Migrating to Kit (formerly ConvertKit) requires transferring your subscriber data, rebuilding your automated workflows, and warming up your new sender reputation. You can perform this migration manually or utilize Kit's free managed migration service (available on paid plans).

An Email Service Provider (ESP) migration to Kit involves three distinct phases: transferring subscriber data via CSV, rebuilding operational assets like forms and sequences, and executing a 5-week sender reputation warmup to secure inbox placement.

Phase 1: Data Preparation and Import

Before importing data, you must clean your list. Export only subscribers who have engaged with your emails in the last 12 months.

Next, export your hard bounces, spam complaints, and unsubscribes. Import this negative list into Kit, tag it as “Suppression List,” and contact Kit support to bulk-cancel these addresses. This ensures you do not accidentally email them from your new account.

Finally, import your active subscribers via CSV, mapping your existing groups or interests to Kit Tags. Kit will automatically merge any duplicate email addresses during this process. Note that while subscriber metadata transfers, historical broadcast analytics (like open rates for past emails) will remain in your legacy platform.

Phase 2: Asset Reconstruction

Rebuild your capture assets inside Kit. This includes landing pages, opt-in forms, and your master email template. To protect your deliverability from bot signups (listbombing), enable double opt-in and reCaptcha on all forms.

Next, recreate your automated sequences (such as your Welcome Series) and use Kit's Visual Automations to define the triggers and actions that connect them.

Important: Subscribers cannot be migrated mid-automation. They must finish their sequence in your legacy platform or be manually restarted at the beginning of the sequence in Kit.

Phase 3: Deliverability Warmup

When you switch to Kit, mailbox providers (like Gmail and Yahoo) reset your sender reputation. To prevent your emails from going to the spam folder, you must execute a 5-week volume ramp-up.

• Week 1: Send only to subscribers who opened an email in the last 30 days.
• Week 2: Expand to 60-day openers.
• Week 3: Expand to 90-day openers.
• Week 4: Expand to 120-day openers.
• Week 5: Resume sending to your full active list.

During this warmup period, temporary open rate fluctuations are normal. Ensure your domain is authenticated (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and avoid using link shorteners, which frequently trigger spam filters.

Kit Managed Migration Options

If you prefer not to migrate manually, Kit offers two tiers of free managed migration for users on paid plans:

• Essentials Migration: For lists under 10,000 subscribers. Kit handles the transfer of your subscribers, tags, lists, and segments.
• Concierge Migration: For lists over 10,000 subscribers. Kit handles data transfer plus the complete reconstruction of your forms, email templates, automated sequences, and up to 10 connections across 4 third-party integrations.