Importing Contacts via CSV

Uploading contacts using a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file is a common and efficient way to bulk-add recipients to BuffSend. This guide provides detailed steps and best practices.

1. Preparing Your CSV File: Best Practices

• Start with a Template (Optional): BuffSend might offer a downloadable CSV template. Using it can help ensure correct formatting from the start.
• Headers are Crucial: The very first row of your spreadsheet must be the header row. Use clear, descriptive headers for each column (e.g., email, first_name, last_name, company, city, website, custom_field_1).
  • Use lowercase letters.
  • Avoid spaces or special characters (use underscores instead, e.g., job_title).
• Required Field: email: You absolutely must have a column with the exact header email containing valid email addresses. Rows without a valid email address will likely be skipped during import.
• Include Personalization Data: Add columns for any data you want to use in personalization tags, like first_name, company, etc.
• One Contact Per Row: Each row below the header should represent a single contact.
• Clean Your Data Before Uploading:
  • Remove any duplicate email addresses within the file.
  • Correct obvious typos in emails or names.
  • Ensure consistent formatting (e.g., capitalization for names).
  • Consider using an email verification tool on your list before uploading, especially if the list is old or from a questionable source, to minimize bounces.
• Save as CSV (UTF-8): When saving from your spreadsheet software (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.), choose the "CSV (Comma delimited)" format. If given an option for encoding, select UTF-8 to ensure compatibility with various characters.

2. Uploading and Mapping

1. Go to the Contacts section in BuffSend.
2. Click "Import Contacts" / "Upload CSV".
3. Select your prepared CSV file.
4. Choose/Create List: Assign the imported contacts to an existing list or create a new list specifically for this import.
5. Column Mapping: This is a critical step. BuffSend will show you the headers from your CSV file and ask you to match them to the corresponding contact fields within BuffSend.
   • Map email to the Email field.
   • Map first_name to the First Name field, etc.
   • Map any custom columns to available custom fields in BuffSend. If a corresponding custom field doesn't exist, you might need to create it first in BuffSend's settings (if supported) or choose to skip that column.
   • Carefully review all mappings before proceeding.
6. Confirm and Import: Start the import process. Monitor the progress via notifications or the contacts section.

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

• Import Failures: Often caused by missing the email header, incorrect CSV formatting (e.g., using semicolons instead of commas), or encoding issues. Re-check your file and save as CSV UTF-8.
• Partial Imports: Some rows might fail if the email address is invalid or missing. BuffSend usually provides a report detailing skipped rows.
• Incorrect Mapping: If data appears in the wrong fields after import, review the column mapping step for future imports. You may need to manually edit contacts or re-import with corrected mapping (potentially after deleting the incorrectly imported contacts).

For more complex issues, see the Contact Import Errors guide.

← Back to Knowledge Base