The article outlines:
- the process of importing contacts into your account
- explains the importance of compliance and consent
- it explains how to format your file for uploading a file of contacts to send a SMS to
- the article details the steps for importing contacts in bulk, including selecting contact groups, matching data fields, and handling additional information through custom fields
- it also notes that re-importing contacts does not count as resubscribing, and the hub retains the last subscription preference for compliance reasons
The Import Contacts feature allows you to easily and efficiently upload multiple contacts from an external source such as a customer database.
Another popular method for building a robust list of clients, leads, and customers, is by setting up keyword-based opt-in automations to add individual contacts to pre-created contact lists.
Important - Compliance and consent are extremely important when adding contacts. If you ever have any doubts, reach out to our customer support team via live chat by clicking the profile icon at the bottom left of your screen and selecting Chat with Support, or you can raise a ticket via the Contact Support | submit a request link at the very top of this page. The Hub retains the last subscription preference for all contacts, including deleted contacts. This policy is in place to respect the preferences of the contact and to ensure compliance with communication regulations. Should you need to revert their status to 'subscribed', it must be done manually - this article can show you how. Please note - re-importing contacts does not qualify as a 'Resubscribe' action. |
Step 1 | Preparing Contact Data
Before you import any contacts into the Hub, you'll need to prepare your contact data first:
- You'll need to ensure your contact list is saved as a .csv, .xls or .xlsx file - the optimal file format is CSV UTF-8, Comma delimited.
- If you don't add the international prefix to your contact numbers, the Hub will assume you're importing numbers local to your preset location in your account settings, and will validate accordingly.
- If you want to import phone numbers from a country different from that of your account, please include the corresponding international prefix.
- With local numbers, you don't need to add the leading zero to the number to successfully import - for example, if your spreadsheet cells are formatted as "numbers" then a phone number may appear as "412345678" as opposed to "0412345678", both formats will be accepted for import.
- You can include additional data to your contact list which can then be mapped to the custom fields of each contact profile.
Step 2 | Importing Contacts in Bulk
1. In the menu, click on Contacts, then select either All Contacts or Lists as the import contacts option appears in both.
2. Click on the Import button at the top left of the page:
3. Upload your data file to the Hub using either the Browse function or Drag & Drop your file straight into the upload window:
A) You can select which pre-existing groups to which you would like all contacts imported in the bottom field under Add to lists (optional).
B) You also have the option of unsubscribing all of the contacts in the upload - for example, if you're bulk uploading blacklists from other systems.
4. Match the columns in your data file to the various fields in the contact profile:
- The system will attempt to auto-detect the mobile phone and WhatsApp numbers from your spreadsheet; however, if the data that is pulled into the #phone# or #whatsapp# field is incorrect, you can change it to the correct column.
- After you have selected a column to match to a field you will see some sample data from the original spreadsheet.
5. If your contact database includes additional information (e.g. in the example shown we have fields such as "Division", "Role" and "Office"), then these can be mapped to the pre-created Custom Fields in the contact profile:
6. Once you've aligned your data correctly, click Import contacts at the top right of the screen to complete the action.
7. When the import is complete, the Hub will display the import results with links for review which contacts were successful and failed:
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