Text files are not supported for contact import.

1. .xls, .xlsx (Excel documents)
   
2. .csv (Comma separated values) 
   

How should the excel files be?

• Each record should be stored in a single row with its fields in different columns.

Tips to remember while importing the excel files:

• Column headers should not exceed 255 characters.
• File size should not exceed 30 MB.
• Avoid using hyperlinks in email addresses.
• Add email addresses under the appropriate column headers only.
• When saving an Excel file, the format should be saved as MS Excel 95 or later.
• When importing an Excel file, make sure to keep contacts on one sheet.
• Unexpected errors may occur if an XLS file contains any special controls, combo filters, or images embedded within it.
• Checkbox field value should be true or false.
• Date values must be in mm/dd/yyyy format. Dates in any other format will be ignored.
• DateTime values must be in mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss format. Date Time values in any other format will be ignored.
• By default, character encoding is UTF-8 (Unicode). Make sure you provide the correct character encoding if your import file requires a different character code.
• We recommend that you test your import with a sample file before you import the actual data.
• Though we support Excel files, there is a possibility that it may not work due to other unknown errors. If this happens, we suggest converting your Excel file to a .CSV file and trying the import again.
  

How should the CSV file be?

• It is important that a CSV file must have one record per line. Otherwise, the system will not accept your file.
• Make sure the fields are separated by commas. When two fields are not separated by a comma, the file will not be imported.

Problems that can arise while importing contacts:

• Missing “@” symbol – For example, "jane.doegmail.com" is missing the “@” symbol.
• Missing "." – For example, "Patrick@yahoocom" is missing the period.
• Spacing in File – This could be due to the extra space present at the beginning of your list. The best way to prevent this error is to make use of the TRIM function to remove all spaces from the text.
• Email address with more than 6 characters after the last dot — For example, jane.doe@zylker.incostica
• Non-English characters
  

Subscription Type

1. Marketing: These contacts are ready to receive email campaigns and they have shown their interest in receiving email campaigns or expressed explicit consent to receive campaigns.
   
2. Non-marketing: These customers have not subscribed to receive email campaigns.
   
3. Unsubscribed: These contacts are no longer interested in receiving email campaigns. You can also manually add contacts to the Unsubscribed subscription type. You can retrieve or reactivate these contacts if required. 

Note: You can only change the subscription type from unsubscribed to marketing or non-marketing for the contacts added by you. You cannot change the subscription type for those contacts who have unsubscribed on their own unless they resubscribe.

How to import contacts from files in your system/computer?

1. From the Navigation Toolbar to the left, select View Contacts under Contacts menu.
2. Click on Add Contacts.
3. Select Import from computer under Add Contacts menu.
   
   
   
   
4. In the given space, you can either drag and drop a file or click inside it to select a file from the desired location in your computer and click Upload.
   
   
   
   
5. Check for the correct mapping of fields in the slide-in that appeared. You can also map fields manually.
6. Select the Subscription type under the Subscription details. If you have chosen the subscription type as Marketing, choose a topic the contact might be interested in.
7. Select a Contact source and a List the contact should be imported to. These data are optional.
8. Click Import.
   
   
   
   
9. The Import process will begin and you will be notified when it's complete.

How to import contacts from files stored in the cloud?

1. From the Navigation Toolbar to the left, select View Contacts under Contacts menu.
2. Click on Add Contacts.
3. Select Import from cloud under Add Contacts menu.
   
   
   
   
4. Select a cloud drive and choose a contact file to import. You can choose from Zoho Workdrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive. You have to authenticate the chosen drive before you can proceed with the import.
   
   
   
   
5. Check for the correct mapping of fields in the slide-in that appeared. You can also map fields manually.
6. Select the Subscription type under the Subscription details. If you have chosen the subscription type as Marketing, choose a topic the contact might be interested in.
7. Select a Contact source and a List the contact should be imported to. These data are optional.
8. Click Import.
   
   
   
   
9. The Import process will begin and you'll be notified when it's complete. 
   

Updating the subscription type of existing contacts

You can update the subscription type of existing contacts via import (both by cloud and computer).

Consider you have 500 contacts in your import file, out of which 200 contacts are already present in your Zoho Marketing Automation account. But for these 200 contacts, you want to change the subscription type from Non-marketing to Marketing. In such scenarios, instead of updating the subscription type of these contacts manually, you can do it during the import thereby providing you a faster and smoother process. After you've chosen the file for import either from your computer or from a cloud service, you can tick the Update subscription type for existing contacts checkbox.

Once the import process is completed, the existing subscription type for those 200 contacts will be overwritten.

Import Summary

Import Summary is the page that appears after your contacts get imported. This page will show the summary of your imports including details like the number of records newly added, skipped, updated.

Total Records - The number of records present in the file that you just imported.

Newly Added - The number of records that have been newly added to your Zoho Marketing Automation account after the successful import.

Updated - The number of existing records in your Zoho Marketing Automation account that have been updated or overwritten with new information.
Skipped - The number of records that were not imported due to various reasons mentioned here.

When you click on the More Actions button at far right of an import summary, you can download the list of newly added and/or skipped contacts. If no records were added, updated, or skipped for an import, this button will not appear for that particular import summary.

It is also possible to access the Import Summary page in two other ways:

1. You can go to Contacts from Navigation Toolbar and select View Contacts. Click on the More Actions button at top right next to Add Contacts button and choose Import Summary.
   
   
   
   
2. You can click on the bell icon at top right of your Zoho Marketing Automation account. Choose the notification related to the import summary. This will take you to the import summary page.
   
   
   
   
   

How to add a single contact?

1. From the Navigation Toolbar to the left, select View Contacts under Contacts menu.
   
2. Click on Add Contacts.
   
3. Select Single Contact under Add Contacts menu.
   
   
   
   
4. Fill in the basic contact information like First name, Last name, Email address, Title, Mobile, etc. Either the Email address or last name or contact number should be filled to add a contact.
   
5. Select the Subscription type under the Subscription details,
   
1. If you have chosen the Subscription type as Marketing, choose a topic the contact might be interested in.
   
2. Select a lawful mode of communication if your organization is compliant with GDPR.
   
6. Scroll to fill in optional data. Select a Contact source and a List the contact should be imported to. 
   
7. Click Save and New or Save and Close.