Upload contacts

Before uploading your contacts, you need to be absolutely clear about one thing: do you have the correct permission to email your contacts?

Assuming that you meet the obligations required to start emailing your contacts, the next thing you need to do is consider how you might manage your contacts for email marketing purposes. For example, do you have one large list that you send to every time or do you have distinct groups or newsletters. Try reading our article on how to define multiple mailing lists.

Finally, you must ensure that your contacts are contained in a suitably formatted file. Etelligent can accept Microsoft Excel (.xls), Microsoft Access (.mdb), or CSV (.csv) files). Before you just upload your database "as is", you should first follow the guidelines below.

Preparing your contacts for upload

The simplest way to bulk upload contacts is from an Excel Spreadsheet (.xls). The screenshot below shows an example of how you might format your data:

Useful tips for preparing your spreadsheet:

1. Only upload contact data that is relevant for email marketing purposes; for example, do you really need their fax number in order to send them marketing emails? Delete any columns that you don't need, your upload will be quicker.
2. The first row of your spreadsheet should contain the column headings; e.g. first name, last name, email, etc. It doesn't matter what these columns are named in your spreadsheet, when you come to do your upload Etelligent will let you match them to whatever field in its database you need to.
3. Ensure that your spreadsheet does not contain any fancy formatting or underlying logic (such as formulae). For more information on how to do this, read this article on how to clean a spreadsheet for upload.
4. Be aware that versions of Excel prior to 2007 have a row limit of 65,535. It's easy to split your contacts into batches.
5. If you're uploading data into Contact Fields defined as Tick Boxes, check this article to ensure you're using values Etelligent will understand: Importing values into Tick Box Contact Fields.
6. If you're uploading contacts' mobile phone numbers to use in SMS campaigns, see this article for How to Format Mobile Phone Numbers.

Uploading your contacts in Etelligent

If your data is prepared, the next step is to upload it via Etelligent's interface. The process of uploading your data will see Etelligent automatically defining the contacts as an emailable group; this special upload group is called a Datasource Filter. This datasource filter might suffice, but there are better ways to manage your contacts.

1. Uploading the data

• Go to Email Marketing | Contacts | Upload Contacts.
• On the Upload Contacts screen, use the Browse button to locate the file you wish to upload from your computer. When you have found it, hit Submit to begin the upload. Depending on the size of the file and your Internet connection, the time the upload takes will vary.
• Once the upload is complete, the next screen displays a drop-down menu. In this menu are either the pages in your spreadsheet's workbook or the tables in your database. Choose the correct one and proceed to the next screen.

2. Naming the Data Source

• The next screen allows you to match your spreadsheet's columns with the fields in the Etelligent database, but before you do that you must supply a Data Source Name. Be as descriptive as possible, it will make managing your installation in the future much easier.

3. Matching the columns

• The screen titled Match Fields has all of Etelligent's contact fields in the left-hand column and drop-down menus in the right-hand column. In the drop-down menu are all of the column names pulled from your Data Source. Some of these fields, if they have exactly the same name as Etelligent's fields, will be auto-matched; the remaining fields will need to be set manually. Take care that there are no naming conflicts; for example, Etelligent's title field is intended for salutation data (e.g. Mr or Mrs), whereas you may mean "Job Title".
• If you do not wish to import a particular column from your Data Source, simply do not match it with an Etelligent Contact Field.

An example of matched columns:

4. Deduplication

• Once you have paired up all of the columns that you wish to import, the final thing to do on the Match Fields screen is to set the Deduplication Field and the Update Action. These fields are coloured blue and you will find them at the foot of the page.

• The Deduplication Field is the unique identifying characteristic of a contact. If this is your first upload, think very carefully about this. If this is not your first upload, make sure you use the same field as in previous uploads or you're likely to end up with dupes in your database, click here for an example. In the vast majority of cases, since you are in the business of email marketing, email address is the most logical field to use.
• There are several Update Actions available; essentially this action is what Etelligent will do during the upload should it find duplicate contacts in your spreadsheet or in its own database. The available Update Actions are:
  • Update and Insert: This action will, upon encountering a duplicate contact, update that contact's record with any new information it has. This updating is not limited to new data you previously did not hold on the contact, it could also see you changing a contact's name, preferences, or any other existing data that you hold. Finally, this action will add (or insert in database terminology) any new contacts contained in your Data Source.
  • Update Only: This action behaves identically to Update and Insert, except it will not add new contacts.
  • Insert New Only: This action is the reverse of Update Only, only adding new contacts to your installation and ignoring existing ones.
• Once you have named your matched all of your columns and set the correct Deduplication Field and Depulication Action, you may press the Submit button to commence the upload.

Related Topics

Tutorials | Knowledge Base | Contacts Database | Unsubscribed Duplicates | Issues Uploading Excel Spreadsheets and CSV Files