When is Marketing Automation Platform Migration Right?

At MarCloud, most migration conversations don’t start with “We want to move platforms.” They start with:

“We’re not sure this is the right move.”
“We can’t afford downtime.”
“We’re worried we’ll miss targets while everything is being rebuilt.”

At the same time, there’s usually a bigger concern sitting underneath those worries. The current platform is no longer supporting how the team wants to work. Either user adoption is patchy, or reliable reporting is impossible. Perhaps campaign ideas are limited by what the system can handle or how hard it is for non-techie team members to set up automations.

This article helps marketing leaders evaluate whether a marketing automation platform migration is genuinely worth it, or whether optimisation would deliver the same outcome with less disruption. It’s based on what we see working (and failing!) in real migrations.

A marketing automation platform migration is the structured move from one platform to another, such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud - including products like Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud Engagement - to HubSpot or vice versa.

What often gets underestimated is the breadth of what needs to move. A proper migration isn’t about copying email templates or recreating journeys one by one. It involves rebuilding the underlying logic that makes campaigns work reliably at scale.

This typically includes:

• Data models and field structures

• Automation logic and dependencies

• Lead scoring and routing rules

• CRM integrations and sync behaviour

• Reporting and attribution setup

• Governance, permissions, and access

For many teams, this is the first time all of these elements are examined together. That’s why migrations feel intimidating. They surface technical debt, inconsistent decisions, and processes that have evolved in the back-end without anybody noticing. Kind of like opening a can of worms.

The idea to migrate platforms builds gradually through frustration that’s easy to dismiss at first, but harder to ignore over time.

One common sign you need migration is when workarounds become normal behaviour. If marketers routinely export data to spreadsheets, manually fix records, or avoid touching certain automations because “they might break,” confidence in the platform is low.

Another red flag is reporting that needs explaining before it’s trusted. If leadership meetings start with disclaimers, such as “The numbers are broadly right, but…” the issue probably isn’t accuracy. It could be linked to how you’re using your marketing automation platform.

There’s also a creative cost. Campaign ideas may be simplified or abandoned because the platform can’t support them cleanly, and marketing shifts from proactive to reactive. Teams stop thinking blue-sky strategy and rely on what’s easily feasible without a headache.

Finally, low adoption is often the clearest signal. If only one or two specialists feel comfortable managing automation, the platform is a bottleneck to delivering marketing ROI.

Not every struggling platform needs to be replaced, and rushing to migrate can create unnecessary risk. One of the most important things MarCloud does early in any engagement is sense-check the decision to migrate by either running an audit on the current state or working with the client on their wider martech strategy.

Optimisation can be the right approach when the platform itself is capable, but the setup hasn’t kept pace with how the business has evolved. This often happens after years of incremental changes, where automations were added quickly to solve immediate problems without revisiting the overall structure.

In these cases, a structured audit can uncover opportunities to simplify workflows, clean data, and improve reporting without introducing the disruption of a full migration. Teams are often surprised by how much performance they can unlock by fixing fundamentals!

Migration is the right choice when the limitations are deep-rooted in features or structural, as opposed to tactical. This includes rigid data models, reporting constraints that can’t be resolved fully, or dependencies that make even small changes risky. 

If you feel like you’re patching over cracks, your platform may no longer fit your needs.

Platform comparisons often get reduced to feature lists, but in practice, migrations are driven as much by a business’s operating model or in-house skills as by what’s possible with a platform.

HubSpot Marketing Hub has been built organically over time with a focus on speed and ease of use, but it is far from basic. It is a powerful platform that delivers the capabilities most marketing teams need, while making them accessible and easy to run without heavy technical input.

Salesforce took a different path. It acquired Pardot (now Marketing Cloud Account Engagement) and developed it to work closely with Salesforce CRM. More recently, Salesforce has shifted much of its focus toward Marketing Cloud Growth, Advanced, and Engage, expanding its marketing portfolio to support more complex use cases.

At a fundamental level, these platforms all do similar things. They are marketing automation tools with comparable data models, objects, and core capabilities, and they can all integrate with Salesforce CRM to engage customers and prospects. The real differences come down to fit. Depending on your operating model, go-to-market motion, and in-house skills, one may suit you better than another. That is why it is often worth speaking to an expert to assess not just what works for you today, but what will support where you want to go next

Read an expert comparison of Salesforce Marketing Cloud vs HubSpot.

Ultimately, marketing leaders are trying to:

• Prove ROI with confidence

• Respond quickly to executive scrutiny

• Reduce operational risk tied to fragile systems

A successful migration can achieve all of this. With the right tools, ROI reporting becomes clearer because marketers can explain not just what happened, but why. Over time, this builds trust between marketing, sales, and leadership, leading to increased budgets.

There’s also a less visible benefit: reduced load on teams. When systems are set up in line with how you work, users spend less time worrying about breaking something and more time focusing on strategy and execution. That shift alone often justifies the effort.

Of course, one reason migrations feel risky is that effort and cost are often poorly explained upfront. So let’s cover that one next…

Data is usually the biggest source of anxiety during a migration, and with good reason. Years of campaigns, integrations, and workarounds can make data feel fragile, not to mention the compliance risks that can’t be overlooked.

During a marketing automation data migration, core data typically includes contacts, leads, accounts, custom fields, consent records, and preference data. Engagement history may also be migrated where it’s possible or adds value, though not everything needs to move.

What’s important to understand is that migration doesn’t mean copying data blindly. In fact, it’s often the first realistic opportunity teams have to address long-standing data issues. Duplicate contacts, inconsistent values, and broken sync rules can be corrected as part of the move. Handled properly, migration improves data reliability rather than putting it at risk.

Data is usually the biggest source of anxiety during a migration, and with good reason. Years of campaigns, integrations, and workarounds can make data feel fragile, not to mention the compliance risks that can’t be overlooked.

During a marketing automation data migration, core data typically includes contacts, leads, accounts, custom fields, consent records, and preference data. Engagement history may also be migrated where it’s possible or adds value, though not everything needs to move.

What’s important to understand is that migration doesn’t mean copying data blindly. In fact, it’s often the first realistic opportunity teams have to address long-standing data issues. Duplicate contacts, inconsistent values, and broken sync rules can be corrected as part of the move. Handled properly, migration improves data reliability rather than putting it at risk.

One of the most common fears we hear is, “What happens to our activity while we migrate?”

The answer is that campaigns don’t need to stop. A well-planned migration protects revenue-critical activity by moving in phases rather than all at once.

Working together, teams identify which campaigns must remain untouched until the end and which can be rebuilt early. In some cases, systems run in parallel to ensure continuity while the new platform is tested thoroughly.

This approach allows marketing to maintain momentum while reducing the risk of surprises.

A technically flawless migration can still fail if teams don’t adopt the new platform.

Post-migration problems often stem from complex setups being carried over, or from training that focuses on features rather than real workflows. When marketers don’t trust the system, they avoid it. And that won’t deliver the outcomes you need.

This is why successful migrations prioritise ease of use and clarity. Processes should be documented, and internal teams should receive practical training. Marketers should understand not just how to use the platform, but why certain decisions were made.

The real measure of success is when marketing stops thinking about the platform at all and focuses on generating ROI.

A marketing automation platform migration should feel like a serious decision. It affects data, credibility, and internal confidence. But with the right approach and partner, it doesn’t need to feel intimidating or overwhelming.

If you’re unsure whether migration is the right move, or want a team of experts to take care of the process for you, get in touch. We’re specialists in both Salesforce and HubSpot, meaning we can assess and migrate your business either way.