How do you migrate your sending domain from an old email service provider to Klaviyo?

What you will learn
How to migrate your existing sending domain from a previous email service provider (ESP) to Klaviyo.
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Before you begin
New Klaviyo accounts and accounts on domains that have been registered for less than 30 days need to warm up their sending infrastructure when setting up a domain in Klaviyo. Warming up is the period during which you build a reputation as a legitimate or "good" email sender. Without proper warming, you risk a poor “sender reputation.”
Additionally, it is important that you own the domain you are using to send emails and that you have the ability to access and update your DNS (domain name system) host records.
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Setting up your infrastructure in Klaviyo
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Dedicated sending domain
Update your DNS settings to add the CNAME and TXT records generated in your Klaviyo account. This will allow you to send emails from your own sending domain instead of a shared domain via Klaviyo. Ensure that the dedicated sending subdomain is not already in use within your DNS. If the dedicated sending subdomain is already in use in your current DNS, it could cause issues with existing records and disrupt existing domain records.
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Adding a dedicated sending domain also enables DKIM and SPF authentication for shipments from Klaviyo using the domain.
Authentication is a common email best practice that helps prevent and alleviate delivery issues, and improve deliverability.
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Click tracking
If you have used a custom click tracking domain with your previous ESP, or want to use one in Klaviyo, you can add extra CNAME records to your DNS settings. Dedicated click tracking allows you to display your own domain on click tracking links instead of the standard Klaviyo encoding, which increases customer trust in your brand's emails because the links will be easily recognizable.
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IP addresses
Most small businesses or those just starting with Klaviyo will use shared IP addresses. Depending on your email actions and volumes, this should be sufficient for your sending needs. The main advantage of using a dedicated IP address is that the reputation of the IP address can only be affected by the single account using that IP address. As such, you have full control over your email sender reputation, especially if you send more emails.
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Note: IP addresses are only available for eligible accounts. Contact your Customer Success Manager to determine if you qualify for a dedicated IP address.
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Deliverability factors
When migrating your sending domain from another ESP, it's important to pay attention to deliverability to ensure you successfully land in customers' inboxes.
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Sender reputation
When you migrate your sending domain to Klaviyo from a previous ESP, the sender reputation associated with the domain will also transfer. Your domain's reputation is an important factor that mailbox providers (MBPs) consider when determining how incoming emails are sorted.

If you experience deliverability issues with your existing sending domain, follow best practices for deliverability to improve your sender reputation and adjust your sending strategy. Deliverability problems are not automatically resolved by switching ESPs.

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DMARC
If the domain used in your sender email address (for example, from-address) has a DMARC policy set up, this can affect inbox placement when there is a mismatch between the sending domain and the from-address domain. DMARC is a protocol designed to give domain owners the ability to protect their domain from unauthorized users sending emails, also known as email spoofing.
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With a dedicated sending domain, you must ensure that your domain and your from-address in Klaviyo align.
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For example, if you send an email with sales@example.com as your from-address, where example.com is protected by DMARC, your account must use a dedicated sending domain such as send.example.com for all emails sent from Klaviyo to comply with DMARC authentication requirements. Accounts with dedicated sending domains may be affected if there is no alignment with the sender email address.
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Mismatches typically affect accounts using Klaviyo's standard shared sending domain to send emails with a from-address domain that has a DMARC policy. If you use Klaviyo's shared domain, remove the DMARC associated with the from-address domain to avoid this.

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Remove DNS Records Generated by a Previous ESP
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When you no longer need to send emails through your previous ESP, remove the corresponding records from your DNS. You will need to complete tasks outside of Klaviyo and may need to consult your IT team regarding the following steps.
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Please note that not all domain registration services allow you to directly edit all DNS records. If you cannot update the records, contact your DNS provider for information on how to do so.
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Once the DNS records from your previous ESP are removed, emails will stop sending from your domain on that platform. Confirm that you no longer need your infrastructure on your previous ESP before deleting the records.
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Go to your applicable DNS provider. Common providers include:
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• GoDaddy
• Google Domains
• Hostgator
• Hover
• Namecheap
• Squarespace
• AWS
• Cloudflare

Remove all CNAME and TXT records in your DNS settings that were generated by your previous ESP. Some providers may also have MX records installed if the service handled reply management.

If you have other types of records in your DNS from your previous ESP, contact our Support Team.

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Important to Know:
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Migrate Unsubscribe and Suppression Data
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When migrating your sending domain to Klaviyo, it’s essential to carry over all available consent data from your previous ESP. This includes information such as the subscription method and timestamp for email and SMS opt-ins, along with all unsubscribe and bounce data. By importing this data into Klaviyo, you can prevent mailing profiles that could harm your email deliverability infrastructure.
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For more information on migrating data from your previous provider, see our guide on migrating existing email subscribers (and unsubscribes) to Klaviyo.
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If you are migrating from Mailchimp, you should also suppress contacts with a 1-star rating in Mailchimp, as emailing them can damage your deliverability.
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If you have any questions after reading this article about how to migrate your sending domain to Klaviyo, contact Polaris Growth for further advice.
Find the original article here.