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CSV Upload

Louise MacBean
  • Updated

Overview

From the CSV Contact Upload screen you can upload your CSV contact lists to Ometria.

This article explains how to create a CSV contact file and how to use the upload tool. 

Note: CSV uploads are not completed instantaneously; they are queued and completed when resources are available. This could take up to 24 hours, please contact your customer success manager if you have any concerns.

Subscription statuses

Contacts uploaded via CSV retain their subscription status and timestamp unless:

  • you select force subscribe or force unsubscribe from the Subscription mode panel, or;
  • they are forcibly opted in or opted out via the Ometria preference centre.

Equally, if you upload contacts via CSV, the subscription value or status doesn't change later if subscription or unsubscription data is sent to Ometria via your importer.

For example, if jane@fashion.com is uploaded via CSV with an ‘unsubscribed’ status, and Jane later re-subscribes through your website, her re-subscription is sent to Ometria through your importer. Jane’s subscription status will not change and will still be ‘unsubscribed’.

Ometria’s standard rules of priority for contact listings are:

  1. The Ometria preference centre
  2. API, App, CSV
  3. Ometria form
  4. Importer (e.g. Magento or Shopify)
  5. Third party sync

If there are two contact records with the same priority level, then the varying parameters from the most recent record are used.

For this reason, we recommend that you upload contacts via your importer (Shopify, Magento, or your custom importer).

To access the CSV Contact Upload screen, click your account in the far right of the Ometria menu bar and select Contact upload from the dropdown:

Upload a new CSV contact list

Select CSV file

Click Select CSV file to choose a CSV file from your computer.

Upload requirements

File size: Maximum 10MB

Encoding: The following encoded CSV files are supported -

  • Windows ISO-8859-1 (latin 1)
  • UTF8

Note: Be aware that any blank spaces before or after text will be removed from values when the data is processed.

Headers

Your CSV file must contain headers in the first row.

The following headers are accepted by Ometria - they are case sensitive and must be written exactly as below:

Header Example value Notes

email

jane@fashion.com

Required

id

1234abc

May contain numbers and letters. 

prefix

Ms

  

firstname

Jane

  

middlename

Louise

  

lastname

Smith-Jones

  

gender

f

The value can only be 'm' or 'f'.

If unknown or other, leave blank.

date_of_birth

1990-01-01

The date should be supplied in YYYY-MM-DD format.

country_id

GB

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code

timestamp_acquired

  

The date that the contact was first acquired. The date should be either:

timestamp_subscribed

  

The date that the contact subscribed to your marketing emails. The date should be either:

timestamp_unsubscribed

  

The date that the contact unsubscribed from your marketing emails. The date should be either:

phone_number

+447123456789

Use the international format.

See further information on uploading phone numbers below. 

properties.custom_field

  

You can use this to enter any custom field you have already configured in Ometria by replacing 'custom_field' with the ID of the custom field. 

E.g. properties.contact_birthday

channel_sms_allow_marketing

TRUE

FALSE

 Whether or not a contact is opted into receiving SMS marketing.

Note: The SMS feature is currently in beta testing. Contact your CSM for more information.

channel_sms_dt_updated_marketing

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss

Similar to the 'timestamp_subscribed' field, but for SMS marketing opt-ins.

The date should be either:

If Ometria only receives the 'channel_sms_allow_marketing' preference for a contact and not the timestamp, the timestamp is set to now (i.e. the time of upload).

If the contact already has an SMS preference set and changes it (i.e. unsubscribes from SMS marketing) the timestamp and preference are overwritten.

If the contact already has an SMS preference set and does not change it, the timestamp is only updated if it is an earlier date than the one currently stored.

Note: The SMS feature is currently in beta testing. Contact your CSM for more information.

Uploading and merging phone numbers

Be aware that if you upload a contact with a phone number which matches an existing phone number in your database, then the number will not be merged.

Example, if you upload the following two records, one in January and one in February, with the same phone number:

Headings Uploaded January 2020 Uploaded February 2020

id

1234

5678

email

customer1@gmail.com

customer2@hotmail.co.uk

phone_number

+447567890987

+447567890987

...then Ometria will only ingest the following information:

  • id = 5678
  • email = customer2@hotmail.co.uk

And not the phone number.

This is in order to avoid the duplication of phone numbers. 

There is currently no way to move phone numbers across or assign a phone number to the most recent profile.

ISO 8601 format 

Use the following formula to quickly re-format your dates:

=TEXT(A1,"yyyy-mm-ddThh:MM:ss")

Note: CSV uploads are not completed instantaneously; they are queued and completed when resources are available. This could take up to 24 hours, please contact your customer success manager if you have any concerns.

Add contacts to static segment?

Choose from any of the following options:

Option Description

No

Do not add any of the uploaded contacts to a segment.

Add contacts to an existing static segment

Select an existing segment from the dropdown list.

Add contacts to new static segment

Create a new static segment with the uploaded contacts by selecting this radial and entering a segment name in the blank field. 

Merge mode

Note: Merge mode has the potential to overwrite your existing contact data. Think carefully before saving your changes.

When uploading CSV data, Ometria uses the contact's email address as the unique identifier.

This means that if a contact already exists in your account with an email address which matches one of the addresses in your CSV file, that contact and their data could potentially be overwritten.

You have the choice to select Only overwrite fields where a non-empty cell is provided.

If... ...then

you select 'Only overwrite fields where a non-empty cell is provided'

only the non-empty values (i.e. cells with data in them) in your CSV file will overwrite the data which matches those fields in the Ometria contact record.

If your CSV file has blank (empty) cells, these will not overwrite the Ometria contact record.

you don't select 'Only overwrite fields where a non-empty cell is provided'

all of the data in the CSV upload (including blank cells) will overwrite the data which matches those fields in the Ometria contact record. 

In the example below, Jane Smith has an existing record in Ometria, but she has changed her name and her title since the last time her data was uploaded, and her 'id' has been left blank.

The following fields have changed:

  • id - left blank ('empty')
  • prefix - from 'Miss' to 'Ms'
  • lastname - from 'Smith' to 'Smith-Jones'
  • Where 'Only overwrite fields where a non-empty cell is provided' was selected, all of Jane's data has been updated, except 'id', as that cell was empty.
  • Where 'Only overwrite fields where a non-empty cell is provided' was not selected, all of Jane's data has been updated, including 'id', which is now blank in the Ometria record. 

Subscription mode

Select a subscription method:

Option Description

Soft subscribed

Select to subscribe contacts unless they have unsubscribed already.

Force subscribed

Select to subscribe contacts even if they have already unsubscribed.

Force unsubscribe

Select to unsubscribe contacts.

Unchanged

Select to leave contacts' subscription statuses unchanged. 

Note: The method you select applies to all contacts in your CSV file once you upload.

Data protection information

Before you can upload your CSV file, you must select both of the following checkboxes to confirm that:

  • The list you are uploading was not purchased, rented, appended or provided by a third party, and;
  • the contacts you are uploading are expecting to hear from you.

Once you have confirmed, you can click Upload to begin uploading your CSV file.

Note: Be aware that it can take up to 24 hours to upload a CSV file.

Video guide

Example CSV file

Click the attachment below to download an example CSV file will all headers and four rows of data:

CSV
openoffice_u...
(308 Bytes)

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