• DE&I Commitment
  • Careers
  • Locations
  • Book a Meeting
    Book a Meeting
  • Company
    Learn a little more about us, our values, and our team
    Our Values
    We don't just talk the talk; we live by our core values
    About Us
    Empowering brands to realize their potential with data, insights, and technology
    Leadership
    Meet our leadership team
    Secure Data Architecture
    Our promise of data security and privacy. We keep your data safe from publishers, competitors and bad actors
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    We are committed to making a positive impact on our communities and our planet
  • Platform
    Plan, manage, optimize, and measure your campaigns with our omnichannel platform
    Our Platform
    A platform that connects all walled garden media
    Connected Media
    Create and manage campaigns across search, social, retail media and apps, in one platform
    Connected Data
    Make data-driven decisions as you plan and strategize
    See the industries we serve
    Learn how our customizable solutions can help with your unique needs
    Explore our partner integrations
    See the media, retailer, and data partners we work with
  • Clients
  • News and Events
    Check out recent announcements and see what we’re up to
    News
    Check out our recent media coverage
    Events
    Join us for our next conference or webinar
    Omnichannel platform launch
    Read the press release to see how we're helping marketers win the walled gardens
    Let's talk omni at Shoptalk!
    Learn how our omnichannel platform can help you build a winning strategy
  • Resources
    From new releases, to industry trends and best practices, Skai has you covered
    Blog
    Read the latest insights and thought leadership from our industry experts
    Capabilities
    Take your campaigns to the next level by enhancing your platform capabilities
    Research
    Explore our reports and whitepapers so you can keep up on the latest industry trends
    Subscribe
    Sign up to get the latest updates straight to your inbox
    Quarterly Trends Report
    Learn digital advertising campaign performance trends from Q4 2022
Back to Blog

To Pause or Push Ahead: Onboarding a New Technology Partner During a Crisis

Joshua Dreller, Sr. Director, Content Marketing @ Skai™

April  16, 2020

Technology has always been a big part of online marketing, and there’s not ever really a perfect time to swap out tools when you need an upgrade. During a crisis, one may ask if they should pause or push ahead with onboarding a new technology partner.

onboardingA constant stream of new tools in marketing

According to a Garner CMO survey report, Martech is one of the major categories of expenses that marketers invest, with 26% of their budgets dedicated to this category in 2019. 

onboarding

Part of the reality of relying so much on technology means that sometimes we have to upgrade to a new system. Based on the data, the majority of us are adding new tools either once a year (27%) or every 6 months (26%). However, some of us are adding new tools every month (13%) or even every week (9%)

onboarding

To wait or not to wait when in a crisis

Even if the marketing team feels incredibly confident about the value that bringing in a new tool will have on the organization, migrating to a new platform can be a bit painful. Making sure there isn’t much disruption in the day-to-day operations requires a very well-planned and structured plan—generally in phases.  

In the face of the global pandemic, there may be some hesitation to continue with a planned onboarding or new migration. However, the decision for marketers to wait or not to wait is if the positives outweigh the negatives.

For businesses that are marketing through the crisis, the issue with waiting is that there’s no real certainty how long this time will last. Yes, the migration might take a little time to complete, but an upgrade right now might be exactly what is needed to stay competitive and nimble to adapt to market fluctuations. And post-COVID, having the team more adroit and proficient in the new platform will certainly be beneficial. 

For non-essential businesses who have slowed down their marketing programs, now may be the best time to change over. With less spending, there’s less risk to the marketing investment and the team will be trained and ready to go when the business starts moving again. For these companies, hitting the ground running will be incredibly important when the time comes. 

Certainly, if there is a true business reason for not going through with a technology migration, then that should be considered. However, if it’s because there’s a blanket policy to “keep things simple right now”, that might not necessarily be what’s best in the long term. 

To alleviate the pain of this process, reduce errors, and ensure a smooth transition, the Skai Technical Services team has become experts in leading new clients through a full-service onboarding experience. It starts with a dedicated onboarding manager whose focus is to understand the current program, map goals, handles all data needs, and develop a custom migration plan with minimal requirements from the client’s team.

We spoke with a member of the onboarding team to learn more about Skai’s approach.

Five questions with Stephanie Herndon-Rasse, Skai’s Senior Director, Technical Services about the onboarding process

Tell us a little about the onboarding team at Skai – who are you and what keeps you busy? 

Herndon-Rasse: The onboarding team at Skai is dedicated to onboarding new
customers onto the platform—this is all the team is responsible for day-in and day-out. Onboarding Managers at Skai are not only Skai experts but are cross-publisher experts too. 

Believe me when I say they’ve seen it all and know how to handle it! The industry moves quickly and so do we. Our onboarding team specializes in incorporating our customer’s marketing goals and technology needs in Skai in order to achieve success. 

Post-migration, does the onboarding team ever continue to get involved with clients? 

Herndon-Rasse: No, onboarding focuses exclusively on the initial setup phase. Once a new customer is live, our team of Technical Account Managers (TAMs) takes over as long-term technical specialists. Similar to the onboarding experience every customer has a dedicated TAM responsible for keeping up with industry updates, publisher requirements, tracking changes, and any third-party or customer-driven technology enhancements. 

Even when there isn’t a global crisis, why do marketers often worry about migrating from one tech partner to another? 

Herndon-Rasse: I’ve heard it all: it takes too long, it sounds complicated, I’m afraid of disrupting my program, I’ll lose my historical data, my team is too busy to deal with starting over, and simply “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I get it, these are all valid concerns. 

Our onboarding process is built for a seamless transition, and I like to compare it to flipping a switch. We start by building a customized onboarding plan based on your technology and timeline needs. We set up everything in Skai for you so when you first log in, you’ll have a fully migrated and operational program with access to your publisher accounts, all historical data, and any required integrations in place. 

We often even find and fix issues that have gone unnoticed.

Are you finding that fewer clients want to commit to migrating their programs in these challenging times? 

Herndon-Rasse: We’re actually busier than ever. We have a few large retailers we just onboarded that are taking advantage of our strong cross-product offerings around eCommerce and Search. Retailers are aggressively moving all marketing efforts online right now, and need the freedom and flexibility to make program changes at a moment’s notice. 

Globally, we’re also seeing an increase in our existing customers leveraging onboarding to add Social to their product mix. These customers are getting their brands in front of a captive at-home audience and planning campaigns to be ready for the post-COVID rush. 

For someone considering a migration who may still be unsure, what advice would you give them?

Herndon-Rasse: If you’re still struggling with the decision on moving to a platform like Skai I’d say talk to me. I’d be happy to join the conversation and discuss particular concerns. I look forward to working with you! 

Would you like to see what Skai has to offer you?

Schedule a free, brief demo to see the innovative features of Skai’s suite of marketing platforms:

  • Skai Search. Achieve next-level performance with the award-winning, industry leader in SEM
  • Skai Social. Engage social customers while achieving your branding and performance goals
  • Skai Ecommerce. Create, manage, forecast and optimize Amazon & Walmart ad campaigns at scale
  • Skai Apps. The all-in-one, complete solution for app marketers to drive installs & increase engagement
  • Skai Local. Manage multi-location local search and social campaigns in one unified platform
  • Impact Navigator. Rapidly measures marketing impact, anytime, for any channel, across all of your audience segments

Book a Meeting of Skai

Related Posts

  • How Skai Takes the Growing Pains Out of the Client Onboarding Process
    Read More
  • The Annual Skai Hackathon Fosters Team-Building and Innovation
    Read More
  • What’s Going to Happen with Multi-Touch Attribution in a Cookieless World?
    Read More
  • [WATCH] Reinvent Your Marketing Strategy for the Next Normal
    Read More
  • One smartphone displaying ads for Cottonelle Fresh Care wipes in the search bar on Google, with buy on Amazon at the bottom of the search result; the second smartphone displaying the same product on Amazon to purchase.
    Amazon Attribution is the Key to Using Search & Social to Supercharge Amazon Sales
    Read More
  • Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – April 2021
    Read More
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
  • Copy Link
    Copied!
Tags: Apps, Data & Insights, Local, Plan, Social, xKPx

Subscribe to Updates

Media that matters.
Marketing that works.
© 2023 Kenshoo, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Recruitment Privacy Policy.
  • Connected Data
    • Market Intelligence
    • Our Approach
    • By Need
    • By Solution
  • Connected Strategy
    • Dynamic Marketing Mix
    • Budget Forecasting
    • Strategic Consulting
  • Connected Media
    • Overview
    • Retail Media
    • Paid Search
    • Paid Social
    • App Marketing
    • Auditing
    • Expert Services
  • Measurement
    • Incrementality
    • Experiments
    • Cross-Channel Attribution
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Case Studies
    • Training & Enablement
    • Developer Hub
Privacy Preference

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

Privacy Preference

Save All

Save

Accept Only Essential Cookies

Manage Cookie Preferences

Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

Privacy Preference

Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

Save All Save Accept Only Essential Cookies

Back

Privacy Preference

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Name
Provider Owner of this website, Imprint
Purpose Saves the visitors preferences selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
Host(s) .skai.io, skai.io
Cookie Name borlabs-cookie
Cookie Expiry 1 Year
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Purpose This cookie stores selections made by the user in the Accessibe tool in order to maintain those settings on future visits. These cookies help us make our website compliant with our obligations under US law.
Privacy Policy https://accessibe.com/privacy-policy
Cookie Name acsbState, acsbReset
Cookie Expiry n/a
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name wordpress_sec_,wordpress_test_cookie,wp-postpass_*, wordpresspass_*, wordpressuser_*
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

We use these cookies to enhance functionality and allow for personalisation, such as live chats, videos and the use of social media.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .chilipiper.com, skai.chilipiper.com
Cookie Name fs_uid, CHILI_PIPER_CLUSTER, guest-session, _sp_ses*, _sp_id*
Cookie Expiry Session / 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .comeet.co, www.comeet.co
Cookie Name visid_incap_, nlbi_#######, incap_ses_, referrer22_00a, incap_ses_1364_2167377
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name moduleFormPardotDownload
Cookie Expiry 30 days

Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for website analytics. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name _ga,_ga_*,_gat,_gat_*,_gid
Cookie Expiry 2 Months
Accept
Name
Provider Hotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, 5th Floor, Dragonara Road, Paceville St Julian's STJ 3141 Malta
Purpose Hotjar is an user behavior analytic tool by Hotjar Ltd.. We use Hotjar to understand how users interact with our website.
Privacy Policy https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
Host(s) *.hotjar.com
Cookie Name _hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls, _hjDoneTestersWidgets, _hjIncludedInSample, _hjShownFeedbackMessage, _hjid, _hjRecordingLastActivity, hjTLDTest, _hjUserAttributesHash, _hjCachedUserAttributes, _hjLocalStorageTest, _hjptid, _hjSessionUser_2229986, _hjIncludedInPageviewSample, _hjIncludedInSessionSample, _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress, _hjFirstSeen
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Marketing cookies are used by third-party advertisers or publishers to display personalized ads. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Linkedin
Cookie Name lidc, li_gc, lang, AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie, TDCPM, TDID, bscookie, ln_or
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Skai
Accept
Name
Provider 6sense
Cookie Name _gd_session, _an_uid, _gd_visitor, _gd_svisitor, 6suuid
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Pardot
Purpose Cookie name associated with services from marketing automation and lead generation platform Pardot. The visitor value is the visitor_id in your Pardot account. This cookie is set for visitors by the Pardot tracking code.
Host(s) .pardot.com, pi.pardot.com, skai.io
Cookie Name pardot, visitor_id*, lpv*
Cookie Expiry Session / 10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for conversion tracking of Google Ads.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name IDE, 1P_JAR, NID, SOCS, CONSENT, AEC, _gcl_au, OTZ, test_cookie
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Facebook used for website analytics, ad targeting, and ad measurement.
Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies
Cookie Name _fbp,act,c_user,datr,fr,tr,m_pixel_ration,pl,presence,sb,spin,wd,xs
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Wistia
Host(s) .wistia.com
Cookie Name cb_anonymous_id, _sp_ses.2b40, _li_dcdm_c, __hssrc, _gcl_au, _clsk, hubspotutk, _sp_id.2b40, __hssc, __hstc, _uetsid, _uetvid, _gid, _ga, _ga_GQR109DZ3Y, _lc2, fpi, _ex-pricing-cta, _fbp, cb_group_id, cb_user_id, _clck
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Instagram content.
Privacy Policy https://www.instagram.com/legal/privacy/
Host(s) .instagram.com
Cookie Name pigeon_state
Cookie Expiry Session
Accept
Name
Provider Openstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Purpose Used to unblock OpenStreetMap content.
Privacy Policy https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
Host(s) .openstreetmap.org
Cookie Name _osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
Cookie Expiry 1-10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Twitter content.
Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
Host(s) .twimg.com, .twitter.com
Cookie Name __widgetsettings, local_storage_support_test
Cookie Expiry Unlimited
Accept
Name
Provider Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
Purpose Used to unblock Vimeo content.
Privacy Policy https://vimeo.com/privacy
Host(s) player.vimeo.com
Cookie Name vuid
Cookie Expiry 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock YouTube content.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en
Host(s) google.com
Cookie Name CONSENT
Cookie Expiry 6 Month

Borlabs Cookie powered by Borlabs Cookie

Privacy Policy Imprint