Martech Migrations: How you'll know when it's time to change platform

Introduction

A Martech Migration is never far away...

In last year’s State of Martech Report (2025), we saw a notable shift: migration of marketing automation and marketing cloud platforms really has become ‘business as usual’. Seven in ten organisations have switched platforms in the last three years, and migration intentions for the next 12 months have nearly doubled since last year.

Satisfaction with marketing technology is at an all-time high with 94% of the 600+ respondents in the same research recording positive overall sentiment to the platfoms they use.

What is driving the accelerated pace of change for marketers and when do you know when the right time to migrate is for your business?

Martech platform vendors are innovating rapidly and this revolution is driving a new agenda for change. As you’d expect, at the heart of much of vendor product development has been AI and the role it can now play in achieving hyper-personalisation as well as operational efficiencies.

But AI - or any other shiny new platform capability - alone should not be a reason to migrate.

At Clevertouch, we’ve seen first-hand how businesses can transform their marketing effectiveness by reviewing, refining, and, where needed, re-platforming their Martech Spine©. The smartest organisations are those that fully understand the strategic reasons why they need to change their platform, with a clear vision on the competitive edge doing so will create for them – as well as the gains in operational efficiency and customer experience.

For this article, we asked our technical delivery team to list out some of the key signs that might indicate it’s time for your business to migrate marketing technology platform.

Yes, migrations can be complex and disruptive. But with the right preparation, the right people and processes, and a clear vision for change, they can also be empowering – enabling your teams and your business to work smarter, not harder and stand out from the crowd.

 

5 signs that it could be time to migrate

 

1. Dwindling Platform Support

Marketing technology vendors sometimes fall short in delivering the expected level of post-sale support. To make this even more difficult, over half of marketers struggle with issues surrounding a lack of platform skills. This lack of support from the vendors, combined with the struggles of talent retention and skill deficits is one of the most prevalent issues we see in martech today.

When it comes to managing a complex marketing ecosystem, having the right support in place is critical to your success. Most martech customers expect the same concierge-like service and support from software vendors as they do in their home life as a consumer. Only one that is quick-to-act, personalised, comprehensive and always offers the right solution will do for today’s customer - a service that echoes the likes of Amazon or Netflix.

Moving to a martech vendor that has a strong reputation for after-sale care and ongoing support might feel like an obvious solution but won’t (and shouldn’t!) be a main driver to migrate.

Alternative: Look for expert support from a third-party.

If support is your main or sole issue, and you feel the platform that you currently have still meets your requirements, don’t migrate. Instead, invest in external resource that can support your marketing ecosystem and help bolster your internal capabilities with training and campaign development.

The best place for ongoing support will not be from the technology providers, but from expert third-party solution consultants.

In fact, over 57% of marketers use a partner in varying levels of capacity to aid in their martech campaign delivery. This is up by 10% from 2024, proving the worth of a hybrid approach with in-house marketing technology skills and external support from a third-party solutions provider.

 

2. Data Challenges 

Overall, satisfaction with martech platforms has increased since 2024 to 95% but 68% of marketers still say they are working on improving the quality and credibility of their data. Data quality is a foundation of effective martech and is instrumental in being able to use technology effectively to deliver customer experiences and business results.

The ability to be able to capitalise on new innovations in AI, whether with an existing or future vendor, is dependent on the integrity of your data, and with so many rich new data sources available to marketers, the impact of not managing data effectively can result in unnecessary expenditure on platform licensing.

Conduct a Data Audit whether you choose to migrate or not

A thorough audit and clean-up of your data is a vital step that will help determine whether a migration is necessary. 78% of marketers don’t have a fully integrated, data-driven culture, and so, a database audit, undertaken by an expert consultancy, might be enormously beneficial.

This also can be a quick win to shrink your monthly licensing fees on your new, or current, platform. If you don’t have the resource to audit this internally, a third-party consulting provider can help. It’s a lot less expensive than migrating to a whole new platform!

 

3. Operational Complexity

In 2020, we saw only 24% of marketers with a certification in a martech platform. And we don’t see that rising today - the talent deficit in the martech industry is real and 45% of marketers see lack of skills as a blocker to success. Compounding this, many businesses don’t have the ability or skills to train staff internally, so it’s no surprise that the perceived ease of use of martech platforms is often seen as a reason to migrate.

Whilst changing to a ‘simpler’ platform seems logical, prioritising investment in your team skills and capabilities with the support of a specialist consultancy that knows your platform inside-out, is extremely worthwhile. Not just for better utilisation of the platform, but in investing in your people and empowering them to become platform experts in their own right.

Get your team trained properly first

Enable your people and get them trained, educated and certified in the marketing technologies and strategies today’s marketers need. Then see if you’re still having issues.

If issues do persist, then it could be down to the usability of the platform itself. If you’re using a legacy platform that hasn’t been updated recently, then it could be time to move to something more progressive. 

 

4. Alignment to Objectives

If you’ve been using the same technology for several years, you could be getting to a point where your marketing strategy has matured beyond what your platform can offer.

The ‘Martech Stack’ model for your processes can be cumbersome and hard to integrate. The simple core defined in a ‘Martech Spine©’ methodology leads to seamless integrations and pathways for data management and customer experiences. Ensure your platform and structure are suited to your business needs and prioritise the platforms and capabilities that matter most with sustainability in mind.

According to our 2025 survey, changing business need remains one of the highest drivers for migration, but in a cost-conscious economy, it is more important than ever to critically evaluate the value delivered by your current technology - and make the right choices, aligned to your goals and strategy.

Determine your Martech Strategy

A good first step is to hold a strategy workshop (either internally, or hosted by a third-party partner) to assess your current and future needs, and ensure that your platform requirements are aligned with the rest of your business – a move that will put you in the best possible position to analyse your next martech investment.

 

5. The Need to Stay Ahead

Competition in new feature and platform announcements by martech vendors is at a new high, driven by the intrigue, interest and appetite for AI. Migration trends are being propelled by this technological evolution and the pace of innovation is relentless. Misalignment between vendors’ roadmaps and business needs are now cited as the biggest migration driver (95%). Businesses hold rising ambition for adoption of AI and are ever conscious of the need to stay ahead of their peers. In turn, this is underpinning an uptick in the use of external services like marketing agencies or consulting partners to make sense of the changing landscape.

Make Sense of the Noise

Staying ahead of technology innovation and making sense of competing messages in the market is challenging for any business. Recent advancements mean change in the tech you are using today is inevitable: the question is whether these advancements are reason enough to migrate right now.

It is important to consider the impact on the organisational structure and business processes that a martech migration will bring. People, skills and capabilities, technologies, data flows and processes are all important components to an integrated, AI-enabled Martech Spine© that you’ll need to drive success for the future.

Partnering with a consultancy who can interpret vendor messaging, offer impartial advice and experience to select and then operationalise new technology effectively is critical.

 

So, Where Next?

If you have already made the decision to migrate, having a solid plan in place will minimise risk and ensure your project is a success. Choosing the right specialist technology partner can help smooth the transition and alleviate the pressure on your marketing teams.

Our Migration Guide gives some practical guidance on how to plan and navigate a migration from hundreds of successful projects our team have delivered.

And if you’re looking for a partner to help you migrate, then please do get in touch to learn how we can help.

If you’re not quite ready to migrate but need some help getting more from your platforms in the meantime, we can help. Get in touch to arrange a time to speak to one of our martech consultants.