How to Import Contacts

To add many contacts that already exist on a report from another program, it is best to use the import process instead of adding contacts manually one by one. During this process the contacts could be added to a new or existing list at the same time.

Example:

Club had an event and would like to quickly create a list in the email marketing program to send an email to thank all the attendees.
Club employees not entered into the accounting system with a member number, import will allow clubs to quickly add all contacts to a list for employee communication.

^Note: To add an individual contact manually, use the Add New option from Contacts > Manage Contacts.

Steps to Import Contacts

Log in to website and access Email Marketing Module.
Select Contacts > Manage Contacts from the left navigation.
From the Action Bar at the top, click Import Contacts.
This opens the Import Contacts Screen.
Select Files to Import

Select the file with contacts to be added into email marketing, there are 2 options (From Desktop or Copy / Paste).
- Option 1 - From Desktop
  
  Upload contacts from a supported file.
  1. Select From Desktop tab.
  2. On the Right, Preparing your data section, contains information and templates to help prepare the files prior to the upload.
    - File formats supported: .csv, .xls, .xlsx, .vcf, .txt, .tsv.
    - Max File size: 500 MB
      ^Note: Email address must be a column in the file, in order for it to successfully upload.
  3. On the Left, find file with contacts to be imported from computer.
    - Drag & Drop Files or click Browse.
      - The file name selected will appear above the text box.
        
        It may take some time to upload if it is a large file.
        
        If the wrong file was selected click Remove beside the file name.
  4. Click Preview & Configure at the bottom right corner.
- Option 2 - Copy / Paste
  
  Instead of uploading the file, contact information from a support file format could be copied and pasted into the import process.
  1. Click Copy / Paste tab.
  2. Open file with contact information in Excel (each row must at least contain an email address).
  3. Select the rows to import (500 max).
  4. Copy (CTRL-C) the records to the clipboard.
  5. Paste (CTRL-V) the records into the text area below.
  6. Click Preview & Configure at the bottom right corner.
Preview and Configure

The steps are the same regardless if the file was imported using From Desktop or Copy / Paste method. Contacts on the file will be displayed, they should be mapped to the fields with the appropriate column names in the email marketing module.
1. Each column will have the option to map to... a field.
  - Use the drop-down box to select the email marketing field that has been setup to best match the data that was uploaded from the file.
2. On the Right, Advanced Options.
  - Import Action
    - Add & Update
      - Recommended to select this option. As it updates the existing contact information in email marketing with the information in the file being uploaded.
    - Add only
      - Not recommended. As any existing contacts in email marketing will remain unchanged by the information in the file being uploaded.
    - ^Note: Neither options will update back into the accounting system.
  - Trigger workflows and autoresponders during import
    - Initiates any workflows or autoresponders when imported contacts meet their conditions.
    - For example, a workflow can be setup that triggers when a contact is added to your VIP Customers mailing list.
    - If configured to have contacts added to the correct mailing list, the workflow is triggered automatically for the appropriate contacts when they are imported.
    - Adding contacts to mailing lists is an optional step of the Import Contact wizard. This step is the last one presented by the wizard.
  - File contains column headings
    - Check this box if the first row of the file includes column headings.
  - Delimiter:
    - (.txt files only)
    - Specifies the character that separates values in text files.
    - Change the delimiter and it will update the preview of the contact data to use the new delimiter.
    - For.csv,.xls,.xlsx, or.tsv files, the delimiter is set based on the file type.
  - Date Format - Change if applicable.
    - Identifies the format of dates in the file. It's important to ensure that this setting uses an appropriate value to ensure that dates are interpreted as expected.
    - For example, MM/DD/YYYY indicates that the month is followed by the day of the month.
    - If DD, MM, or YYYY is selected, the day of the month precedes the month.
  - Text Qualifier - Change if applicable
    - (.txt files only)
    - Specifies the character that encapsulates text. (When data isn't appearing properly in the columns).
      - Double quotes
      - Single quotes
      - None
    - In this example showing the text qualifier is using double-quotes (”), this indicates that yellow and Alex is text.
      - [email protected], "yellow", ”Alex”
3. Click Assign Mailing Lists at the bottom right corner. Below is a sample what it would look like when a .csv or .xls file is imported.
Assign contacts to a Mailing List

When contacts are being imported, they have to be assigned to a mailing list. This will be used to easily send the contacts an email blast. There are 2 options (add to an existing or new mailing list).
- Option 1 - Assign to Existing Mailing List
  1. Select the checkbox beside the mailing list name.
  2. Click Import found at the bottom right corner.
  3. Message Center will display on screen with progress of the contact import.
- Option 2 - Create New Mailing List and Assign Contacts
  1. Bottom left Create a New Mailing List: Click in box and type in new name for the list.
  2. Click Create New list.
  3. Name of the new list will be added to the Assign Contacts to a Mailing Lists section.
  4. Select the checkbox beside the new list created.
  5. Click Import found at the bottom right corner.
  6. Message Center will display on screen with progress of the contact import.
Message Center
- When the progress bar displays 100% the import is complete.
1. Select Message Center from the left navigation.
2. There will be two New messages with the same subject "Clubhouse Online Email Marketing added/updated ## contacts" in the Message Center, indicating the number of contacts that were uploaded successfully or failed.
- To view the failed contacts.
  1. Select Message Center from the left navigation.
  2. Click on name of message. If it says No attachment. Close the message and select the other message with same subject.
  3. Click View Attachment to download file to see failed contacts.
  4. There will be two csv files.
    - File number 1 - original file name that contained the contacts that were imported.
    - File number 2 - will always be Invalid_Contact_Details.csv
      - This file does not provide the name or email of the invalid contacts.
      - Instead it provides the row # of the contact that is invalid or has an error.
  5. To find invalid contacts open both files.
    - The Invalid_Contact_Details file will indicate the row number that contains an invalid contact.
    - In the name of the import file, go to the row number to find the email address that is invalid.
    - Example: In the image below the email address for row 2 and 4 belong to [email protected] and [email protected].
^Note: Contacts that were once in the email marketing program but have been deleted from email marketing in error will not be imported successfully into the list unless they are added back into the system manually. To add an individual contact manually, use the Add New option from Contacts > Manage Contacts. For assistance please contact web support.
To view contacts added to the mailing list successfully.
1. Select Lists and Segments > Mailing Lists from the left navigation.
2. Click on the name of the Mailing List to be viewed.
3. If import was added to an existing mailing list.
  - The number of contacts under the Active Contacts and Total Contacts columns would not have updated. The number displayed in the table will be different from the actual number of contacts, when the administrator clicks on the number under Active Contacts or Total Contacts column to see all contacts on the mailing list.
  - Select the checkbox beside the mailing list name.
  - Click Refresh Counts at the top, this will update the number in the table to match the actual number of contacts on the mailing list.