If you want to import multiple contacts at once, you can use the import function in Smart.pr. This is particularly useful during the setup of your account. You can find the import function by clicking the plus sign in the middle column in the address book and then choose Import contacts. In this article, these steps on how to import a press list are described in detail.
Guidelines for the import file:
For optimal import of these files, it is important to pay attention to the following:
The import function only works with one of the following formats: .csv .txt. xls. xlsx. We recommend working with Excel.
Make sure the Excel file contains only one sheet.
Make sure that every e-mail address occurs only once, to prevent duplicate contacts. In order to do this, first sort your column with e-mail addresses in alfabetical order and mark dubble values. Thereafter you can easily see what contacts need to be merged.
Do not shorten first names to initials, this will affect your personalized mailings.
Remove all unnecessary characters around the email address, like: ' < > " ;
When you add a column 'List', with each contact labeled with the desired list names (like Economy and/or Newspaper), the system automatically creates lists with similar names. The contacts will be placed in the corresponding lists.
Multiple email addresses, media, phone numbers, websites or list names in a cell can be separated by a comma.
Ensure that the websites or URLs in your document always start with 'http://', otherwise you will get an error message during the import. (It is possible to add this data during the import for each contact, but it is easier when the correct information is already in the Excel sheet)
By adding a column called 'Note' you can include valuable information with every individual contact which will show under the 'Notes' tab in their profile in Smart.pr. Do you want to add more notes to one contact? Add an extra column to your Excelsheet en chose the option 'Note' for every column where you have notes.
How do I divide the information over the columns?
When uploading your Excel file, it is important to indicate how the file should be read. You can do this by using the dropdown menu in the import feature. With this dropdown menu you can indicate which information a column contains, therefore it is important that the import file contains the same categories as those used in Smart.pr. These categories are as follow:
First name / Last name / Title / Gender / Job / Media* /Organization* / Phone* / Email* / Website or Social Media URL* / Street / Zipcode / City / Country / List* / Notes
*Within these categories it is possible to place multiple values in the same cell. These values must be separated by a comma.
You can always make changes in the contact information after importing them in Smart.pr.
Adding contacts to lists through your import sheet
During the import it is already possible to indicate to which lists in your address book a contact should be added. Use a separate column in your Excel sheet ('List') and fill in the desired list(s) for each contact (so each row in your sheet), separated by commas. In the pop-up menu of the import function, you can select the option List for this column. The software will then create a list for every value in this column. In the example below John will be added to the lists PR, Amsterdam and Influencer.
You can also already determine the category where these lists will be placed in. You do this by putting the name of the category (for example: Netherlands) before the list name (for example: Amsterdam) like this: Netherlands::Amsterdam.
Caution: You have to do this for every list name, even if they are in the same column (seperated by comma), for example: Netherlands::Amsterdam, Netherlands::Rotterdam.
Import template
Below you can download an import template as Excel sheet. In this file you will find all possible fields (as columns) that can be imported. By matching your data with the columns in the import template, the importing of contacts will go smoothly.