Instantly to lemlist Migration: 7 Steps to Switch Safely

Why teams outgrow Instantly and start looking at lemlist

Most teams that start evaluating a migration have already run into the same wall: Instantly has no LinkedIn capability whatsoever, so there’s no way to add connection requests, profile visits, or direct messages to your sequences. Your entire outbound motion runs through one channel, and when reply rates plateau, you have nowhere else to go.

lemlist gives you multichannel outreach across email, LinkedIn, calls, WhatsApp, and SMS, plus a built-in 600M+ lead database, all in one platform. That means you can run a single campaign that starts with email, follows up on LinkedIn, and triggers a call task if a lead clicks. You don’t need separate tools for each channel.

Here’s where the two platforms differ at a glance:

This guide walks through the exact 7-step migration path from Instantly to lemlist, plus the risks that quietly kill sender reputation during the switch.

What you can (and can’t) export from Instantly

Before moving anything, you want a clear picture of what transfers cleanly and what you’ll rebuild from scratch.

Leads, variables, and contact data

In Instantly, you can export leads from the CRM by going to CRM → All Leads, selecting all, and clicking “Row actions” → “Download selected.” The resulting CSV includes email, name, company, custom variables, and lead status. These fields map well to lemlist’s import structure.

lemlist’s CSV import requires Row 1 to contain column names (email, firstName, companyName, etc.) with lead data starting in Row 2 (see lemlist’s CSV import guide). If your Instantly export uses different column headers, rename them before importing. During the import step, you assign each CSV column to the correct lemlist variable type, which is what makes fields like {{email}} and {{linkedinUrl}} work in your campaign steps. lemlist’s guide to choosing the right CSV import type walks through each option.

Campaign analytics and activity logs

Open/click/reply history won’t migrate as live data. You can download campaign analytics from Instantly’s Analytics tab as a snapshot, but these are reference files, not something lemlist ingests. The critical exports are your bounce list and unsubscribe list. Lose those, and you’ll re-contact people who already opted out.

Sequences and templates

Instantly sequences don’t export as ready-to-use files. Email copy can be moved manually (copy-paste), but sequence logic like delays, conditions, and A/B variants will be rebuilt in lemlist’s campaign builder. This is actually a good moment to upgrade: instead of recreating email-only flows, you can add LinkedIn steps, call tasks, or SMS follow-ups.

7 steps to migrate from Instantly to lemlist without losing deliverability

This is the process that protects your sender reputation throughout the switch.

1. Audit your Instantly workspace and freeze active campaigns

Pause every running campaign before you begin. Document which campaigns are active, which leads sit mid-sequence, and which domains and mailboxes are in use. If you skip this step, you risk double-sending to the same prospects from both platforms during the transition.

2. Export and clean your lead data

Export all lead lists from Instantly as CSV. Before importing into lemlist, clean the data:

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  Hard bounces: Remove any email that previously bounced. Importing bounced addresses into a new platform is one of the fastest ways to damage a fresh sending setup.

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  Unsubscribes and opt-outs: Carry these over as suppression lists. They are not active leads.

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  Duplicate contacts: Merge or remove duplicates so no one receives the same outreach twice.

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  Stale contacts: Strip out leads who haven’t engaged in 6+ months. Old addresses decay, and invalid ones spike your bounce rate.

Import your suppression list first, before anything else. This is the step most often missed, and it’s the one that ruins a warmup in a single send.

3. Set up sending domains and DNS in lemlist

lemlist lets you connect existing domains or purchase new sending domains directly in-app. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication is configured automatically during setup. If you’re reusing the same domains you had in Instantly, update the DNS records to point to lemlist’s infrastructure and verify them in the deliverability setup before you send anything.

If SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records are not correctly configured on the new platform before sending begins, mailbox providers may reject or filter your messages outright.

4. Warm your new inboxes with lemwarm

Mailbox providers rely on historical data to make filtering decisions. A domain with no sending history is an unknown quantity, and unknown senders are treated with suspicion by default. Even if your domain was previously warmed in Instantly, switching platforms resets the sending pattern that providers track.

lemwarm is included with every lemlist seat and starts automatically once your inbox is connected. It exchanges real emails with real inboxes at a controlled pace to build sender reputation. Most senders complete warmup in about one month: 2–3 weeks of ramp-up, then 2 weeks of stabilization. Don’t skip this step, even for domains with history.

5. Import leads and rebuild sequences as multichannel campaigns

Upload your cleaned CSVs into lemlist. If your CSV has multiple email or LinkedIn columns, assign the exact column you want lemlist to use as the default (lemlist’s guide to CSV import types shows how). Then rebuild your sequences in the campaign builder.

This is where migration pays off. Instead of replicating email-only flows, you can add LinkedIn connection requests, call tasks, SMS follow-ups, or WhatsApp steps into a single campaign. lemAgent (lemlist’s AI assistant) can generate a full multichannel sequence from a single prompt if you’d rather not start from a blank page.

6. Run a controlled test campaign before full cutover

Send to a small segment first. Use lemlist’s Deliverability Boost to pre-check content and inbox placement before the campaign goes live. This surfaces risky content, technical misconfigurations, and placement signals so you can fix issues before they affect your real audience.

7. Monitor deliverability and scale volume gradually

Use lemlist’s Monitoring & Alerts dashboard to track bounce trends, inbox vs. spam ratios, and warmup health per mailbox. Increase daily sending volume slowly over the first two weeks. Automated alerts will flag bounce rate spikes or reputation drops before they show up in reply rates.

5 migration risks that tank reply rates (and how to prevent each one)

Deliverability problems after a platform switch are predictable, and almost always traceable to mistakes made before the first send went out. Here are the ones we see most often.

Skipping warmup on new sending infrastructure

Sending at full volume on day one from a fresh or re-pointed domain triggers spam filters. When you switch to a new ESP or introduce a new sending identity, it’s common to experience an initial dip in deliverability metrics, such as lower open rates, click-through rates, or higher bounce rates. The fix is to warm every inbox before launching campaigns.

Losing suppression lists and bounce history

If you don’t bring over your bounce and unsubscribe lists, you’ll re-contact people whose addresses are invalid or who already opted out. This spikes bounce rates and gets domains flagged by inbox providers. Export these lists from Instantly first, import them into lemlist as suppressions, and verify that they’re excluded before any campaign launches.

Breaking DNS authentication during the switch

Changing platforms means updating DNS records. If SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records are misconfigured or left pointing at Instantly’s infrastructure, emails fail authentication and land in spam. Verify your DNS configuration in lemlist’s deliverability setup after connecting each domain.

Migrating dirty data into a clean system

Importing unverified or outdated contacts cancels out the benefits of a new platform. Run email verification on all imported lists using lemlist’s Email Finder & Verifier (which checks against 14+ providers) before any sends go out. You only pay for verified, usable emails.

Running both platforms without coordination

Some teams run Instantly and lemlist in parallel during migration. Without coordination, the same prospect gets emails from both systems in the same week. This confuses leads and damages sender reputation. Define a clear cutover plan: assign non-overlapping lead segments to each platform, and keep the overlap period as short as possible (one to two weeks max).

What you gain after switching from email-only to multichannel

The migration itself is a logistics problem. The real payoff is what changes about your outbound after the switch.

LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp from one workflow

lemlist runs automated sequences across all five channels from a single campaign. You get email, LinkedIn, calls, WhatsApp, and SMS in one sequence. Replies from every channel appear in the unified inbox, so your team isn’t bouncing between tabs to manage conversations.

AI-driven personalization and intent signals

lemlist’s Intent Signal Agents track events like hiring changes, funding rounds, and website visits. When a signal is detected, matching leads are automatically added to campaigns with messaging personalized to that moment. AI Agentic Enrichment pulls context from LinkedIn, websites, CRM data, and past call recordings to tailor every message.

Deliverability diagnostics you can act on

Instead of just seeing a warmup score, lemlist’s Deliverability Hub gives you inbox placement testing across Gmail, Microsoft, and other providers. You see whether emails land in primary, promotions, or spam before campaigns go live. Per-mailbox health monitoring, automated alerts, and actionable recommendations replace guesswork with data.

Your first 14 days in lemlist after migrating

Here’s a practical timeline for the transition:

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  Days 1–3: Connect domains, configure DNS (auto-authenticated), start lemwarm on all inboxes

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  Days 3–5: Import cleaned lead lists, map variables, set up CRM sync with HubSpot or Salesforce

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  Days 5–7: Rebuild your top-performing Instantly sequences as multichannel campaigns. Use lemAgent to generate drafts from a prompt.

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  Days 7–10: Launch test campaigns to small segments. Check inbox placement with Deliverability Boost. Review results in Monitoring & Alerts.

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  Days 10–14: Scale volume gradually. Add LinkedIn, call, or SMS steps to campaigns that perform well. Explore Intent Signals to trigger outreach based on real-time buying events.

lemlist’s in-app chat support is available throughout setup, and the dashboard walks you through each step.

Over to you

Switching from Instantly to lemlist follows a clear path: audit and freeze your Instantly workspace, export and clean your data (suppression lists first), set up domains and DNS, warm your inboxes with lemwarm, rebuild sequences as multichannel campaigns, test with a small segment, and scale gradually while monitoring deliverability.

The five risks that silently break migrations (skipping warmup, losing suppression lists, misconfiguring DNS, importing dirty data, running both platforms uncoordinated) are all preventable when you follow the steps above.