AWeber, a popular email marketing tool, is shutting down on September 30th. It’s a sad day for the industry since AWeber is one of the few email marketing tools that offer a free tier. However, there is hope for all email marketers since Zapier, an all-in-one business tool, offers an option to import your AWeber data. In this blog post, we will outline the steps to transfer your AWeber data to Zapier.
The Reason Behind The Shutdown
If you’ve been paying attention to the email marketing industry, you may know that email service providers (ESPs) are under a lot of pressure to maintain a high quality of service while driving up revenue. As a result, many big-name ESPs have implemented many tactics, including cutting corners and limiting features, to achieve these goals. This includes AWeber. As a result, if you’re using AWeber, you’ll want to start thinking about an alternative tool before September 30th.
The Great Unknown: What Will Happen To My List?
One of the features that set AWeber apart from other ESPs is that it allows you to export your entire list, which is incredibly useful. While it’s certainly possible to download a CSV file of your entire list and import it into another tool, oftentimes, you’ll want to keep your list intact. Why? Well, it’s much easier to get to know your list members when you have it in the same place. In addition, many email marketers choose to keep their email lists segregated from other parts of their business. If you’re one of these people, you’ll want to make sure that your list is secure and you have the ability to export it in the event that you decide to move to another ESP or tool.
The Way Forward
Since we don’t know what will happen to our AWeber data once September 30th arrives, it’s a bit of a guessing game as to what options are available to us. One thing is for sure, though, and that is that we will no longer have access to this important marketing tool. Thankfully, there is an alternative available to us and that is Zapier. We will now discuss the steps to take before September 30th to move our data over to Zapier.
Step One: Back Up Your List
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that things can and will go wrong. It’s also a fact that data loss is always a possibility whenever there is digital information. As a result, you need to take the time to back up your list. If you’re using AWeber, you probably already do this. You’ll want to make sure that you have a copy of your list in at least two different places. One location should be offline and the other should be online. Online backups are great since you can access them from any device. Offline backups are important, too, in case your internet connection drops or goes down.
Step Two: Move Your Data To Zapier
Now that you have a copy of your data in at least two different places, it’s time to move it to the next step. The first thing you need to do is log into your AWeber account. Once you’re on the page, you should see a link that says “Start Export.” Click this link to begin the data export process.
AWeber will ask you to confirm your email address. After that, you’ll be presented with the option to export a few different types of information. You can choose to export contacts, lists, or both. If you do choose to export contacts, you’ll be given the opportunity to choose which ones you want to keep. Do not worry, though, since you can always import these contacts into your phone’s contact list. If you do choose to export your list, you’ll need to confirm the list name before hitting “Export.”
Step Three: Confirm Your Export
Once you’ve exported your contacts and/or lists, it’s time to confirm the process. Simply log back into AWeber and click on the gear icon in the upper right corner. From here, you can approve the export or request more information from AWeber. Once approved, you’ll see a confirmation message from AWeber. Click the link in the confirmation email to continue navigating their website.
Step Four: Import Your Data Into Another Tool
Now that you’ve exported your contacts and lists as.CSV files, it’s time to import them into another tool that you find easier to use. If you’re using Excel, it’s a simple as opening the file and copying it over. If you’re using another tool, you may need to use a different procedure. Some alternatives that you may want to try out are MailChimp, ConstantContact, or HubSpot.
Final Words
In the event that you find this process to be too much work and you’d rather not have to go through it twice, you can always download the data directly from AWeber and re-import it into another email marketing tool of your choice.
As you may have guessed, moving your data to another tool is a bit more complicated than just exporting it as a CSV file and then importing it into Excel or another tool. Nevertheless, it is a necessary step to take if you want to ensure that you can continue using your current email list and not have to worry about losing access to it.