What Is Data Migration?

Data migration is the process of transferring critical business information—such as contacts, companies, deals, and custom objects—from your existing CRM, database and/or software tools into HubSpot. For instance, you might be consolidating data from tools like Pipedrive or Mailchimp, or Excel files into HubSpot to centralise data and improve visibility.

This process is more than just a data transfer; it’s about ensuring your new system meets your current needs and is scalable for future growth. 

The Key Stages of Data Migration

1. Planning and Preparation

• Define Your Goals: Why are you migrating? What outcomes do you hope to achieve?
• Build Your Team:
  • Migration Architect: Oversees the entire process.
  • Implementation Specialist: Handles data mapping and imports.
  • User Stakeholders: Provide insights into how the data is used.
• Audit Your Current System:
  • Identify data inconsistencies or errors (duplicates, outdated records, missing associations, etc.).
  • Document critical workflows and integrations.
• Create a Migration Plan: Lay out the timeline, assign responsibilities, and set a target date for migration. 

2. Data Mapping and Preparation

• Conduct a custom property audit: Do you have custom properties in use in your current CRM that need to be carried over to HubSpot? Are they in use by the team? Is the data accurate?
• Map Fields: Align data fields from your old CRM with HubSpot’s structure. Use unique identifiers like email addresses and record IDs to maintain associations.
• Clean Your Data: Standardise formats, remove duplicates, and validate completeness.
• Set Up HubSpot Properties: Create any custom fields in HubSpot that will be required, before starting the migration.

3. Choose your Migration Method

Selecting the right data migration method is critical to ensuring a smooth and accurate transition. Your choice should be based on the complexity of your data, the systems involved, and your specific requirements for preserving historical records (such as logged emails, tasks, notes, etc).

Here are the primary options:

1. Export & Import
   This is a straightforward method for simpler migrations. You can manually export data from your legacy system into a CSV file and then import it into HubSpot using its native import tool. This method is ideal for basic data like contacts, companies, or deals, and is cost-effective. However, it requires meticulous data cleaning and mapping to prevent errors during the import process.

2. Data Sync via Native Integrations
   HubSpot offers a rich ecosystem of pre-built integration apps to sync data from other platforms, such as Mailchimp, Salesforce, or Google Contacts. For instance, if migrating data from Mailchimp, you can use its integration to sync key information seamlessly. While this approach reduces manual effort, it may have limitations, particularly when dealing with custom objects or complex datasets. Always review the integration's capabilities and carry out test syncs, to ensure it meets your requirements.

3. Third-Party Middleware Solutions
   Middleware tools, like MigrateMyCRM by Syncmatters or custom API integrations, are powerful options for more complex migrations. At Growth London we regularly turn to MigrateMyCRM as our tool of choice for migration projects. Whilst there is an additional cost to use these 3rd party options, the time savings easily outweigh the cost. They allow you to automate the transfer of large volumes of data while maintaining relationships between records. This method is particularly useful for retaining historical data such as past email communications, notes, and tasks.

Key Considerations When Choosing a Method

• Data Complexity: Does your dataset include custom objects, or does it rely heavily on relational data? If yes, middleware or custom APIs may be necessary.
• Historical Data Preservation: If retaining historical activities like emails, calls, or notes is essential, opt for a method that supports this requirement.
• Cost and Effort: Manual exports and imports are low-cost but labor-intensive, whereas middleware solutions may require higher initial investment but offer greater precision and scalability.
• System Compatibility: Verify the compatibility of your legacy CRM with HubSpot’s integrations or middleware tools to avoid disruptions.

4. Testing the Migration

• Run a Test Import: Migrate a small sample (about 10% of your data) to catch any errors early.
• Validate Results: Check for issues with mapping, formatting, or associations. Repeat the test as many times as needed, being sure to resolve any errors before the full migration.

5. The Full Migration

• Choose Your Strategy:
  • Big Bang: Migrate everything at once—ideal for simpler datasets.
  • Trickle: Break it into manageable phases, perfect for complex migrations.
• Monitor the Process: Watch for errors and resolve them immediately.

6. Post-Migration Validation

• Review Data: Ensure everything is correctly mapped and accessible.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Involve your team in verifying the data and functionality.
• Collect Feedback: Use insights to make final adjustments.

Driving CRM Adoption Post-Migration

The success of your migration doesn’t stop with the data transfer—it depends on your team fully adopting HubSpot. Here’s how to encourage seamless adoption:

Tailor Training

• Sales reps need tools that save time and help close deals.
• Marketing need insights on segmentation and campaigns.
• Managers focus on pipeline visibility and forecasting.

Make It Easy to Learn

• Offer a mix of live training, on-demand videos, and role-specific coaching.
• Provide resources like glossaries, HubSpot Academy, FAQs and Knowledge-base for quick reference.

Integrate HubSpot Into Daily Workflows

Encourage teams to log activities, update deals, and use HubSpot for their day-to-day tasks. The more it becomes second nature, the more they’ll see its value. TIP: this is particularly important for Management who need to lead adoption and ensure the team follows.

For more on CRM user adoption see here: The Key to Successful HubSpot Implementation is CRM Adoption

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

1. Poor Data Quality: Audit and clean your data before importing.
2. Complex Data Relationships: Use unique identifiers and custom properties and ensure you pick the correct migration method to retain associations
3. Limited Export Options or the requirement to retain historical activity: Leverage APIs or third-party tools like MigrateMyCRM (formerly Trujay).
4. Active Integrations During Migration: Use a sandbox environment to test integrations before applying them to the live system
5. User Resistance: Offer tailored training and promote leadership buy-in.

Additional resources:

• Import records and activities
• Review and troubleshoot import errors
• Use the data quality command center
• View and analyze past imports
• Understand the import tool
• Repeat a past import
• Generate an example import file
• Migrate your contacts from another CRM or ESP

Key Takeaways

Data migration is your opportunity to not just switch systems but to set your business up for long-term success. With proper planning, testing, and a focus on user adoption, HubSpot CRM can transform how your team works and connects with customers.

Remember, this is more than a tech upgrade—it’s a chance to empower your business. At Growth London we've successfully migrated dozens of clients to HubSpot. Let us know if you'd like to discuss your migration project.