It’s crunch time! Here’s what you MUST do before Outbound is removed
If you’re a marketer using Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys, you’re no doubt aware that Microsoft is removing the Outbound marketing module on June 30th, 2025. With just over a week to prepare, we’re here with some tips to help anyone who hasn’t started preparing for the transition yet. Remember, your transition must be completed before June 30th to prevent any disruptions to your marketing activities. If you’re reading this now, you’re probably in a hurry to prepare for the transition, so let’s dive right in!
Need help moving?
If you don’t have sufficient time to prepare before the cutover date, we can help with a fast transition. But the clock is really ticking, so be sure to reach out to us as soon as possible if you need assistance! We’re also available for Real-time training, so if you aren’t quite ready to start using Real-time yet, let us know. We’d love to catch you up!
Import emails, templates, & content blocks
Importing emails, templates, and content blocks should be your first priority so you don’t lose all your previously created content. Simply select which emails you’d like to import and use the import emails feature. Note that these emails will be in draft form once imported to Real-time, and the titles will include [Outbound]. The system will create a new view called “imported from Outbound marketing,” so you can easily refer to the list of imported emails in the Real-time module.
Be sure to check your imported emails and resolve any issues that arise from their transition. Check for the following common issues:
Discrepancies in content display
Necessary adjustments for conditional/dynamic content
Adjustments required in brand profiles
Configure the compliance profile & load consent records
Marketing consent works differently in Real-time than Outbound, so you want to carefully consider and configure consent and compliance settings, which depend on your business and local data privacy laws. To configure your compliance profile, follow the steps below:
Add your business address
Set your consent link type
Note that “Subscription Center” will use a real-time marketing form similar to the current setup in Outbound
The “Preference Page” will create a page with customizable information and a default style
Configure your consent purposes and create any additional topics
After configuring your compliance profile, load consent records into the consent center using the “Load Consent” command bar button to generate consent records from existing contracts and leads.
Note that you can change your compliance configuration at any point, but that would mean your consent records may be inaccurate. Therefore, it’s ideal to get your compliance configuration correct at jump, so prioritize getting this right.
Rebuild key segments
Though Outbound segments are available to use in Real-time and will still be available after the Outbound area is removed, Microsoft recommends rebuilding them so you can benefit from their increased performance and shorter refresh cycle. Plus, Real-time journeys can only use one Outbound segment, so if you need to use more than one for any journeys, they must be built in Real-time.
To prepare for your move, identify which segments you will need to use for upcoming journeys and recreate them using the new segment builder.
Rebuild any ongoing or upcoming journeys
Some features are inherently different in Real-time from their Outbound counterparts. Consequently, the following will need to be created from scratch in the Real-time module: journeys, forms, events, and scoring models. Let’s start with journeys.
Moving to Real-time is the ideal time to consider the efficacy of triggers over segments, improvements that can be made with new Real-time features, and use cases for additional journey settings, like exit conditions.
But if you’re in a rush, creating those journeys that will need to start in the next month as close to identical as their Outbound counterparts is probably the way to go—you can work on optimizing future segments after the cutover date. You won’t be able to access Outbound journeys for reference after the cutover date, so take that into account.
Create Real-time forms and replace Outbound forms everywhere
Marketing pages do not exist in Real-time, so forms are hosted independently or embedded. Before your Outbound forms are no longer available, you’ll want to identify those you want to continue using.
To avoid interruptions to form submissions, recreate these forms in the Real-time form designer before the cutover date. Then:
If you have any forms embedded on external websites, be sure to copy the new embed script and update those accordingly.
If you’re using form captures, create the form in Real-time with fields that need to be captured. Use the form capture “Publish” option to get the embed script and provide it to your developer so they can update the associated webpage.
But don’t stop here! Run test submissions to ensure that data flows into the app properly once you’ve updated your forms in all locations and variations.
Create lead scoring models
Fortunately, the building process for scoring models is simpler in Real-time. So, although you don’t need to set aside a ton of time to recreate these, make sure you do it before the cutover date so that your lead scoring is not interrupted.
Though we would suggest a revamp of scoring models considering how Real-time changes can improve your approach (and considering that real-time will eventually include a more expansive scoring ability not limited to leads alone), but save that for later if you’re in a real crunch and just get them rebuilt as identically as possible.
Check in on your events
Hopefully, you have already begun using the “Real-time journeys” option when creating new events that will take place on or after the June 30th cutover—you’d have gotten a warning notifications if you tried to set up an event in Outbound if it began or ended after the cutover. Because the marketing portal is being depreciated with the removal of Outbound marketing, registration must end before June 30th. The event records will be available even after this date, but the actual registration portal will not be, so no Outbound event registration can take place after the cutover.
For all your events, make sure that you transition communication—like reminder emails and follow-up outreach—to Real-time journeys and segments, or else you risk not connecting with registrants properly.
Proactively preparing for this transition is crucial to prevent disruptions in your marketing practices. The Real-time module is truly an upgrade from Outbound marketing, and we recommend preparing for the transition and using the Real-time module as soon as possible so your marketing team isn’t left feeling unprepared when the transition occurs.
Visit our downloadable resource page to view a printable checklist of tasks to complete for this transition. For more in-depth information about the upcoming transition, we encourage you to review Microsoft’s Transition Overview and FAQ page on the cutover to Real-time journeys.
Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need further assistance preparing for Real-time journeys. We’d be happy to help!