How amika and Clove Switched to Attentive Email, Step by Step

The scariest part of switching email platforms isn't the platform. It's the move. What happens to years of customer data and email designs? Who rebuilds the flows? How long does a new sending setup take to warm? And can the team keep sending while all of that work happens?

amika and Clove took different routes from Klaviyo to Attentive Email. amika planned one complete build and went live six weeks after signing. Clove started with a live test, moved its automated emails in stages, and switched campaigns after a warm-up that took weeks rather than months. Both brands opened up their project plans: what worried them, what happened along the way, who did the work, and what they saw afterward.

amika: A six-week switch, planned before the contract

amika had used Attentive for SMS since 2019. Its email program held seven years of history in Klaviyo, and its custom-built site added technical complexity. With no developers in house and Black Friday on the horizon, Carah Campbell, amika's Director of CRM + Data Intelligence, needed a migration plan that accounted for the data, the build, the warm-up, and a firm deadline.

“I still point to it as one of the smoothest big projects we've ever run.”

— Carah Campbell, Director of CRM + Data Intelligence, amika

What worried amika—and how it played out

“It'll take 3–6 months.” Campbell had heard that an email platform switch could take half a year. amika and Attentive mapped the timeline with the agency before anything moved. From signed contract to go-live, the build took six weeks. As Campbell put it, “nobody was improvising.”

Seven years of data might not come across intact. amika had a large, long-tenured email list. Campbell's account of the transfer: “It came across in good shape, and we were live and engaging our list within weeks.” Within three weeks of go-live, 92% of the list was active again.

The technical setup could be difficult. amika's site was custom built, and it had no in-house developers. Attentive handled technical pieces including domains, identity, and the unsubscribe page, working with Roswell, amika's development team, from the first week.

The move might be too close to Black Friday. Instead of treating the holiday season as a reason to wait, amika worked backward from it and made the deadline non-negotiable. The email program went live on Attentive in April; amika finished moving off Klaviyo by mid-October, before Black Friday.

Revenue reporting was already messy. Three tools had been claiming credit for the same revenue. Bringing the program together on one platform gave amika one clearer view of what was working.

“I won't pretend a migration is nothing — it's a real undertaking. But it never felt overwhelming. I always felt like I had a team behind me, not a ticket queue.”

— Carah Campbell, Director of CRM + Data Intelligence, amika

The timeline: From plan to go-live

• January 2025 — A plan before a contract. Attentive shared the full migration timeline and support plan so amika could see the work before committing.
• Contract signed — The six-week build begins. The team worked backward from the April 11 go-live date.
• Week 1 — Kickoff and ownership. amika, Roswell, and Attentive assigned roles. The first data upload happened, and work began on domains, identity, and the unsubscribe page.
• Week 2 — Emails and flows rebuilt. The Attentive design team recreated amika's emails and automated flows. Roswell moved audience segments.
• Week 3 — Automations connected. The team connected and checked every trigger, then built templates in Attentive.
• Week 4 — Warm-up began. Sending increased gradually so inbox providers could learn the new setup. The team held check-ins every two weeks.
• Week 5 — Final data and quality checks. A last data upload was followed by testing and review.
• Week 6 — Live on Attentive. amika met its April 11 deadline. Within three weeks, 92% of the list was active again.
• September–October 2025 — Fully off Klaviyo. amika wrapped the remaining transition by mid-October, ahead of Black Friday, and the old platform's bill went away.

“Honestly, the six weeks is the part people don't believe. What made it possible was front-loading the plan … once we started, nobody was improvising. We worked backward from BFCM and treated that deadline as non-negotiable.”

— Carah Campbell, Director of CRM + Data Intelligence, amika

Who did the work

amika's CRM lead owned the project with support from its marketing team; there were no developers in house. Roswell, amika's development team, handled the technical build, moved segments, and helped build flows. Attentive provided dedicated success managers, a design team to recreate the emails, and specialists to run the warm-up.

The plan and owners were set before anything moved. Attentive rebuilt emails and flows so amika did not start from a blank canvas, managed the warm-up on schedule, and made people available when questions came up.

What amika saw after the move

• +122% automated email revenue, year over year versus the old setup.
• ~300% journey revenue in amika's big sale, with Attentive identity resolution.
• 92% of the email list active again within three weeks of go-live.

“That's what told me this was real growth, not just a lateral move to a new platform.”

— Carah Campbell, Director of CRM + Data Intelligence, amika

Campbell's advice to a brand weighing a move:

“The hesitation is completely normal — and it's also the only real obstacle. Build a real plan, bring your partners in early, and choose a vendor who treats it like their project too. A move that sounds like a six-month ordeal turns into a six-week one.”

— Carah Campbell, Director of CRM + Data Intelligence, amika

Clove: Test first, then move what worked

Clove makes footwear for healthcare professionals and had used Attentive for SMS since 2020. Its marketing team wanted evidence before moving email. The brand started by running automated emails on Attentive against Klaviyo, then moved additional flows as the results came in. Campaigns came last. Clove was fully live on Attentive for campaigns in October 2022, with a couple of legacy flows still on Klaviyo.

“We made the switch and never looked back.”

— Nick Sanetra, Director of Marketing, Clove

What worried Clove—and how it played out

Years of email design work might need to be rebuilt. Attentive offered to copy Clove's existing designs: “just give us the designs and we'll port them over for you.” Clove reviewed the work rather than starting over.

Warm-up might take months. Clove expected a long period for its new sending setup to earn inbox trust. Instead, the team started with small daily sends to its most engaged groups and grew them steadily. The final warm-up took 2–3 weeks. Klaviyo continued running in the background as a safety net.

Performance might not hold up after the switch. Clove chose a live comparison on its own data. Cart and browse reminder emails ran on Attentive head to head against Klaviyo. Attentive reached more people on the same triggers, drove more revenue, and won every automated email Clove tested.

Two separate platforms made reporting harder. Clove had email and texts in different tools, with revenue counted twice. With the programs together, Sanetra said, “It's all in one place, and that makes it much easier to manage.”

“Attentive was able to hit more people, and not like one percent more. It was significant, and it correlated directly to more revenue. That was a big, eye-opening moment.”

— Nick Sanetra, Director of Marketing, Clove

The timeline: Each step earned the next

• September 2021 — A live test. Clove ran cart and browse reminder emails through Attentive against Klaviyo. On the same triggers, Attentive reached more people and drove more revenue.
• November 2021 — Checkout reminders moved. Clove migrated the next flow after the test.
• 2022 — Flows improved. The team made a first round of changes based on results.
• August 2022 — Welcome email moved. This was the final flow to migrate before campaigns.
• September 20, 2022 — The campaign warm-up plan began. The team sent one email a day to small groups, beginning with the most engaged and increasing group size daily. Klaviyo kept running in the background.
• Weeks 1–3 — Groups grew daily. The warm-up finished in weeks, rather than the months Clove had feared.
• October 2022 — Campaigns moved. Every campaign began sending from Attentive. Klaviyo was shelved except for a couple of legacy flows—“off to the races,” in Sanetra's words.
• Throughout — Designs moved in parallel. Attentive mirrored Clove's existing emails, and Clove reviewed them.

“We were concerned it was going to be multiple months for the warm-up period. It ended up being much quicker … looking back, it went faster than I anticipated.”

— Nick Sanetra, Director of Marketing, Clove

Who did the work

A Clove marketing lead owned the project, with the founder as sponsor. Its agency handled day-to-day work in the platform throughout the test, warm-up, and switch. Attentive supplied a warm-up specialist, dedicated success managers, and a design team that copied the emails.

Clove could base each decision on a live test of its own program. Attentive copied its designs, planned a gradual warm-up while Klaviyo remained available, and supported the team through the process. Sanetra called the white-glove support “really what sold us.”

What Clove saw after the move

The following results are for email only:

• +26% email campaign revenue with Attentive's AI audiences.
• +12% cart and browse email revenue with Attentive's AI identity.

“The service has been unmatched. But there's actually really good product as well — the white-glove service is the icing on the cake.”

— Nick Sanetra, Director of Marketing, Clove

Sanetra's advice to a brand weighing a move:

“You have nothing to lose by testing. Attentive has been very gracious and helpful in making it easy to test new capabilities and not feel like you're a guinea pig.”

— Nick Sanetra, Director of Marketing, Clove

Two brands, two ways to move

The shape of the move was different. amika chose one planned build, with a full timeline in hand before the contract. Clove let a live comparison prove each step, then warmed up campaigns with its old platform still running. Both brought their partners in early and knew who owned the work.

• The shape: amika: all at once, one planned build. Clove: step by step, test then move.
• How long: amika: six weeks from contract to live, fully off Klaviyo before Black Friday. Clove: about a year end to end, with a final switch that took weeks.
• Biggest worry: amika: seven years of data and a custom tech stack. Clove: redoing years of email designs.
• How they reduced risk: amika: a full plan before anything moved. Clove: a live test against Klaviyo first.
• Biggest assist: amika: emails rebuilt and the warm-up run for them. Clove: designs copied and a warm-up with a safety net.
• Who did the work: amika: CRM lead, marketing team, Roswell, and Attentive. Clove: marketing lead, founder, agency, and Attentive.
• Read this route if you're thinking: amika: “It'll take forever, and we can't touch email before Q4.” Clove: “We'd have to rebuild everything, and warming takes months.”

The move doesn't have to be the scary part. Both brands began with hesitation, then chose a plan that fit their team and let the work become manageable, week by week.

Read the migration guide

Revisit the stories: amika | Clove