Now that you have a list, there are a few technical aspects you should consider before adding contacts. No need to memorize them all right now, but a simple overview of the basics can help you successfully manage your list.
- Every new SmartSender.io Contact List starts out pretty empty, but our Contact List Import Wizard can help you quickly upload and organize your audience.
- If your SmartSender.io Contact List already has subscribed contacts, that’s great too. Our auto-update import feature can help you add new people to your Contact List and update the information of current subscribers at the same time.
- You can add contacts manually or import from the file.
Things to know before you start:
- These instructions are for adding subscribed contacts to your list. Make sure you have the names and email addresses of people who have opted in to receive your email marketing.
- The only field SmartSender.io requires is one unique user identificator (
userId|phoneNumber) is required. Other fields are optional but may be necessary for personalization, segmentation, or other features.- The list fields with the “Date type” require
ENUM_DATE(YYYY-MM-DD) format to import and work correctly.IMPORTANTYou’ll need a blank sheet in spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, saved or exported as a Comma Separated Value (CSV) File.
- Need some help saving your spreadsheet file in CSV format before you import? Check out these CSV tips from Excel and Sheets. Or, download our sample CSV import file and replace the sample emails with your own data.
Definitions
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Contact List | Your Contact List should be your total collection of contacts, so you should only need one overall Contact List. If you still choose to create multiple Contact Lists, be aware that Contact Lists are independent of each other. They don’t share data or contact information. For example, if username@example.com is in two of your Contact Lists, we count that as two people. It’s almost always better to have a single Contact List, and use our Contact List organization tools to separate and manage contacts. |
| Segments | A segment is a filter, or query, that you can apply to your account to sort your contacts based on the data we have about them. You can filter your contacts based on things like location, tag data, group membership, signup source, campaign activity, behavior, and more. |
| Variables | Also known as list fields, variables keep your contacts’ basic information. Variables are a lot like cells in a spreadsheet. They store emails, names, birthdays, group preferences, addresses, or other information. You can use Variables to pull the list field information into email campaigns, like placing the first name in a greeting. |
Add contact manually
This form lets you create or update the given contact.
- If the
userId|email|phoneNumber, which you provide in this form matches someone that already exists in your Contact List, his/her attributes will be updated to reflect those ones provided in this form. - In case there is no user with those attributes, a new profile will be created.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Select the Contact List domain from the drop-down menu (in the lower-left corner) if there are several domains in the account.
- Navigate to Contact List Management page (Menu -> Contacts -> Lists).
- Select a Contact List
- Click on the “Add Contacts” icon
- Select the “Add contact manually” tab
- Fill in all input fields with valid contact’s data
- Mark a checkbox opposite Subscribe contacts to scenarios in case you want automatically subscribe the contact to the active scenarios
- Click the “Add contact” button.
IMPORTANT If you want to use Retention Report based on customer acquisition sources, you should add the contact with its source.
Prepare import file
| Parameters | ||
| Import file header | Description and format requirements. | |
|---|---|---|
WARNINGMinimum one unique user identificator (userId | email | phoneNumber ) is required. |
||
name'optional' |
The optional display name to use for the recipient. | |
email'optional' |
The new email address of the recipient. You must include an email address column in your import file and only one email for each contact. IMPORTANT Review this column for anything that might cause syntax errors, like missing information, unsupported characters, and extra spaces before or after an address. |
|
phoneNumber'optional' |
Addressee phone number. IMPORTANT should be valid E.164 phone number format. |
|
userId'optional' |
The userId from the customer’s platform which enables manipulation of contacts based on it. Used as an alliance for the email address. | |
active'optional' |
Used to specify whether the contact is subscribed or unsubscribed from the list. If the user is unsubscribed from the list, no communication will be sent to his/her contact regardless of the status of separate channels. The default value is false (disable). | |
| 1 ‘optional’ |
Contact enabled. Contact can receive communication from enabled channels. | |
0'default' |
Contact disabled. No communications will be sent to this contact. | |
| emailSubscribe ‘optional’ |
Used to specify if contact is subscribed or unsubscribed to the Email Channel. The default value is false (unsubscribed). |
|
| 1 ‘optional’ |
Subscribe contact to emails | |
0'default' |
Unsubscribe contact from emails | |
| smsSubscribe ‘optional’ |
Used to specify whether the contact is subscribed or unsubscribed to the SMS Channel. The default value is false (unsubscribed). |
|
| 1 ‘optional’ |
Subscribe contact to SMS | |
0'default' |
Unsubscribe contact from SMS | |
| desktopWebPushSubscribe ‘optional’ |
Used to specify whether the contact is subscribed or unsubscribed to the desktop Web Push Channel. The default value is false (unsubscribed). |
|
| 1 ‘optional’ |
Subscribe contact to desktop Web Push notifications | |
0'default' |
Unsubscribe contact from desktop Web Push notifications | |
| mobileWebPushSubscribe ‘optional’ |
Used to specify whether the contact is subscribed or unsubscribed to the mobile Web Push Channel. The default value is false (unsubscribed). |
|
| 1 ‘optional’ |
Subscribe contact to mobile Web Push notifications | |
0'default' |
Unsubscribe contact from mobile Web Push notification | |
| telegramSubscribe ‘optional’ |
Used to specify whether the contact is subscribed or unsubscribed to the Telegram Channel. The default value is false (unsubscribed). |
|
| 1 ‘optional’ |
Subscribe contact to Telegram messages | |
0'default' |
Unsubscribe contact from Telegram messages | |
| firstName ‘optional’ |
Contact’s first name | |
| lastName ‘optional’ |
Contact’s last name | |
| contactBirthday ‘optional’ |
Contact’s birthday in ENUM_DATE (YYYY-MM-DD) format |
|
| contactLanguage ‘optional’ |
Contact’s locale in ISO 639-1 format |
|
| contactGender ‘optional’ |
Contact’s gender in ISO/IEC 5218 format |
|
| 0 | unknown, underfined, empty | |
| 1 | male, m | |
| 2 | female, f | |
| 9 | not applicable | |
| contactTimezone ‘optional’ |
Contact’s timezone in ISO 8601 format |
|
| contactScore ‘optional’ |
Contact Score | |
| avatarLink ‘optional’ |
Link to contact’s avatar image. | |
| facebookLink ‘optional’ |
Link to contact’s Facebook profile. | |
| instagramLink ‘optional’ |
Link to contact’s Instagram profile. | |
| linkedInLink ‘optional’ |
Link to contact’s LinkedIn profile. | |
| twitterLink ‘optional’ |
Link to contact’s Twitter profile. | |
| tiktokLink ‘optional’ |
Link to contact’s TikTok profile. | |
| sourceId ‘optional’ |
Customer Acquisition Source ID from SmartSender.io platform. Should be registered in Source section at the SmartSender admin panel. | |
| customerSourceId ‘optional’ |
Customer Acquisition Source ID from your system to synchronize two sides. Should be registered in Source section at the SmartSender admin panel. | |
| sourceName ‘optional’ |
Customer Acquisition Source Name from your system to synchronize two sides. Should be registered in Source section at the SmartSender admin panel. | |
| cacValue ‘optional’ |
Customer Acquisition Value in 'ENUM_STRING' format correspondingly. If not provided default value will be used from the registered Customer Acquisition Source. |
|
| cacCurrency ‘optional’ |
Customer Acquisition Currency: EUR or USD IMPORTANT Please use only Latin uppercase format. No numbers or other symbols allowed. If not provided default value will be used from the registered Customer Acquisition Source. |
|
| customStringVariable ‘optional’ |
Variable name in lowerCamelCase formatWARNING: Please use only Latin lowerCamelCase format. No numbers or other symbols allowed. String variable value in 'ENUM_STRING' |
|
| customDateVariable ‘optional’ |
For Variable, use only Latin in lowerCamelCase format, no numbers or other symbols are allowed. For date variable value 'ENUM_DATE' (YYYY-MM-DD) is 'required' |
|
Step-by-step instructions:
- Select the Email List domain from the drop-down menu (in the lower-left corner) if there are several domains in the account.
- Navigate to Contact List Management page (Menu -> Contacts -> Lists).
- Select a Contact List
- Click the “Add Contacts” icon
- Click the “Choose file” button for browsing your import file and for uploading it.
IMPORTANTIf you tick the “Subscribe contacts to scenarios” checkbox, all your imported contacts will be subscribed to the active scenarios.IMPORTANTIf you want to use Retention Report with sources, you should add a contact with the source at import file.
- Click the “Import” button
- Use selector to map format of your custom Variables when adding first time (select if Variable string or date format)
IMPORTANTIf you remove the “Ignore empty cells during the import” checkbox, and the file contains existing contacts – priority will be given to values of variables from the file. If the content is absent there – the cell in the Contact List will be set empty.
- Click the “Save” button
- For large files, it will take some time to get imported and the Contact List updated. You can watch the loading process on your screen. Please wait till the end of the file validation and then you may leave the page. We will take care of your contacts from that point.
