One of the first things you must do when setting up your edrone account is importing this contacts database you already have.
Probably already you have a contacts database stored in your eCommerce platform, in a Marketing tool you have used in the past, or even a simple spreadshe.
Here you can find informations, how to prepare file for import.
The edrone system automatically collects data from each visitor on your website, creating a Customer Profile that is continuously updated over time.
Keep reading to know all about it, or click on the links below to jump straight to the section you need:
Downloading the contacts database you already have
This is the only step that depends only on you, since each eCommerce platform or Marketing tool will have a different way of storing and providing an existing contacts database. The important thing here is that you get a spreadsheet containing, at least, a column with email addresses.
Please note that there are no limits to how many contacts you can have on your database.
Formatting the file
OK, now it's time to format the spreadsheet in such a way that it will be processed correctly by the edrone system.
Once your spreadsheet is organized, you will need to save it as a CSV, XLS or XLSX file.
CSV files
If you save the file as a CSV, make sure the values in the file are separated by commas or semicolons and use UTF-8 encoding (no BOM) - if a different encoding format is detected, the import will automatically fail. Also, do not use special characters, including full stops, in the filename.
NOTE: Avoid characters such as ' (apostrophe) and " (quote marks) because they may create problems when importing.
Below is a table showing the mandatory and optional fields to be filled in the CSV file and how each field must be filled out.
FIELD | HOW TO FILL IT OUT | OPTIONAL / MANDATORY |
Valid email address | Mandatory | |
Name | Text | Optional |
Last name | Text | Optional |
Phone number | Only numbers White spaces and area codes are acceptable | Optional |
Gender | M for male
F for female
REFUSED for "refused to inform"
NIEZNANY for unknown
INNY for other | Optional |
Birth date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
City | Text | Optional |
Country | Text | Optional |
Language | ISO 639-1 code (2 letters, e.g. EN for english) | Optional |
Email subscription status | 1, yes, tak, subscribe, active, toggle on, true, sim these labels you can use for subscribed status If this field is left empty, it will be considered "unknown" | Mandatory |
SMS subscription status | 1 for subscribed If this field is left empty, it will be considered "unknown" | Optional |
Email subscription request date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
Email subscription confirmation date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
Tags | Text | Optional |
XLS and XLSX files
If you save a file as an XLS or XLSX file and decide to import files in one of these formats, you must remember that NO column or NO row can be left blank. If any column or row is left unfilled, you will see an error and your import will fail.
Database formatting best practices
Put first and last names in separate columns. That way, you will be able to send out personalized messages using only the person's first name ("Hello, Mary!") instead of their full name ("Hello, Mary Ann Smith!").
Delete all columns that won't be imported into your CRM (e.g. address, social security number).
Remove all duplicates. While importing, our system will automatically detect duplicate emails and ignore them, therefore this is not a requirement. However, it helps keep files as light as possible.
All good? Great, now we just need to upload the file into the edrone system!
Importing the file into your edrone Workspace
To begin, log into your Workspace and go to CUSTOMERS > IMPORT. Click on the NEW IMPORT button.
You will be greeted by a very simple, 5-step process.
Step 1: FILE
Now you will need to upload your file. Click the Choose file to import button and upload your file:
As mentioned earlier, you can use CSV, XLS, or XLSX formats. Here are their limitations:
CSV files must be smaller than 60 MB
XLS files must contain fewer than 65,000 rows and be smaller than 60 MB
XLSX files must contain fewer than 1,000,000 rows and be smaller than 60 MB
For XLS and XLSX files, only the first sheet will be read
The maximum number of characters per row is 1024
NOTE: If the file is not properly formatted, the import will fail. Please refer to the formatting section in this article.
After selecting the correct file, click Continue
Step 2: Mapping
The system will automatically map the appropriate fields from your file:
However, it may happen that the automatic mapping validation fails or that you want to change the mapping for a given column. In that case, select the appropriate field for each column from the dropdown list:
If you select the Ignore option, that column will not be imported:
Remember that a column containing an email address or phone number must always be mapped. If you do not map it, you will see a red warning message at the bottom:
Once this step is done, click CONTINUE.
Step 3: Tags (optional)
This step allows you to assign tags to customers from the imported file. You can select existing tags or add new ones:
Also remember to choose the appropriate settings for tags in the field “How should tags be applied?”
Add tags to existing ones – tags from the import will be added to the customer profile (they will not replace existing ones)
Overwrite customer tags – Important: this option will overwrite all tags currently assigned to the customer profile with those selected during import. Not selecting a tag or leaving this column empty in the file will result in all existing tags being removed.
Once you're done with mapping, click CONTINUE.
Step 4: Summary
In this step, choose the subscription status settings for all three channels: SMS, WhatsApp, Email (if you did not add a column with subscription statuses to your file):
You can also choose the Do not update option – other data will be updated, and if there are new addresses in the file, they will be assigned an unknown status:
Then confirm the settings and start the import:
The import may take from a few seconds to several hours, depending on the file size. If all steps were completed correctly, the system will display the status “in progress.”
Once the import is completed, you will receive an email notification.
Import history
All imports are registered in the Import history section inside Import settings (CUSTOMERS > IMPORT).
In the Import history table you will see the following information:
Import date: Day and time of import
Please note that the location (e.g. Europe/Warsaw) indicates the time zone
Filename: the name of the imported file
Status:
Completed – import was successful
In Progress – import is in progress or in queue
Canceled – import was canceled by the user
Failed – import was not completed due to errors
Contacts: number of contacts
By clicking the Details button, a summary expands showing which data was imported and how many addresses in the database were updated.
Troubleshooting
When importing your contacts database, you might encounter the following situations:
You've used an invalid separator in the CSV file
Our system accepts files with columns separated by commas, semicolons, spaces or tabs. If you have encountered this problem, you have two options: 1) try downloading the contact database from a source (e.g., eCommerce platforms) by selecting one of the above options as a separator for column; or 2) open the file in a spreadsheet editor and save it again by selecting the correct separator for column and proper formatting (UTF-8)
The field includes an invalid value
For example, in the edrone system, the Email subscription status field should have either "0" or "1" as a value. Any other value, such as "subscribed" or "yes" will generate an error. In this case, change the value according to the table from the formatting section.
The file size is larger than 60 MB
If your contacts database is too large (over 60 MB), please split it into separate, smaller files and try again.
The filename has special characters, such as dots
In this case, the contacts database will not be imported. Remove any special characters from the file name and try again.
The CSV file was not saved with UTF-8 encoding
Save the file again with the proper encoding (Unicode UTF-8) and try again.
Need more help?
If you have any further questions about importing contacts into edrone, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@edrone.me