Importing Leads into an Event

Relevant to: Event Lead Management

In addition to using the Integrate Events mobile app, you can populate an Event with leads by uploading a CSV file in the dashboard. This is useful when you have leads from virtual events and those where the Event Lead Management system was not used for lead capture.

The benefits of importing leads into the Event Lead Management system include keeping all your lead data in the dashboard, where it can be searched and managed. Importing a spreadsheet of leads will trigger your usual event workflows such as sending out any follow-up emails and/or sending leads to your integrated Marketing Automation or CRM system.

Importing leads into an Event
- For new Events or existing Events that have not captured any leads yet
- For existing Events that have already captured leads
Field requirements and validations on uploaded leads
- Formatting data for fields that accept multiple values and checkboxes
  - Radio buttons
  - Checkboxes and fields that accept multiple responses
Frequently Asked Questions

For new Events or existing Events that have not captured any leads yet

1. Create or open the Event where you would like to upload leads.

2. Click on Upload a file....

You can click 'Download an example leads file' to download a sample spreadsheet.
See Tips on your CSV file for advice on how to format your spreadsheet.

3. Select the relevant CSV file and skip to step 4.

For existing Events that have already captured leads

1. Create or open the Event where you would like to upload leads.

2. Click the Actions drop-down menu and select Upload Leads.

3. Select the relevant CSV file.

See Tips on your CSV file for advice on how to format your spreadsheet.

4. Map the headings (using the drop-down menus) to the corresponding form fields.

For example, the column containing email addresses would be mapped to the 'email' field in your form. Data that isn't mapped to your form can be discarded.

You must map Email and Full name (or First name and Last name).
These are required fields and you will see an error if you attempt to import leads without them.

5. Click Import to add the leads to your Event.

Tips on your CSV file

Your spreadsheet should be formatted with the following columns:

First name | Last name | Email | Any other columns that relate to your form fields

or:

Full name | Email | Any other columns that relate to your form fields

To ensure your CSV file is read correctly by the Event Lead Management system, please use the following settings:
- Encoded as UTF-8 - you can usually find this in the Save As dialogue box.
- With commas set as the delimiter (separator) - if you don't have this set as the default, you can change this in the computer settings:

Windows	Mac
1. In Microsoft Windows, click the Start button, and then click Control Panel. 2. Open the dialog box for changing Regional and Language settings. 3. Type a new separator in the List separator box [this needs to be a comma] 4. Click OK twice.	1. Go to System Preferences, click on Language & Region 2. Click on Advanced… and set the Number Separators to a comma 3. Click OK.

After you change the list separator character for your computer, all programs use the new character as a list separator.
You can change the character back to the default character by following the same process.

When working with extended Latin characters:

If you are uploading a CSV spreadsheet that contains extended Latin characters (eg. ß é ö æ), it is advised to use Google Sheets for the most compatible formatting. To save a spreadsheet as CSV within Google Sheets, choose File > Download as > CSV.

If you have issues with extended Latin characters in a spreadsheet, please contact the Support Team.

Field requirements and validations on uploaded leads

Each lead in the spreadsheet you upload must contain at least:
- A full name (or a first name and last name)
- A valid email address
Any lead that does not contain these fields will not be imported during upload - invalid lead(s) will be excluded and only other valid lead(s) imported.

You can upload and map data against any of your Event form fields - however form rules, logic checks and validation will not be applied to the spreadsheet data. It is therefore very important that you have checked all the values before importing.
- If for example, you have a required field set in the Event form and it is mapped to a column in the spreadsheet. A corresponding value is left empty in the spreadsheet and then uploaded to the Event. This would result in the empty value being imported and stored as part of the lead. You will not be notified of this, even though the validation check would inform the user of this requirement when attempting the same in the mobile app.

Data formatting for fields that accept multiple values and checkboxes

Radio buttons

Radio buttons by their nature can only be set to have a single value, so these require you to upload a text value that exactly matches one of the values you entered in the Event Form Builder.

Capital letters and spaces matter.
It is advisable to copy and paste the value from the form builder if you are uncertain.

Checkboxes and fields that accept multiple responses

For all fields that accept multiple responses like checkboxes, the selected responses should be separated with a single comma, with no white space between.

If the checkbox only has one value, use TRUE (or 1) to set as checked, or FALSE (or 0) to set as not checked.

If you have configured the field to work with a different key using the semi-colon method (eg. United Kingdom;UK) you must instead only use the value on the right hand side of the semi-colon, and not the text value to the left hand side of the semi-colon.

Field type	Desired result	Appearance in CSV
Checkbox with 1 option	Checked	TRUE
Checkbox with 1 option	Unchecked	FALSE
Field with 3 options: Product A Product B Product C	Product A & Product C both selected	Product A,Product C
Field with 3 options, using the semi-colon method: Product A;PRODUCT001 Product B;PRODUCT002 Product C;PRODUCT003	Product A & Product C both selected	PRODUCT001,PRODUCT003

Check the values in your CSV file for redundant spaces and tabs if you are having trouble importing a file or or getting values to upload and set the right value.

If you do not observe existing validation rules on fields, the value will not show up when you preview the imported lead in the dashboard. However, the value will still be stored upon upload and included in any export file that is created.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will you de-duplicate or merge records on import?
No. Duplicate leads will not be created and records will not be merged when you import leads from a CSV file. For example, if you import the same spreadsheet of 10 leads twice, you will see 20 leads listed inside the Event, and it will trigger all your integrations and emails again each time you run the import.

Can you upload leads into check-in enabled events?
For check-in enabled events, you can upload Pre-registration data rather than leads.

For more help, get in touch with our Support Team or your Customer Success Manager.

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