There are two distinct ways to add contacts in Zenvia Customer Cloud: manually or by importing a file. This article teaches you how to import contacts into lists by sending a file. This way, you can send your entire contact base in a simple and fast way.

⚠️ Attention: This feature is only available to users with Administrator profiles.

To access this feature, you have the following paths available:

1. In the left side menu, under Contacts > Contact base, click on the top right corner Add contacts > Import from a file;

2. In the left side menu, under Contacts > Contact lists, click on the top right corner Add contacts > Import from a file.

By following either of these paths, you initiate the process of importing your contact base. The first step is to upload your contact file.

Upload file

To upload your file, simply click on Upload file or drag it to the highlighted field. If you want to remove this file, click on the X located on the right side.

⚠️ Attention: It's only possible to import one file at a time due to the processing method and the arrangement of the columns in the files.

💡 Tip:  Make sure to create a file correctly. The file specifications are:

• It must be in .csv format;

• It must contain phone numbers (for SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS dispatches) or email addresses (for email dispatches) mandatorily in the first column, i.e., always in column A of the spreadsheet;

• The first row of the file must be the header. Insert the names of the variables used in your message and use comma (,) or semicolon (;) to separate each field;

• Separate one contact number per line of the file;

• Contain the contact number in DDI+DDD format (e.g., 5551999999999);

• Contain up to 120 MB.

The import can be included in one or more lists. To do this, simply select them in the checkbox. The selected lists will be displayed as a "tag".

⚠️ Attention:  To include contacts, you must create a list or use an existing one. 

After this step, click on the Continue button to advance to the next phase of the import.

Next, we detail the next phase of the import, the mapping of the file's fields.

Field mapping

In Field mapping, a preview of the columns and fields of the imported list is displayed. In Contact Manager Field, it is determined what each column of your imported file represents, giving you the freedom to choose where this information will be placed.

⚠️ Attention: Just like in manual registration, the cell phone number or email is a mandatory field, therefore, your file must contain a column with this information. 

The phone must be registered in DDI+DDD+number format, for example, for Argentina numbers, there must always be the number 9 between the country code and the area code, so it would be like this: 549+DDD+XXXXXXXX, without using spaces or dashes. Check the DDI codes of Latin American countries:

In the Import column, you can select the fields to be enabled, i.e., which will be used by the list. If a column is disabled, the system will not upload the data, and it will be ignored during the import.

💡 Tip:  Note that the default behavior of the import is to overwrite.

For example: If the same phone number is found in the selected list, the system will overwrite the other data using the file as a base.

Example of how the file needs to be configured:

For the message "Hello {{name}}! Your appointment is scheduled for {{date}} at {{time}}. To cancel the appointment, call 0800 400 1100", it is necessary that the file contains the message variables organized in separate columns, therefore, it should include the columns Name, Date, and Time, as the message text has the variables {{name}}, {{date}}, and {{time}}, in addition to the mandatory Phone or Email column.

In the Contact Manager Field column, select the default fields or create an extra field. To do this, click on Select a field and then on Create an extra field.

Extra fields

Creating extra fields allows you to customize the information that will be used in creating a contact. You can create extra fields via API or when importing the contact list into a list. 

When clicking, you need to create a name for the field. Once this is done, we can Confirm.

After creating the field name, you need to choose the Field Type, i.e., what determines the format of the information to be imported, which can be Text, Number, or Date. In the example, the selected field type is Date.

⚠️ Attention:  Creating extra fields is available only for contacts added via file import. The limit for creating extra fields is 100 per organization, and each of them can be used in other imports. 

Remember that, the client can bring in data from any CRM that allows API connections for data export. 

After finishing the mapping, simply click on the Confirm button to start processing the file.

Confirmation

By clicking on Confirmation, the import is completed, now you just need to wait while your file is processed by the system. Click on Go to imports to view the progress of the import.

Imports History

By clicking on the Go to imports button, the Imports history screen will be opened. At this stage, all imported files can be viewed. Additionally, if you wish, you can also perform a New import.

The imports history presented is divided into the following columns:

• Name of the imported files;

• Current status of the file importation, which can be:

  • Processed: indicates that a file has been successfully processed (stage completed);

  • Processing: indicates that the file has not yet finished importing (usually occurs with large files);

  • Error: in case the file was processed but some irregularity occurred.

• Date on which the import occurred;

• How many contacts the file contains.

That´s it! Now you already know how to import contacts from a file.