In light of the Bronto End of Life (EOL) announcement, Bronto users will need to choose another platform to migrate to before the end of May 2022. This is just a few months away now, and companies using Bronto need to dedicate time in evaluating other email service providers (ESPs) and begin their transition as soon as possible.

We’ve asked some of our top agency partners to give their insight into Bronto EOL and how to choose a new ESP. Read on below to see what MuteSix, Tinuiti, and Wpromote have to say about Bronto EOL.

MuteSix

Chanel DeVetter, Co-Head of Lifecycle Marketing

When it comes to the Bronto EOL, MuteSix’s take: quickly migrate to better integrate! If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to make the switch to a new e-commerce automation platform. MuteSix partners with the industry’s leading ESPs and can help you migrate from Bronto seamlessly and quickly. 

While we understand this can appear like a daunting task to Bronto users, especially those with larger client lists, we’re viewing this as an opportunity, not a challenge. As more and more advanced ESPs have emerged, MuteSix’s Lifecycle Marketing team has grown to favor such alternatives, finding Bronto to be “slow and clunky, while newer ESPs are more efficient, easier to set up, more flexible with out-of-box integrations, and better automation builders.” As such, we recommend migrating sooner rather than later to take your email campaigns to the next level.

While brands have through May 31 to switch over, doing so now with the help of an experienced digital marketing agency will allow you to incrementally transition your list by migrating it in phases, giving you adequate time to familiarize the team with a new ESP, better position your brand for success with a stable platform, and ensure your performance is optimized as resources get cut from Bronto over time. 

Juiced Bikes, made the migration from Bronto to Klaviyo with the help of MuteSix’s Lifecycle Marketing experts, leading to some big wins from their email campaigns: a 4,918% lift in email revenue in July 2020, $1 million in monthly email channel revenue, and a 34% email attributed revenue average.

As the leading agency in performance marketing for DTC brands, MuteSix has been touting the benefits of industry-leading ESPs, including Klaviyo, over Bronto for a while now. By teaming with MuteSix for email services and your Bronto migration you’ll get a free audit, migration at no additional cost, and more. 

Go to mutesix.com/brontomigration to learn more and take advantage of MuteSix’s Bronto EOL migration offer.

Tinuiti

Emily Clarkson, Director, CRM & Email at Tinuiti:

While we’ve known about Bronto EOL for about a year, it’s truly crunch time for anyone needing to migrate off of that platform. That said, it’s still very important to ensure you’re vetting and selecting the correct platform for your program now, and for its growth. Doing so, at this point in the game, will require you to have a focus on this initiative so that you can fast-track these discussions internally, and with your existing/prospective partners. 

Understanding your site’s/CRM’s capabilities and the integration possibilities with a new platform can help you prepare timelines and resources. In some cases, because we’re so close to Bronto’s EOL, you may need to look at a phased approach: immediate needs for offboarding your existing Bronto program, and long-term options for further growth. 

There are key questions to ask about your program and platform’s capabilities. Make sure you’re vetting things like:

  • User interface ease-of-use (depending on the skill set of those sending and interacting with the platform daily)
  • Automation sophistication needs to align with your program’s goals. Don’t settle for a platform that doesn’t account for all your needs and revenue drivers (For example: product recommendations and custom events)
  • Out-of-the-box features should meet the requirements of your program as well: A/B testing capabilities to drive effective results; data integrations; multi-channel options such as SMS/Web/Push. Think about where you’re taking your program and ensure you’re doing the right due diligence on the platform to execute—whether that’s all in one platform, or multiple platforms 
  • Reporting is key so don’t skimp on this. You’ll want to easily be able to look at performance and set up the right reports for your business 

These are just a few of the things to keep in mind for selecting a new email platform and you’ll need to prioritize features based on your own team’s resources and goals.

Wpromote

Ryan Woods, Manager | Email Marketing

The first step is to ask yourself “How will the decision today impact my business in the next three years?” Look at what you want to accomplish in that timeframe and make a list of features & tools you’ll need. And most importantly assess if you have an in-house team with the bandwidth and skillset and an agency partner that will help you get there. 

With Bronto shutting down their platform this May, where do you go next? Is it Klaviyo, Listrak, HubSpot, or one of the many other ESPs? At Wpromote, we typically start with looking at integrations, cross-channel capabilities between your email and paid media channels, budget, and level of support. It’s also important to start incorporating SMS into your overall strategy and evaluate if the ESP has comprehensive SMS capabilities. Or if you’ll need to add another SMS-specific provider into your tech stack.

While ESP’s give you everything you need to get started, pairing an agency partner to complement your in-house team can help you hit the ground running with your new platform and supersize your email and SMS program in ways you could have never imagined.

We hope our partners at MuteSix, Tinuiti, and Wpromote have pointed out some things to keep in mind when preparing for Bronto’s EOL in less than five months. 
If you’re interested in learning more about any of these partners and how they can help you migrate, please let us know by shooting an email to partners@justuno.com and we’ll get you a specialty introduction! 😉