Bulk Importing Contacts via CSV in Exponexa: Training Guide
Contacts & Opportunities
March 26, 2025
Jared Auld
This guide walks users through the process of importing contacts into Exponexa using a CSV file. It outlines key prerequisites—such as having admin access, proper CSV formatting, and required fields like email or phone number. The guide provides steps for preparing and cleaning your data, importing contacts using unique identifiers, and leveraging features like additional email support, custom field formats, and automated pipeline assignment.
Prerequisites:
1. Admin Role Required: Only users with the 'Admin' role can import and export contacts.
2. CSV File Requirements:
The import file needs to be a .csv file
Have only one sheet/tab within the spreadsheet
Be smaller than 50MB (Note: a typical .csv file with 4 columns and 10,000 records will be ~500kb in size)
The first row should NOT be blank! Include a header row in which at least one column header corresponds to a field in the system.
Step 1: Prepare Your CSV File
Contacts must have at least a contact id, phone number or email associated with them
See “Accepted Custom Field Format Requirements” at the bottom of the document
If adding time zones, they must match the Supported Timezones list
To add items to the “Show Checkbox” the field must match the show name listed exactly
Make sure that at least one of your headers matches the fields inside Exponexa
To do this you can copy the title of a field from one of the contacts already in the system
When adding a phone number that requires a "+" sign, please add an apostrophe at the beginning of the number, like this: '+191668128779 (Correct format).
File Upload and Signature Fields are NOT supported when importing
Full list of Error Codes are listed at bottom of document
Step 2: Clean Your Data
Check for duplicates to maintain data integrity.
Video Guide on Cleaning Data: Watch How to Clean Your Data Before Import
Step 3: Import Your Contacts
Select a unique identifier for each contact (email or phone).
Choose the import option: Add New, Update Existing, or Both.
Video Guide on Importing Contacts: Detailed Contact Import Instructions
Please Note:
When selecting the unique identifier (Email,Phone) The system will only use identifier selected. It will not use the phone number during the import.
Breaking down advanced filters:
Add New and Update Existing Contact Records: This means that it will create new contacts, and if you have any leads already in the system, it will update them with the information from your CSV file. The system will check for existing contacts in the account based on the unique identifier (Email, phone) you selected
Add New Contact Records: This will create new contact records and will not update existing contacts in the location
Please Note:
While the default unique identifier is Email, our system allows you to choose fields other than Email for de-duplication purposes during the Bulk CSV Upload
Bulk Import Multiple Emails per Contact:
You can leverage the power of effective contact manageme
nt with our new 'Additional Emails' feature, complemented by the Bulk Import capability. Seamlessly map, manage, and maintain multiple emails for each contact, enhancing data handling. Our innovative approach simplifies large-volume data management, ensuring a streamlined and efficient process for users.
Conditions to import:
To ensure contact uniqueness, both the primary and additional email (if selected as the first preference) will be used. In cases where multiple duplicate matches are found for an additional email, that specific email will be left out.
Any invalid emails in the additional fields will be removed, leaving only valid ones for a contact.
If the email column in the CSV is blank, but the additional email column has values, the first additional email will serve as the primary email.
When updating an existing contact, the specified emails in the CSV will be combined with the ones already associated with the contact.
The "Additional Email" column can hold a maximum of 10 email IDs, with only the first 10 being considered if more are included.
Steps to Import:
Within the Contact Import section, users will discover a new system field named “Additional Emails.”
This feature enables users to map all their extra emails.
During the import process, it's necessary to include all additional emails in one column. These should be separated by commas (,), slashes (/), or semicolons(;), and then mapped to the “Additional Emails” field in the system.
FAQ
My CSV list is mixed; some contacts have an email or phone #, and some have both an email and phone. How should I proceed? Now we can find existing contact based on the secondary field, so if the contact record has only the phone number, we can also upload them!
Some of my contacts have multiple emails and or phone numbers. How should I proceed? If a contact has multiple phone numbers or emails, please split the contacts into multiple so they will be uploaded.
Example:
Original with two phone numbers columns:
Cleaned for upload version:
Keep the email blank for the second lead with a different phone number because it will create duplicates when we upload contacts with phone numbers as the unique field.
Important note for people that use Keap:
The phone field from the CSV export in Keap is incompatible with Exponexa. The parenthesis '()' and dashes '-' make it incompatible. We have to highlight the entire column in the CSV file and ensure it is numbered in, remove any parenthesis and dashes, and then we can import without corrupting the data in the CRM.
When importing the phone numbers, I get the error code 1007 'invalid required property':
Add a country code for numbers outside the account country when importing numbers. If the account country is set to the US, you won't need to add a +1 (US country code) to the imported phone numbers. However, if you're importing numbers outside of the US, you will need to add the country code
I.e. An account that has set its business location to the US would need to add '+44 to call the UK. If the Accounts country is set to a different country other than the US (like - the UK, Australia, etc.), to call/SMS US numbers you would need to add a'+1 to the country's area code within the CSV File.
I'm trying to import a CSV with a DND (do not disturb) Column, but all contacts are set to DND for ALL channels.
When importing contacts with a DND column within your CSV, please note that the contacts will be DND for ALL the channels.
I'm trying to import a CSV with Notes, and I cannot generate more than one note per contact record.
As of now, Exponexa does not have any limit for CSV import for notes, and As per our current export behavior, we support Max of 255 Characters for the last note.
List of supported Time zones
Accepted Custom Field Format Requirements
Depending on the records you are importing, your file could include the following columns:
Date Picker
Acceptable formats
mm/dd/yyyy (e.g. 10/28/2020)
yyyy/mm/dd (e.g. 2020/10/28)
You can also replace '/' with '-' '.' and it'll recognize the uploaded fields as a Date field
MultipleOptions, Checkbox, Textbox List
Acceptable formats
Value1, Value 2, Value 3 ...... (e.g. Blue, Yellow, Green or Blue, Yellow, Green or Blue, Yellow , Green)
You can also replace ' , ' with ' ; ' ' . ' and it'll recognize the uploaded fields as the aforementioned field
File Upload, Signature
Not Supported
Contact Owner
To assign an owner to your contacts during the import, include the name of the 'User'
Acceptable formats
FirstName LastName (e.g. Logan Paul or logan paul)
LastName FirstName (e.g. Paul Logan or paul logan)
Note#1: Unless the user has both FirstName and LastName, the system will not recognize it during the upload
Tags
Acceptable formats
Value 1, Value 2, Value 3 ...... (e.g. Blue,Yellow,Green or Blue, Yellow, Green or Blue , Yellow , Green)
You can also replace ' , ' with ' ; ' ' . ' and it'll recognize the uploaded fields as the aforementioned field
DoNotDisturb
Acceptable formats
True or False ( true or false )
Yes or No ( yes or no )
Phone Number
For the vast majority of cases, as long as you format the phone numbers in E.164 (Ex: +1 1234567890) Exponexa will recognize it as valid- irrespective of the default Country
Additionally, if you have set the Country to the US, the following would work perfectly fine as well
The Contact Engagement Score is a numerical value that tracks how actively a contact interacts with a business. Each interaction impacts the score based on predefined rules. Positive actions like link clicks or payments increase the score, while negative actions like email bounces or unsubscribes reduce it. This ensures the score accurately reflects a contact’s engagement level.
This feature allows users to select specific contacts, customize the relevant information columns, and download a .csv file. This exported file can be used for transferring contacts between accounts, importing them into another system, or for other purposes, making contact management more efficient and hassle-free.
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