In email marketing, a CSV file is usually the simplest way to move a contact list from one tool to another.<\/p>\n\n
For example, from a CRM<\/a> to an email marketing tool.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n CSV stands for Comma-Separated Values, which is exactly what it sounds like: values separated by commas.<\/p>\n\n In practice, it’s a plain text file that represents data in rows and columns, like a table.<\/p>\n\n Each column is separated from the rest by a comma, for example:<\/p>\n\n It’s a very widely used file format thanks to its compatibility with many existing tools.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Thanks to this compatibility, it’s a great help for transferring information between different tools.<\/p>\n\n The most frequent use is importing subscribers into an email marketing platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n So it’s very useful when you’re switching from one email marketing tool to another<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Or when you segment with your CRM and want to import that list to send a mailing to those contacts.<\/p>\n\n Also, if you already have a list in your email tool, you can enrich it by creating custom fields and importing new information you’ve gathered about those contacts.<\/p>\n\n Our recommendation is to first try importing CSV files that are as simple as possible.<\/p>\n\n For example, the essential field to have is the email<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n That will be the minimum column in your CSV.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Other fields you may find useful would be:<\/p>\n\n If you find a field that isn’t available, in Mailrelay you can create custom fields to store more information.<\/p>\n\n We cover this point in more detail here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Then, when importing, you just have to map each field to its corresponding CSV column and the system will import it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Important!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Make sure every row has the same number of columns. If a piece of data doesn’t exist, the column must still exist, but empty, for example:<\/p>\n\n If the columns don’t match, errors will occur when you try to import it.<\/p>\n\n You can use the first row as a header that indicates the column names, so you know which data goes in each column.<\/p>\n\n Important!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n If your list has accents or special characters like \u00f1, save the file in UTF-8 so it reads correctly when importing.<\/p>\n\n If you import a CSV with duplicate emails into Mailrelay, nothing happens: they’re detected and won’t be imported.<\/p>\n\n Likewise, if the contacts already exist in your account, when importing you’ll be able to decide what happens to them, whether they’re overwritten or ignored.<\/p>\n\nBut what is a CSV and why is it so widely used in online marketing<\/h2>\n\n
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What a CSV file is used for in email marketing<\/h2>\n\n
What a CSV file should look like to import contacts without errors<\/h2>\n\n
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What happens if there are duplicate emails in the CSV file?<\/h2>\n\n
Related entries<\/h2>\n\n
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