Import data from a CSV file

When working with multiple sources of data, you usually are dealing with files and records that you need to use in your marketing reports and campaigns to analyze a comprehensive set of data. With Sitefinity Insight, you can easily import contact and interaction data by uploading CSV files. You can create the CSV files from any data file, for example, an Excel file or a text file.

You can import data:

• Collected by third-party companies or systems
• Regular imports of data
  For example, your company may be using third-party software for conducting webinars. To communicate with the participants, the software company provides you with an Excel sheet with email addresses, other contact details, and participation details for all registered participants.
• One-time data import
  For example, you purchased a collection of 10 000 leads relevant to your business. Data is provided to you in a text file. You need to easily import leads’ information into your marketing system.
• Data you manually collected
  For example, you participated in an event where you networked with other people who may well be leads and opportunities for your company. You need to reflect their contact details in your system and use them in your marketing reports and campaigns.

NOTE: You can also import data directly from a third-party server. For more information, see Data sources and data.

PREREQUISITES: The data in the CSV file must have a specific format. For more information, see CSV file format.

To upload data from a CSV file, perform the following:

1. In Sitefinity Insight, in the top menu, click Administration.
2. Open your data center.
3. Navigate to Data imports » Manual.
4. Click Import data.
5. Click Select a CSV file.
   During the upload, the Verifying… prompt appears, and Sitefinity Insight validates the file you are importing. If the CSV import file is valid, no errors or warnings are displayed.
6. Click Continue.
   
7. Select a data source for the data.
   • To create a new data source, click Data source » New.
   • To select from labels you have already used, click Data source » Existing, and select it from the dropdown box.
     For more information, see Data sources for importing CSV files.
8. If any warnings are found, a Warning message appears explaining the issues found with the CSV file. Review the data and decide whether to fix or ignore them.
   • If your data is valid, click Import.
   • If you want to fix your data, click Cancel and restart the procedure from Step 3.
   • If any errors are found, the import procedure is stopped. Fix the data in your CSV file, click Go back, and restart the procedure from Step 4.
     
     IMPORTANT: When importing a file with contact data and another file with the interactions of these contacts, the data source that you set during the imports of the two files must be the same.
9. To finalize the import process, click Import.

RESULT: The data is imported, and the Data centers administration dashboard appears.