How to migrate from Outbound to Real-time Marketing in Microsoft Dynamics 365

For some time now, it has been clear that the Real-time Marketing module will replace the Outbound Marketing module. Microsoft has now officially announced that the Outbound Marketing module will be gradually phased out and completely discontinued by June 30, 2025 . Therefore, it is essential to migrate the remaining functionalities to ensure the continued operation of the system. Aside from this necessity, the Real-time Marketing module also offers improvements in terms of loading latencies for embedded forms, as well as easier handling when creating forms and journeys.

In this article, I will discuss the transfer of components from the Outbound Marketing module to the Real-time Marketing module. Since Microsoft has already provided a pretty detailed documentation regarding the specific transition, I would like to focus particularly on the issues that can occur during this process and our individual solutions, as well as evaluate the current state of the Real-time Marketing module. Therefore, I recommend carrying out the migration as quickly as possible.

Transition Overview and Resources

The following examples highlight key components that should be transitioned to Real-time Marketing:

• Segments: The outbound segments can also be used for the Real-time Marketing, but it is recommended to use new segments, due to better performance. To convert the segments, I created a corresponding segment in Real-time Marketing for each segment in Outbound Marketing. I added all participants from the old segment to the new one, using a cloud flow with an instant trigger, as there was no automatic transfer.
• Consent: Functionality for migrating consents is also already provided. For example, when creating a new compliance profile, you can choose to transfer consents from an existing profile. This is highlighted in “Migrate consent from outbound marketing” . However, I recommend creating the compliance profile shortly before the transition, as consents are only transferred during creation. Therefore, new entries may be lost if the new profile is not used relatively soon after creation.
• E-Mails: Existing emails can be directly converted using a functionality offered by Microsoft . However, I recommend creating a new brand profile and checking the personalized fields (if any). Additionally, the compliance profile should be switched to the corresponding new settings center afterwards.
• Marketing Forms: Outbound forms cannot simply be migrated; they must be manually recreated as Real-time forms. It is important to note that a form can now only belong to either a lead or a contact, but not both. Consequently, the columns of the entity are then directly available as fields, and there is no need to create custom fields.
• Real-Time-Journeys (RTJ): To make things easier, it is also recommended to simply create the journeys anew, as a different trigger is used for the Real-time forms. When creating the journey, you can select the form directly from a dropdown without having to search for IDs. The rest of the journeys remain the same.

Problem with Double-Opt-In (DOI)

Using the newly added standard functionality for the Double-Opt-In brings some issues. Foremost, you need to activate the DOI in the settings for the Real-Time Marketing.

Afterwards, you can set the DOI up for a preference center.

It is important to create a new brand profile beforehand; otherwise, the automatic activation will fail in one of the subsequent steps. When you click the button, Dynamics 365 automatically creates an email for the DOI, as well as a journey that sets the consent accordingly and sends the email. For aesthetic reasons, I recommend manually improving the design of the email, as only a standard template is used here.

If you then set the tab to Enabled, the DOI will be activated for this preference center. It is important to note that the DOI must be activated for all consents, regardless of whether they are restricted or not. Since only one compliance center can be selected for a marketing form, it is not possible to have consents with and without DOI for a single form. For example, it is not possible to have the consent for general terms and conditions without DOI confirmation (because they are mandatory to submit the form), while having the consent for the newsletter with DOI.

Since custom fields currently cannot be added to the form, the simplest solution for general terms and conditions is to create a binary column (Yes/No) in the linked entity and use this instead of a consent field. Afterwards, you can use this column and a cloud flow that triggers on it to update the consent for this contact.

With this simple trick, you can exactly replicate any form from Outbound Marketing in Real-time Marketing and retain its functionality.

Problem with Lead Creation

Another issue that occurred during our transition is that form owners should not be teams. The idea, why this could be useful, is as follows: the owners of the leads created through a form inherit the owner of the form. However, while it is technically possible to change the owner of a form to a team, this results in an error in a Microsoft plugin during lead creation, and no lead is created for this form submissions.

To work around this issue, I simply created a service account that owns all the forms. After creation, a cloud flow triggers on the leads created by this user and automatically assigns them to the team. This way, you can easily assign the leads created by the marketing forms to a team.

Monitoring of Submissions

In general, I recommend including the form submissions in the monitoring process, as data entries can be lost in case of a failed submission, and Microsoft does not provide standard messages except for the popup when directly clicking on a form. The simplest way to achieve this is with a cloud flow or plugin that triggers on changes in the Form Submissions (msdynmkt_marketingformsubmission) entity and raises an alert if the status of a submission changes to Failure.

Conclusion

In summary, the transition itself is relatively simple, and Microsoft already provides a lot of functionality in the Real-time Marketing module. However, there can be some issues in specific cases, such as with the Double-Opt-In.

A significant advantage, in my opinion, is that the forms can be tested standalone, and you don’t need an extra test page for development and testing. Additionally, the module is much more user-friendly when creating forms and journeys, as the form linked to a journey can be selected directly from a dropdown, and the columns of the entities can be set directly on the forms without needing custom fields.

Despite all the advantages, there is also a major drawback to Real-time Marketing. Microsoft has not covered any integrations with social media, such as LinkedIn, with standard functionality, for now, but according to their statements , they consider adding the LinkedIn feature.

If you’ve experienced unique challenges during your migration or have additional tips, please share them with me.