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Migration guide

How to move from Zoho Campaigns to MailNesto

Export your contacts and designs from Zoho Campaigns, bring them into MailNesto and send your first campaign — usually within a day.

Start freeMailNesto vs Zoho Campaigns
Overview

Moving from Zoho Campaigns to MailNesto

Zoho Campaigns is a natural choice when the rest of the business runs on Zoho, and that doesn’t have to change. MailNesto sends contacts and lead scores to Zoho CRM every few minutes, Zoho CRM workflows can send contacts back, and Zoho ZeptoMail can be your delivery server with its India region. What moves is the email work itself: builder, automations, store-driven journeys, predictions and event ticketing.

Contacts export as CSV, XLS or JSON, all at once or list by list, and Zoho keeps unsubscribed, bounced and invalid contacts in views of their own. Campaign HTML downloads one campaign at a time. Workflows, topics and reports don’t export, so write down your topics and automation logic before you start.

Step by step

Five steps to switch

  1. 1

    Export from Zoho Campaigns

    Contacts > All Contacts > More > Export Contacts (choose list/contact type, fields, .csv or .xls, then Export as). For one list: Contacts > Manage Lists > hover list > More (⋮) > Export Contacts. Requires export privilege.

  2. 2

    Import into MailNesto

    Contacts → Import: upload the CSV or Excel file (or paste it), map the columns, choose a list. Import only subscribed people, then paste unsubscribed, bounced and complained addresses into Audience → Suppression list so they never get email again.

  3. 3

    Bring your designs

    No bulk template export found; copy HTML from the HTML code editor per campaign/template. Then import the .html or .zip in Templates, or start from one of ours.

  4. 4

    Authenticate your domain

    Add the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records MailNesto shows you, then send a test. New senders ramp up gradually to protect your reputation.

  5. 5

    Rebuild automations

    Start from a recipe (welcome, birthday, win-back, abandoned cart) or build your own journey with branches and goals. Note: Merge tags use $[FIELD|Default|Fallback]$ syntax (e.g. $[FNAME|Customer|Guest]$); unsubscribe tag $[LI:UNSUBSCRIBE]$. Workflows, reports and topics do not export.

Before you cancel Zoho Campaigns

A short checklist

Keep Zoho Campaigns running until your first campaigns from MailNesto look right.

  • Export unsubscribed, bounced and complained contacts too — they must stay suppressed
  • Note when and how people subscribed (consent) and keep it in a field
  • Download reports you want to keep; engagement history doesn’t move between tools
  • Replace merge tags — MailNesto uses {{first_name}} with optional fallbacks {{first_name|there}}
  • Update signup forms on your website to MailNesto’s forms or the WordPress plugin
  • Send to your most engaged people first while the new sender warms up
In Zoho Campaigns

Exporting everything from Zoho Campaigns

Menu names change from time to time — the steps below follow Zoho Campaigns’s own help pages, linked at the bottom.

  1. 1

    Check your export privilege. Exporting needs the export privilege for the Contacts module. If the option is missing, ask your Zoho Campaigns admin.

  2. 2

    Export all contacts. Contacts → All Contacts → More → Export Contacts. Choose the mailing list or contact type, select fields, name the file and pick a format, then click Export as. Zoho can password-protect the file; the default password is the first four characters of your registered email plus the last four digits of your Zoho user ID.

  3. 3

    Export one list at a time. Contacts → Manage Lists, hover over a list, click the More (⋮) icon and choose Export Contacts. One file per list keeps membership simple to rebuild.

  4. 4

    Export unsubscribed and bounced contacts. Pick them as the contact type in Export Contacts, or select them in their view and use More Actions → Export. Paste them into MailNesto’s suppression list with the reason “Imported” or “Bounced”.

  5. 5

    Catch contacts outside any list. In Export Contacts, choose “Contacts not yet associated to any list” to find people who would otherwise be missed.

  6. 6

    Download campaign HTML. Campaigns → Email Campaigns, open a campaign, then More → Download HTML. Zoho notifies you when the file is ready.

Translation guide

Zoho Campaigns terms and merge tags in MailNesto

In Zoho CampaignsIn MailNestoNotes
Mailing listsLists
TopicsLists shown as topics in the preference centre
SegmentsSegments
$[FNAME]${{first_name}}
$[FNAME|Jin]${{first_name|Jin}}Same idea, different brackets: the fallback follows a pipe.
$[UD:FIELDNAME]${{field_key}}
$[LI:UNSUBSCRIBE]${{unsubscribe_url}}
Contact scoringLead scoringThe score syncs to Zoho CRM with the contact.
Zoho CRM syncZoho CRM syncContacts and lead score sent every few minutes; CRM workflows can send contacts back.
Content approvalCampaign approvalMarketers request, owners approve.
Automations

Rebuilding your Zoho Campaigns automations

  • Signup workflow → Welcome series, starting when someone joins the list.
  • Date-based workflow → Birthday treat, or Renewal reminder seven days before a renewal_date field.
  • Follow-up on a campaign → Follow up on interest for people who click a pricing or product link; for a one-off nudge, use Resend to non-openers on the campaign itself.
  • Lead nurturing with Zoho CRM → Lead nurture series, then Hand over sales-ready leads at 80 points, with the score visible in Zoho CRM.
Watch out for

Common mistakes when leaving Zoho Campaigns

  • Zoho merge tags can carry a second “social” default, like $[CRM:CONTACTOWNER | Patricia Boyle | Patricia]$. MailNesto has one fallback per tag, so keep the first value.
  • If Zoho CRM currently syncs contacts into Zoho Campaigns, switch that sync off before connecting MailNesto’s Zoho CRM sync, so contacts aren’t updated from two places.
  • A password-protected export won’t open in MailNesto’s importer. Untick protection when exporting, or open the file and save an unprotected copy first.
  • Choose .csv in Zoho’s export rather than .xls: MailNesto reads CSV and .xlsx, not the older .xls format.
  • Topics don’t export. Note which contacts belong to which topic and recreate each topic as a list shown in the preference centre, or as a tag.
FAQ

Questions about moving from Zoho Campaigns

Can I keep Zoho ZeptoMail for sending?

Yes. Add it as a delivery server with a Send Mail token and choose India (smtp.zeptomail.in) or Global. Bounces need a small step in Make, n8n or your own code to reach MailNesto’s generic webhook, because ZeptoMail’s own format isn’t read directly.

Do I need to stop using Zoho CRM?

No. Connect its API under the Zoho CRM integration and contacts with their lead scores flow there automatically, while Zoho CRM workflows can add contacts to MailNesto.

Is billing in rupees?

Yes. Plans are priced in ₹ with GST invoices and can be paid by UPI, card or netbanking. See the pricing page for current plans.

Can I compare campaigns as I did in Zoho?

Yes. Campaign comparison puts two to four campaigns side by side for open rate, click rate and revenue.

Where these facts come from (25 sources)

Zoho Campaigns is a trademark of its owner. This comparison is our own, made from public information on each vendor’s website (checked November 2026); we aren’t affiliated with them. Plans and prices change — check the vendor’s site before you decide, and tell us if something here is out of date and we’ll fix it.