How to import customer data from a file

If you need to load a large number of clients' data into the database, we recommend using import from file.

To get started, go to «Data»→«Import» and select «From the file»:

Select the base for importing profiles.

Step 1: Upload a file with client data

To add a new file, tap on the download area and select the file on your device. Another way is to simply drag and drop the desired file with your mouse.

You can upload several files at once. If you want to delete a file, click the cross next to its name:

Available file formats:

• csv tables and txt files in csv format

• xls and xlsx data tables

• zip and tar.gz archives

Example of csv file for import

Step 2: Configure the file

1. File format settings

Check the box «The first line contains the name of the columns» if the first line in your profile file is used to designate columns.

Select the reading mode of the file. Two modes are available: Automatic and Manual.

2. Profile identification settings

Select import method - it will depend on whether you are adding new records or updating existing ones in Altcraft profile databases:

• Add new leads and update existing ones

• Only add new leads, don't update existing ones

• Only update existing ones, do not add new ones

Choose Profiles matching mode.

You are probably loading customer data into a new and so far empty database right now, but time will pass and you will need to update that data.

This is the purpose of Profiles matching mode. This is how you tell the platform what data should be used in the future when updating existing profiles.

For example, if you select By email, from profile or subscriptions, at the time of update, the platform will compare the email addresses of the customers you upload with those of the customers that are already in the database. If it finds a match, it will update the customer's data. If the client with this e-mail address is not in the database, the platform will create a new profile for this client.

3. Fields settings

• Check the «Ignore blank values in all columns» box if you want to keep the current profile data even if this field is blank in the imported file.

• Check the «Treat null values as empty» box if you want values like null, nil, none, undefined or 0001-01-01-01T00:00:00:00Z to be treated as empty.

Proceed to determine if the columns in the Altcraft profile database match the data columns in your spreadsheet file. Altcraft will detect the columns automatically if their names match the system columns, however, if your columns do not match the system columns, you can customize them manually. To do this, go to the «Unidentified» column and select the profile fields to which you want to write the client's data.

Once you select a match for an undefined column, it will automatically be moved to the «Identified» column. If you have set an incorrect match, click on the cross to the right of the field you want, then it will be moved back to the «Unidentified» column.

4. Subscription settings

Sign clients up for resources when importing a file. A resource allows you to send messages through communication channels. Without a subscription, communication is not possible. In the Configure subscriptions block, click the + Add subscription button.

There are two modes of updating the status of subscriptions available to you: safe and unsafe. If you select unsafe mode, subscriptions of profiles with the following statuses will be updated: Unsubscribed, Complainer, Hardbounced, Not Valid. If a profile already has a subscription to the selected channel in the resource with one of these statuses, after import its status will be changed according to the specified settings.

Select resource and channel, then click Customize. The profile will have a subscription to the resource. Specify email, subscription status, and priority for the selected resource.

5. Final

In the final step of the import, you can check your settings and run the import, as well as define additional actions with the database fields. You can go back one or more steps, but this will reset the settings of the current step.

In the Other actions with fields block you can perform additional actions with the fields of the profile base, for which no bindings have been set: set a fixed value for all profiles or delete the current value from the field.

In addition, the Additional Settings block includes additional options:

• Skip start triggers - do not run scripts and trigger campaigns configured to import into the selected database.

• Detect geo-location by IP - when you send data to Reg IP or IPv4 IP fields, Altcraft will automatically detect geolocation and you can select profile fields such as Coordinates, Country, City - or Reg Country and Reg City to fill in, and the profile position on the map widget will also be noted.

• Create a static segment based on the results of this import - when importing profiles, the platform will create a static segment that includes all added and updated profiles.

• Update segment based on the results of this import - when importing profiles, the platform will automatically recalculate the static segment.

Step 3: Import

Click the «Import» button to start the process. You can view its current status in the «Tasks» section.

When the import is complete, you will see how many customers have been added, updated or rejected, as well as the most common errors.