- Inventory everything the old platform does, including what you take for granted.
- Treat paid members as a separate project.
- Authenticate the new sending domain before the first send, then warm up gradually.
- Keep the old platform running until the new one has sent cleanly.
1. Inventory everything first
List what lives on the current platform: subscribers and their fields, tags and segments, paid members, the archive, templates, automations, signup forms, referral programs and integrations. The forgotten items are the ones that break.
2. Export and map your subscriber data
Export subscribers with every field, consent status and engagement history you can get. Map each field to the new platform before importing, and keep unsubscribed and bounced contacts suppressed so they never receive mail again.
3. Plan paid subscriptions separately
Paid members are the riskiest part. Understand how payments and subscriptions transfer, which usually depends on your payment processor, and tell paying readers what will change before it happens.
4. Move or republish the archive
Migrate past issues to the new platform, or republish them as a fast archive on your own domain. Either way, redirect old URLs so links in search results and old emails keep working.
5. Set up authentication before the first send
Configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your sending domain on the new platform before you send anything. Our deliverability checklist covers each record.
6. Warm up, then cut over
Mailbox providers watch new sending patterns closely. Start by sending to your most engaged readers and grow volume over a couple of weeks, watching opens, bounces and complaints as you go.
7. Rebuild what made the old setup work
Recreate welcome series, re-engagement flows, signup forms and integrations, and test each one with real addresses before you rely on it.
What most guides miss
Lessons from systems we have built and run, not the usual checklist.
Migrate consent, not just emails
Bring across when and how each reader subscribed. If you ever need to prove consent, a bare email list is not enough.
Warm up with your best readers first
Start sending to the most engaged segment so mailbox providers see opens and replies, then widen. Sending to everyone on day one is the fastest way to the spam folder.
Redirect every old archive URL
Old issues sit in search results and in readers' inboxes. Map each old URL to its new home with permanent redirects, or you lose the traffic and the trust.
Do not forget the forms you forgot
Embedded signup forms on old landing pages, partner sites and link-in-bio pages keep sending readers to the old platform. Find them and update them before you turn it off.
How we do it
We moved a B2B newsletter from Beehiiv to its own Resend-based infrastructure, including its full archive on its own domain and rebuilt signup and reporting. See platform migrations or the case study.