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Import Contacts
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The Import Contacts start job schedules the automated import of a contact list into an existing Engage group.
The Whiteboard Audience and Import Contacts start jobs are only applicable for Scheduled and Recurring whiteboard plans.
This job adds contact data that you have stored on an FTP server to an existing Engage group.
The group into which you import the contacts becomes your whiteboard audience group.
The import file format can be XML or CSV format.
Select this job to schedule the import of contact data into your whiteboard audience once or at regular intervals. For example, import one time with a scheduled whiteboard or import once a week with a recurring whiteboard.
When you start a scheduled whiteboard with an import, you must select a waiting period of at least one hour. The Wait and Schedule steps create a delay between the start of the import and the next step on your plan. Import times can vary from a few minutes to several hours. For large imports, we recommend a waiting period of 24 hours.
Permissions
You need the relevant group and system permissions to use this automation. The import mode that you select determines which permissions are required.
511 Members: Import New Members
510 Members: Invite New Members
513 Members: Add Members With Welcome Message
514 Members: Add Members Without Welcome
506 Members: Remove Members
211 User Administration: Edit Profile Data for Any User Account
Target Group & Import Mode
Setting | Description |
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Target Group | Selects the group into which the data will be imported. |
Import Mode | Defines how the imported contacts and their profile data are added to the selected group. In the context of an import, Engage distinguishes between existing members, existing contacts, and new contacts.
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Source
Setting | Description |
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Encoding | Indicates the character encoding of import file. |
File Type | Identifies the file type of your import file. This selection determines how Engage parses data from the import file.
More Options:
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Source File | Defines the name of the data file you import. Automations that upload or import files from an FTP server process the specified files at the scheduled time, even if the source file is incomplete. For this reason, we recommend that you use a different file name or extension when transferring files to the server and rename the file with a script when transfer is complete. |
Credential Store Record | Defines the source location of the file, for example, an FTP server. |
Import Reports
Setting | Description |
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Send Import Summary | Sends an import summary in CSV format to up to 10 Engage system users. Click the symbol to open a list of available system users. Summary Contents:
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Send XML report to | Sends an import report in XML format to the selected system user. Click the symbol to open a list of available system users. The XML report format contains a brief summary of the import results. |
Upload Import Report to FTP | Uploads a detailed import report in XML or CSV format to the defined FTP server. You can specify the name of the file that Engage uploads. The CSV import report is exported in a zip archive and contains a individual csv files of the import results. Report Contents:
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Advanced
Setting | Description |
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Compression type | Defines the compression type of the imported file. Available options are:
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Enter a uniqueidentifier | Defines the unique identifier that Engage uses to sort data in the import file.
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Source Backup | Usually, Engage deletes the imported file as soon as the import is complete. If the imported data cannot be reproduced from a CRM or shop system, it is a good idea to make a backup copy when the import is finished.
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Related Topics
CSV Format for Contact Imports
XML Format for Contact Imports
Import Contacts and Data into Engage