Switching From 6sense: The 90-Day Migration Checklist

The short version

Leaving 6sense is a data and integration project, not a cancellation. The platform has usually been wired into Salesforce or HubSpot fields, Marketo or HubSpot programs, sales views, ad accounts, and reporting for a year or more, and the things that break when it is switched off are the things nobody documented. This checklist works backwards from the renewal date: export everything you own, rebuild audiences in the replacement, decommission CRM fields deliberately, hand off advertising without a dark period, and give yourself 90 days. Every step below is a task you can assign.

The single most important rule: start before you give notice. 6sense contracts typically require 60 to 90 days' notice of non-renewal, and once notice is given, your customer success contact has no incentive to help with exports. Do the export work first.

90-day migration timeline

Step 1: Export everything you own

What you own is your data: account lists, contacts you paid credits for, engagement history on your accounts, and the definitions of the segments and models you built. What you do not own is 6sense's intent model, its third-party intent feeds, or its contact database. Export the first category completely; the second category cannot be exported and should be replaced, not migrated.

Put everything in a single folder with a manifest listing each file, the date exported, the row count, and the person who exported it. This sounds bureaucratic; it prevents the "did we ever export the EMEA segment" conversation in month four.

Step 2: Rebuild audiences in the replacement

Audiences do not migrate; they get rebuilt. The good news is that most 6sense segments are combinations of a static account list, a firmographic filter, and an intent or engagement condition, and every serious replacement supports all three. The intent condition is the part that changes most, because the replacement's intent source will differ from 6sense's.

Rebuild in priority order: the segments that feed live ad campaigns first, then the segments sales uses in CRM views, then reporting segments. Expect the intent-driven segments to differ in size by a wide margin from their 6sense equivalents, because 6sense's buying-stage model and, say, Bombora's topic surge are different measures. Run the overlap report in the parallel window and reset expectations with sales before cutover rather than after.

Keyword mapping deserves its own task. 6sense intent is configured around your keyword list; Bombora, Demandbase, and G2 use topic taxonomies. Map each 6sense keyword to the nearest replacement topic, and accept that some keywords have no equivalent. Our 6sense vs Bombora page explains the difference in signal design.

Step 3: Decommission CRM and MAP fields deliberately

6sense writes a set of fields to accounts, contacts, and leads: buying stage, intent score, profile fit, segment membership, last web visit, and others. Over time these fields get referenced by workflows, lead routing, list views, reports, dashboards, and sometimes by other tools' sync rules. Deleting them on day zero breaks all of that silently.

In Marketo or HubSpot, check smart lists and enrolment triggers separately; a smart list keyed on "6sense buying stage = Decision" will quietly go empty and stop a nurture without an error. In Salesforce, uninstalling the managed package deletes its custom objects, so export first.

Step 4: Hand off advertising without a dark period

6sense's display advertising runs through its own DSP, so there is no ad account to transfer; when the contract ends, the campaigns stop. The handoff is therefore about having the replacement at full delivery before 6sense goes dark, and about capturing what you need for attribution.

One warning on attribution: 6sense's reporting credits view-through influence generously, and pipeline "influenced" numbers will drop when it is turned off regardless of what the replacement does. Brief leadership on the reporting change before the numbers move, not after. Benchmarks for what account-based advertising should deliver are on abmbenchmarks.com.

Step 5: Sales enablement and access

Sales reps who used the 6sense Chrome extension or CRM views need a replacement habit. Schedule enablement for the new tool in the parallel window, not after cutover. On the last day, revoke all 6sense user logins, API keys, and the CRM integration user; a lingering integration user with write access is the most common post-migration surprise. Finally, keep one admin login active until the contract formally ends in case a late export is needed.

Paying for the switch

Migration has a cost: internal time, a possible overlap period, and implementation fees on the replacement. Two things offset it. First, competitor buyout programs: Metadata (our sponsor, disclosed) publishes a 6sense buyout offer, and Demandbase publishes a move-over guide; details on our buyout programs page. Second, the replacement is usually cheaper: our 6sense pricing page puts the reported 6sense range at $60,000 to $200,000+ per year, and most point-solution stacks land well below the top of that. Model the switch as a 12-month TCO, including the overlap month, before deciding.

Frequently asked questions