Bulk Import of Private Contacts

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Modified on: Thu, 1 Dec, 2022 at 7:51 PM

The Cision Communications Cloud allows you to import Private Contacts in bulk from a spreadsheet.  This option allows you to quickly import and leverage a list you may have built manually over time or within another system. 

When beginning the bulk import process, you must select the data group to which you want to add the contacts. If your system is not partitioned into data groups, you do not need to worry about this step. Click here to learn more about data groups in the Cision Communications Cloud.

To select the data group you want to add Private Contacts, click the triangle next to the current data group. Select the data group to which you want to add from the list. Again, if you do not see a list of data groups, you can skip this step!

Once you have selected a data group, you can begin the import process by navigating according to the following steps:

1. Select the Influencers tab.
2. Click on the Add New option.
3. Choose Bulk Import.
4. Click the link to Download the CSV (spreadsheet) template. We highly recommend you use the CSV template provided to ensure the best results. Consider copying and pasting existing information into the template if you have a spreadsheet of Private Contacts and their related information.
5. Add your Private Contacts and their related information to the CSV file.  NOTE: Last Name and Country are required fields for every contact in the CSV file. The additional fields are optional: First Name, Email Address, and List(s). The Lists field refers to the name(s) of influencer lists to which the Private Contact should be added. If a new list is named in the CSV file, the list will be created, and the Private Contact will be added to the named lists as part of the import process.
6. Click the Upload button. Once you select this button, the system will enable you to find and select the CSV file you want to import.
7. Click the Import button to complete the process.

Populating the CSV Template Properly:

We highly recommend you use the CSV template provided to ensure the best results. If you have an existing spreadsheet of Private Contact information, consider copying and pasting existing information into the template. Within the template itself, you can add information for 5,000 Private Contacts. If you have more than 5,000 Private Contacts to upload, repeat the import process with a new template. 

The below example is what the template will look like when downloaded and opened. 

The data columns must remain in order, or the import will not be successful. You can add the following information for each Private Contact in the CSV template:

• First Name
• Last Name (required)
• Email Address 
• Country (required)- Country must be entered to match how the Cision database lists the country name. Example: United States must be written as “United States,” while the UK must be written as “United Kingdom.” If unsure, you can search by Location Country on the Influencer Search page to see how to enter it within the field.
• List(s)- The Lists field refers to the name(s) of influencer lists to which the Private Contacts should be added. If a new list is named in the CSV file, the list will be created, and the private contact will be added to the named lists as part of the import process. More than one list can be entered by separating each list name with a semi-colon (;).

Saving the Template and Preparing for Import:

Once you have added all Private Contact information to the template, you will want to save it as a CSV file, as only a CSV file can be uploaded to the system. As a result, if you download the template provided in Excel or another spreadsheet application, you will need to save the file type as CSV before uploading it to the Cision Communications Cloud. We highly recommend you use the CSV template provided to ensure the best results. If you have an existing spreadsheet of Private Contacts and their related information, consider copying and pasting information into the template.

What to Expect During and After Import:

During Import, the system does not attempt to find matches between your Private Contact information and existing media contact records. This means that your organisation must update the contact information for each Private Contact added to the system due to the import. Click here to learn how to edit Private Contact information within the Contact Record. Additionally, if a Private Contact is listed twice in your CSV template, it will be added twice to your Cision database. Since Outlet information is not part of the template, a connection between the Private Contacts and their respective Outlets is not made as part of the import. Finally, if the upload determines any error in the file (headers out of order, etc.) as you import, you will receive error messages indicating the issue. If errors result, you can make corrections in the file and re-upload it. If the upload is successful, you will receive a confirmation message.

The import process creates each contact as a Private Contact in your Cision database. Based on the information you added to the template, you can Search for Private Contacts like any other media member in the database. Click here to learn more about Searching for Media Contacts.