Properly warming up your IP addresses can prevent deliverability issues during an ESP migration.

"...what you'll have to do is you'll have to work on two platforms. You'll work on the platform you're currently on, and you're gonna be working on the new platform that you're going to be warming up and eventually transition over. And the best way to do that is start by sending small quantities to your most engaged customers."

Takeaway: • Send to your most engaged subscribers first to establish good sender reputation. • Gradually increase sending volumes over time. • Separate Gmail from other ISPs due to stricter deliverability monitoring.

ESP migrations can be risky if not handled properly, leading to serious deliverability problems.

"Obviously the biggest one is deliverability. If you don't warm up your IPs correctly and you're doing it the wrong way, you're gonna have deliverability issues and you're gonna get blacklisted, and that is a huge loss of revenue and a huge impact on customer engagement."

Takeaway: • Start early and plan your migration carefully. • Warm up your IP addresses by sending to your most engaged subscribers first. • Monitor deliverability closely to avoid being blacklisted.