Import Contacts with a CSV File
It's super easy to import your existing subscriber list into Campaign Refinery.
First and foremost, it's essential to know that we assume you are working with a CSV (Comma Separated Values) to import your subscribers, as this is the most common way that data is formatted when exporting from other subscriber-based marketing applications.
Learn more about Importing Subscribers-Preparing your CSV file in this article.
Please Note:
Credits are charged when a contact is first imported and cleaned.
Re-importing existing contacts does not consume credits or trigger cleaning.
All contacts are automatically re-cleaned every 90 days, which will charge credits.
Let's start!
Go to Contacts>Import Contacts at the left-side panel menu and choose your file to upload, or drag your file over the 'choose file' button. Then click 'continue'.
📝 Note: Each row in your CSV must include an email address, or the row will be skipped.
If no email address is included in your CSV the import will fail.
On the next screen, you'll see a preview of your CSV data where you can map fields to import or ignore. Please make sure that you map at least the rows that contains emails with the 'Email Address' column.
When importing a CSV file, the system will automatically detect any contacts that already exist in your account and prompt you with options for how to handle them.
You'll see a dropdown menu with two choices:
- Do not re-import existing contacts - This option skips any contacts that are already in your system. Only new contacts from your CSV file will be imported and cleaned. This is useful when you want to add only new contacts without modifying existing records.
- Update existing contacts with imported data - This option updates your existing contacts with any new information from the CSV file. The system will overwrite existing data with the values from your import file while keeping the original contact record intact.
If you have headers, be sure to tick the 'Ignore first row with headers' box.
This will keep the system from trying to import a 'contact' with the first row that is just used for labeling.
You will not be charged cleaning credits for contacts already cleaned and in your account.
- Next, continue mapping your data. First, select the column where the data doesn't match any of the field names. Click on the '+' to create a new field name.
- "Select Field Group" that's already there to categorize the custom field names or create a new field group. Then create the new field name you would like to add.
After choosing the data type for your custom field, click 'Add field'
📝Learn more about Adding Custom Fields in the Contact Tab in this article.
Refresh your browser and check that the field you created is added.
- Continue to select which columns you want to import by clicking on the drop-down menu and choosing a field name. You can select from existing field names. For columns that you do not like to be imported, leave them as 'Do Not Import'.
Note that -Add as Tag- is one of the default field names.
- This means you can import a CSV file with a column of tags, and you just need to map or identify them by choosing the -Add as Tag- field name. If you have multiple tags, ensure only one tag is in a column at a time.
If you have a string of tags separated by commas, use this Excel function to split them up into their columns before starting the import process.
Click 'Continue'. You will be directed to the next page to add tags.
Assign tags, to all imported contacts. You can also manually add new/apply existing tags to your imports. If a tag is created during import and is found on other contacts in the CSV file, it will correctly apply that newly created tag without duplicating it.
💡 Pro Tip: Tag contacts during import to easily target that audience later.
Tags can be used for future reference or to trigger automations.
Note that contacts must be validated before tags are applied, and any automations or emails will only execute after the cleaning process is complete.
📝Note that it may take some time to run the import based on the raw number of contacts, and the cleaning process.
Once you've clicked "Start Importing", you will be directed to the Import Contacts>Import Progress Page. If you were not redirected click on the Import Progress button at the upper right to see the progress of the most recent import/s.
When the import is in progress, the 'Status' column will display 'importing' and the 'Completed' column will display 'incomplete' (see screenshot below).
Once the import and cleaning process is complete, the 'Last Message' column will display 'Contacts imported successfully' along with the import details (see screenshot below).
And an email notification will be sent to your account's email address when the import and cleaning is finished.
