This article covers what kind of file formats you can import to your Emma account, provides useful information on importing lists, and gives you step-by-step instructions on how to import new contacts.

In the Emma app, contacts can be added to your account individually, but if you want to add a number of contacts at the same time it's easiest to import them as a file.

Accepted file formats

• .csv
• .xls
• .xlsx

Please note: You can import up to 65,000 contacts in a .xls or .xlsx file. To import more contacts, use the .csv file format.

Important things to know about importing lists BEFORE you begin

Permission to send

Rented or purchased lists are not allowed. By importing contacts to your Emma account, you are asserting that you have permission to email them. In fact, you must have proof that everyone on your list has either opted-in to receive emails from you, or that they have a clear relationship with your organization (e.g. as a customer, employee, or volunteer). Additionally, you need to have emailed these contacts within the last 12 months to retain permission.

For more information about permission to send, check out these articles:

• How to tell if your contact list is good
• Permission-based list examples

Spreadsheet settings

Spreadsheets containing multiple sheets cannot be processed, so make sure that the file you're importing only has one sheet. Additionally, if your sheet has more than one row of headers, or if it contains large amount of formatting, Emma likely will not be able to process it correctly, resulting in errors. As a best practice, use only one row of headers and for highly formatted sheets, try copying the data and pasting it, values only, into a new spreadsheet.

Data formatting

If you're importing data to contact fields, be aware that some field types require the data to be formatted correctly for a successful import.

Email addresses

Duplicate email addresses will be deduplicated during the import process. If an email address appears more than once on a spreadsheet, the data from the first instance of that email will be overwritten by the second. If your file contains email addresses that are invalid or incorrectly formatted, such as name@example.con instead of name@example.com, they will automatically be moved to the Error status.

If the number of contacts in your audience doesn't increase by the number of new contacts imported, it indicates that the file may have contained duplicate or invalid email addresses.

Numeric fields

If you are importing number values, such as ages, phone number, or membership IDs, do not choose the numeric field type when creating a new contact field. Numeric contact fields only accept numerals and decimal points, no other characters, and they are only for fields that you may need to do math with. Use a short answer field type instead for these fields. Learn more.

SMS mobile field

If you are importing phone numbers into your audience, do not import them to the SMS mobile field unless you will actually be sending SMS messages to these contacts. The SMS mobile field has extremely specific requirements and can cause major import errors if the data in your sheet does not meet those requirements. Learn more.

Watch a quick tutorial video on how to import a list

How to import new contacts (or contact data) from a file

1. Open the Audience section in your account, then click Imports on the left.
2. Click Import contacts.
3. Upload your file by dragging it from your desktop, or clicking Choose file to select it from your computer. Optional: Choose the source of your import, how you'd like to handle data being imported for existing contacts, or select the checkbox to trigger workflows based on the data imported. (See "Other import options" below.)
4. Click Continue.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to map the contact data in your list to the contact fields in your account. You can also create new contact fields for the data you're importing.
6. Either create a new group to add your contacts to, or select an existing group, then click Continue.
7. After you've reviewed the Import Summary page, click Import.

* Import speed is dependent on the size of the file, as well as the import options selected.

Import Summary Overview

When you import a file, we automatically generate an Import Summary that lists which groups your contacts were added to, as well as their status including how many contacts were:

• Added
• Updated
• Ignored due to duplication
• Skipped due to a value error
• Erred as a result of formatting

To view the Import Summary after an import has been completed, navigate to the Audience > Imports page, then click on the name of the file to view the summary.

Here's an overview of the data that you'll see in the Import Summary and a description of each element:

• Contacts added: How many new contacts were imported.
• Contacts updated: Any existing contacts whose contact records were updated.
• Error rows: Rows skipped because there was a formatting or mapping issue.

  You can click Download to generate a .csv file of your error contacts. However, the option to download the file is only available for 7 days after the import takes place. The error file includes relevant information about the fields that are in error for each contact. Learn more about this here: Troubleshooting file import errors.

• Duplicate rows: Rows that feature email addresses that have been duplicated on the sheet.

  These are counted uniquely. For example, if an address is listed 3 times, it will only show as 1 duplicate.

• Skipped: Contacts on the spreadsheet that did not have an email address populated, which is the unique identifier in Emma and why they were skipped.

Other import options

When importing a file, you'll see a couple of options on the file import page, as explained below.

Update existing contacts

You can use a file import to bulk-update data for existing contacts. For example, to add or replace details such as the person's role at a company, geographic location, or membership status. If this is your first file import, and there are no existing contacts in your account, it doesn't matter which option is selected.

There are two options for how to handle the data imported:

• Update their records: Select this option if you want to update existing contact records with data from your file. This option will import new contacts on the list, and it will also overwrite contact field values in your account with any new, or changed data in your file.

  The only exception is if a contact in your audience was both in Error status and archived prior to the new import, then the contact will be set back to Active with a new import.

• Leave them alone: Select this option if you just want to add new contacts. Any data associated with an existing contact's email address will be ignored.

Please note: If you choose "Update their records" and a value is left empty in your imported file, it will overwrite any existing value stored in the contact field. For example, let's say you update a contact's record, adding "Chicago" to the contact field for "City". If you later import a file containing that contact's email address, and the value for "City" is blank, this will overwrite what was previously recorded in your account.

Trigger a workflow

You can also use a file import to trigger automated emails. Read more about the contact import trigger and the field change trigger.