You can either read through this article step by step, or scroll to the bottom of the page to watch the full recorded training. Click here to go straight to the video.
Best practice: import a few rows of data before doing your full import. This allows you to review the import for accuracy with a low-stakes test. This is especially encouraged for large imports, imports with new data structures, and imports that associate records with one-another (such as associating Contacts to Accounts).
Preparing Your File
[00:24]
Before importing contacts, start with your file. Proper file preparation prevents the majority of import issues.
Steps:
Export your contacts from your previous system (CRM, email platform, spreadsheet, etc.).
Save the file as a .CSV. In most spreadsheet tools, use File > Save As > CSV (Comma Separated Values).
Review the file for formatting best practices:
Split First Name and Last Name into separate columns (no combined full name field).
If importing addresses, separate them into Street, Suite/Apt, City, State, and Zip.
Ensure data exists in a single, clean block with no orphaned cells or blank rows.
Confirm column headers exist for every column.
Column headers do not need to exactly match system field names. You will map them during the import.
You also don't need to delete all the columns you aren't importing because you can select "drop column" when mapping to not import a certain column, though if you have many columns that aren't going to be imported, it is a best practice to delete most or all of them.
Identifying When Custom Fields Are Needed
[03:32]
Imports rely on existing data structure. They do not create data structure for you.
Key concepts:
Standard system fields cover common data such as name, email, phone number, and company.
Any data that is specific to your business or not found on a typical business card requires a custom field.
Custom fields should be created before importing your file.
This training does not cover custom field creation. Refer to the Custom Fields help article and video before continuing if needed.
Additional notes:
Tags do not need to be created in advance. Any tags included in your file will be created automatically during import.
For picklist fields that allow multiple values, separate values using a comma and a space in the CSV (for example:
value 1, value 2).
How Duplicate Contacts Are Handled
[05:20]
VipeCloud uses unique identifiers to determine whether a contact should be created or updated.
Default unique identifiers:
Email address
Mobile phone number
What happens during import:
If no matching unique identifier is found, a new contact is created.
If a matching email or mobile phone number already exists, the existing contact is updated with any new information.
A duplicate contact is not created.
You can also mark custom fields as unique, allowing them to function as additional identifiers beyond email and mobile phone.
This behavior can be used intentionally to mass update existing contacts by importing only the unique identifier and the new data you want to update.
Starting the Import
[07:17]
Steps:
Navigate to the Contacts section using the left sidebar.
Scroll down and click Import.
Choose between Contacts or Contact Lists.
Recommended option: Contact Lists
Imports contacts into the CRM.
Automatically places them into a list.
Makes it easier to review, verify, or undo changes if needed.
Contacts import also imports Contacts but it does not place them in a Contact List.
Upload your CSV file by browsing or dragging and dropping the file.
If applicable, select the user the contacts should belong to.
File Validation and Required Fields
[09:33]
After uploading the file, the importer performs several validations.
These include:
File type validation
Encoding validation
Identification of system-required fields (such as first name or email)
Identification of any user-required custom fields
Missing required fields are flagged immediately and must be resolved before continuing.
Mapping Fields
[11:06]
Each column in your CSV must be mapped to a field in the system.
Steps:
Review the system’s initial auto-mapping suggestions.
Use the dropdown and search bar to quickly find the correct field.
Leave any column you do not want imported set as Drop Column.
Important SMS note:
Phone numbers must be mapped to Mobile Phone to be eligible for text messaging.
Carefully review all mappings before proceeding.
Handling Dropdown and Picklist Values
[13:30]
When importing into dropdown or picklist custom fields, you must decide how the system should handle values that do not already exist.
Options:
Add new values to the custom field automatically
Skip unknown values and leave the field blank
When in doubt, adding new values is usually appropriate, but large or inconsistent datasets may require cleanup before importing. Best practice: if unsure about the consistency of your data, review the source file and clean it up if needed prior to importing.
Previewing the Import
[16:01]
Before committing the import, you can preview how the data will be handled with the first 25 rows.
The preview allows you to:
Confirm field mappings
Verify formatting
See whether contacts will be created or updated based on unique identifiers
This is the final opportunity to catch issues before data is written.
Processing the Import
[16:30]
Once everything looks correct:
Click Process Import.
Wait for the confirmation message indicating the list has been imported successfully.
Verifying Your Import
[17:16]
Verifying your import is a critical best practice, especially before sending mass email or SMS communications.
Steps to verify:
Navigate to Contact Lists (if imported as a Contact List, otherwise search for contacts that were imported).
Open the list created during the import.
Use Quick View to rapidly review individual contacts.
Spot-check multiple records against the original CSV.
Do not send any communications until you have confirmed the data is accurate.
If something looks wrong:
Review the source CSV first.
Contact support and include:
The import file
Which fields did not import correctly
What behavior you expected to see
Watch the Recording
Transcript
Transcript
00:00 Hello everybody, my name is Drew, and we're going to be talking about how to import contacts into ByteCloud. Now, I know that importing can give some people anxiety, just worrying that they're going to mess things up, but as we'll see, ByteCloud really gives you a simple and straightforward way to manage
00:24 your imports and ways to validate things before you even hit that import button. So let's walk through that. Now, first of all, we're going to be starting with the with the file itself, because that's actually the first step to importing, is making sure that you've got a file that is ready to go.
00:50 So, let's walk through a couple of things. First of all, it does need to be a CSV format, and that's really easy if you have any kind of spreadsheet.
01:03 Most spreadsheets can save as the file type of CSV, although it won't be the default, so you're generally going to need to go to Save As and then choose either, it's going to be called Comma Separated Values or CSV.
01:20 So, some data that you'll, that you might have will have the, it'll have some information condensed into a single column, like, for instance, it won't have first name and last name saved separately, it'll just be full name.
01:42 In VibeCloud, we keep things separate, so So, for things like first name, last name, you're going to want to make sure that that is all separated.
01:54 You're going to also want to make sure that your address, if you're importing address data. That that stuff is all kept separate as well.
02:04 So, you know, street address, the, uh, address to, you know, like, unit or apartment number, city, state, zip, we're going to want all of that stuff to be separate as well.
02:16 You're also going to want to make sure that your data is all like in a clean block. So we're not going to be having like orphaned cells of data that don't have any column headers off over here.
02:35 We're not going to have any information that has blank rows before. We're having some information down here. So everything needs to be tidy and clean like that.
02:48 And also, very importantly, you need to have column headers as well. So, uh, these are going to be basically like what's going to be matching the fields in the system, but they don't need to exactly match.
03:06 we're going to be mapping them as a part of this process so if this just for instance said like name that that's fine even though it's first name in our system we'll just tell it that the name column gets matched to the first name field in the system also we're going to be looking here for custom fields
03:32 or the need for custom fields in the import now if you're importing a file that is just name email phone number company name something like that then obviously you're not going to need to create custom fields for what i'd like to tell people is that if it's information you would find on somebody's business
03:49 card is probably going to be a standard field already existing in the system for it, but for stuff like this, like basically everything right here where it's like kind of specific to me and my company then we're going to need to create custom fields for that.
04:12 Now in this video we're not going to talk about custom fields there's a separate video and help article dedicated to that so if you need help with that just look to that reference right there.
04:27 Tags though You don't need to create before they're just going they're going to import They're gonna they're gonna automatically be added as they're imported and also, one last thing here, uhm, for picklists, in other words, a field that has set values where you can select multiple uhm, the way that
04:56 you, in our system, import multiple values there would be with a comma and a space between the values So, we've got an example pick list here, and let's say that for this example it's going to be 3 and 1 or something like that for the values of 3 as well as 1 being selected here.
05:20 You just give it that comma, that space, and that will import perfectly. Also, uhm, you need to, just look, the subject of duplicates is a big one.
05:37 And our system uses unique identifiers to tell it whether somebody is a unique contact or a new contact that needs to be created.
05:50 The most common fields that will do this is email and phone number, especially like mobile phone number. So, what will happen, is our system will, when importing, first check, does this email already exist in the system, or phone, or what have you.
06:12 If no, it'll create a new contact. If yes, if this does already exist in the system, it's going to just simply look for new information, but it won't duplicate the contact.
06:26 So, what will happen is if there is new information, like a new street address, it's going to update that. And you can actually use this function to mass update contacts in the system.
06:40 By simply importing the unique identifier for your contacts and the new information that you want to update. Additionally, any fields that are set as unique, because that is an attribute you can add to a field, those will now become unique identifiers.
07:01 So, you're not stuck with just email and mobile phone for unique identifiers. Alright, enough about spreadsheets. Let's move on to the import itself.
07:17 So you're first going to need to navigate to Contacts in that left sidebar. Down at the bottom here, you can see Import.
07:32 Let's click on it. Now there are two different ways to import contacts in the system. One of them is just the Contacts import, and then the other one is the Contact Lists import.
07:50 They both do the same first thing, which is import contacts, but contact lists, if you choose that, it will import your contacts.
08:00 and put them all into a list. And, I, when in doubt, especially if it's a lived-in account, where you have a whole bunch of data already, the Contact Lists import can be a little bit cleaner, even if you don't need a contact list of those people, because you then have a sort of, like, segmented list
08:28 of everybody who you imported, so on the off chance that there's an issue with your import, and maybe you want to delete all of those contacts.
08:40 You've now got, like, a really easy way to do that. So, when in doubt, I like the Contact Lists method.
08:51 So, let's, uh, let's import this list that I've been, uh, that I've been showing you. So, uhm, so yeah, after we click on Contact Lists, like, Import Contact Lists, You can first of all, if you're in a multi-user account, you can actually import for another contact.
09:15 So if you're an admin and you want to import for somebody else, you don't need to access their account. You can just select them.
09:22 And then this grey box right here, you can either click to browse or drag and drop your file on top of it.
09:33 Now, uh, there, now there are a few things that will pop up here. So, at the very top here, we see a validation of the file type that was being used.
09:48 In most cases, you can just simply ignore this. It is, it's just a validation and also it's useful for support scenarios where maybe you're having an issue.
10:00 issue with importing. Next, we see a check for required fields. So, this is going to show you the system required fields, which is in this case, just first name or email.
10:19 And then it'll also show you any required fields that you have set, because as a user, you're able to set any field you like in the system as required, which then means that you can't create any contacts that don't have data in that field, even by import.
10:39 So this is very useful. For, uh, making sure we have all of the required data for the import. Moving down, you can see that we're able to set the list name because we're importing as a contact list.
10:55 So we can give that contact list a name. And then next, we're able to, uh, map all of the fields.
11:06 So on the left here, we can see the CSV headers. That's going to be the stuff that is showing in that top row of our file.
11:15 And then we see map to Vive Cloud fields. Which is going to be the Vive Cloud fields that we're going to be sending this data to.
11:25 Now, you'll see drop, the, first of all, the system will take a, take a first swing at mapping stuff automatically.
11:36 But you are always going to want to check this just to make, just to be sure. And if you see drop column, that is going to be Basically, the import is not going to actually import that data unless you select something else.
11:52 So, you can select drop column if you wanted to skip over a column of your file, but if we do that, If do want this data to be imported, we need to choose something that's not drop column.
12:06 Now, uh, when we are selecting which field to map a column to, note that there is this, uh, little search bar up here.
12:18 And this is going to be your best friend when you're importing because you don't need to go scrolling through all of the system fields, you know, you're able to just search for what it is you're looking for so I just start to type first name and it brings up first name last name and I'm just able to
12:40 move forward like so. This is also really useful for phone because there's a whole bunch of different system phone numbers and, or, or fields for phone numbers so you're able to just pull up all the different ones, make sure you're choosing the right one.
13:01 And so, I'm going to map all of these, but I'm going to need to make sure that we are doing customer type, and there we go.
13:17 So we actually don't even have a custom field for that. I'm just going to map that to anywhere so that, uh, we can move forward with this.
13:30 All right. So now, let's move that over. Um, now we've got something that is a decision for us. It is, um, you got a couple of options for how, for how the system will handle values for drop-downs and picklists because those are fields that have set values to them, you get to decide how the importer
13:58 is going to handle any any values for those fields that are unknown to it. Uh, anything that's not already set for that custom field.
14:11 So you get to decide if it, if it finds a value for a custom field that is not already in the system, will it just not import that data or is it going to add those as new values for that custom field, system-wide.
14:30 So, yeah, basically, I think when in doubt, you're probably going to want to add those new values as options. Uh, but you are going to want to be careful, you know, if this is a large amount of data that you have, uh, and there is, uh, a lot of different options and they might be kind of disorganized
14:53 in your, uh, file, then maybe you don't want to import those. Also, in that scenario, you might want to clean your data up too.
15:00 Uh, clean data in, clean data out. Uh, but I digress. Uhm, so you can, you just need to choose what you're going to do there.
15:14 And let's see. Okay, I chose the wrong. There we go. So, there we go. I was, uh, not doing the, uh, required field.
15:37 So, now let's go to the, we're going to now test the import itself. All right, so what you're able to do here is then test the import and just preview what this what information is going to be actually imported.
16:01 And it lets you confirm that, like, everything is mapped correctly, that your formatting looks good, and it also lets you confirm whether contacts are going to be created or updated.
16:19 You know, like, what, what I was, uh, referencing earlier with the unique, uh, unique identifiers and whether a contact's created or updated that way.
16:30 So, just take a look here, make sure that this is all that you expect and if it is. You can then hit Process Import.
16:50 And you'll see a confirmation in the upper right corner telling you that your list has been imported. Now, something that is a very important best practice, especially if you are looking to send a mass communication to this list is you need to verify that everything looks good.
17:16 So we're going to be going to, in this case, our contact list. By the way, this is another, uh, bonus of using the import contact list is that it just makes it really easy to verify what has been uploaded.
17:36 So we're going to go into our contact list. And you can, uh, you can certainly just click into your contacts, but a nice and easy way to just roll through these and just spot-check a few is by hitting that quick view button and you can then review that all of your data looks good.
18:01 Everything is looking good here. Check the other contact, the other contact, and, uh, and then this way we can really be confident that everything is, uh, as it should be.
18:17 Now, uh, import mistakes do happen. So if that, if that happens and it's a mystery to you why your import didn't go as expected, then for sure reach out to our support team and we'll be happy to help you for support issues that involve Imports, you're, uh, just send us the import file itself, uh, as
18:47 well as pointing out why, uh, your import, you know, like what it is about your import that, uh, that didn't go as expected.
18:56 And then we'll be happy to take a look at that and help you. So there we go. Uh, that is how you import contacts into VibeCloud.
19:06 If you have any questions about it, reach out to us. We'll be more and happy to help. Thanks.