TABLE OF CONTENTS

How do I import contacts from a spreadsheet?


Pinpointe allows you to import your contacts from a spreadsheet. Pinpointe will read the data, and then copy the contact information into a contact database you select. Make sure you have a database already created or else you'll have to create a new one.

 

Here are a few basic rules to get you ready.


Prepare Your Spreadsheet for Importing


First, the top row in your spreadsheet needs to have the titles for each of your columns, also called fields. In the example below, the header row includes "Last-Name," "First-Name," and "Email Address" (Fig 1). 


Fig 1



Once you have checked your header row, you need to ensure that none of your data uses commas (i.e. ","). Data that uses commas will interfere with the way Pinpointe reads your spreadsheet. For most, this won't be an issue. You can delete any commas in your spreadsheet. If you absolutely need commas in your spreadsheet, Pinpointe allows you to change the field separator as described in later steps. [no longer true or was this an oversight when new import process was developed?]


Otherwise, now you can save your spreadsheet in .CSV (comma-separated value) format. It's like a regular spreadsheet, except it has all the formatting (e.g. bold fonts, column sizes, etc.) removed. This allows Pinpointe to accurately and intelligently read the contact information inside.


All spreadsheet programs have the capability to save your spreadsheet as a .CSV file. 


On both Windows and Mac, you would typically go to the File menu, then select Save As. When it asks you for the format, you would choose comma-separated; read more detailed instructions here on converting files to CSV) You will then upload this CSV spreadsheet to Pinpointe.


Uploading Your CSV File

Click the "Upload Contacts" icon link on the home screen (Fig 2).


Fig 2



You can also click the main "Contacts" tab and then select the "Import Contacts" option (Fig 3). 


Fig 3



Now, on the "Import Contacts from a File" screen, select the contact database you'd like to import your spreadsheet's contacts into by clicking on it. 


On the right side of the screen is where you will bring in your CSV file. Click the CSV icon "Click to browse files" to select your CSV file from your local system (Fig 4). 


Fig 4



Just above the outlined box where you will bring your CSV in is a check box that will allow you to add your imported contacts to any autoresponders you have created. Unless you are familiar with using autoresponders in your campaign, we suggest you leave this option unchecked. You may always add a database to an autoresponder campaign after the fact. 


When the file is finished importing, click the "Next" button.


PLEASE NOTE: During the import process, the system will check the number of contacts you are trying to import against your contact limit. If you are trying to import more contacts than you are permitted to based on your account level, you will see the following pop-up panel (Fig 5):


Fig 5



Please follow the instructions to allow the system to discount any duplicates. If you are still over your account limit, please contact our support department at support@pinpointe.com or by clicking the "Support" tab at the bottom of your account web pages and submit a support ticket. 


You will now be on the Import Contacts page where you will map over any field names from your CSV file to Pinpointe if necessary. The Pinpointe field names that the system will try and map to your CSV file header names are on the left (as indicated in the image), and your CSV header names are on the right. You will also see up to 3 contact examples of what info will be mapped to your contacts within your Pinpointe account. 


If the system is unsure of what Pinpointe field name to map to, it will show "Unmapped" in red. Click on the "Map" link at far left and a drop down list of options will appear (Fig 6). In this case, the correct selection would be "Email Address". Click the check box for that Header and then click the "Map" button at the bottom (Fig 7). 


Fig 6



Fig 7


After you click "Map" in the drop down panel, you should see that the system has successfully mapped over your selection.


There are situations where you may want the system to update contact information already in this database. For example, assume you have previously imported contacts into this database. As part of your contact information, you include telephone numbers. If you have captured a new phone number for a contact and elect to overwrite existing data, the new phone number will replace the previously imported number.


Note: When the main "Overwrite" option is checked, all the check boxes for every field in the column will also be selected (Fig 8). You can uncheck those specific fields you do not want to overwrite. Alternatively, you can elect NOT to check the primary overwrite box but rather only check the boxes for those data fields you want to update. Either method will work. 


If the Null Update column is checked, any contact with an empty (null) value in your CSV file will overwrite any existing data for that same contact in your database. Again, you may check the primary "Null Update" box which will select all field check boxes and then de-select those you do not want to change, or you may simply check the box for only those specific fields directly. 


Fig 8

 

When you are finished with all mapping options, please click the "Next" button near the bottom.


You are now on the "Import Contacts - ADD CONTACTS TO ONE OR MORE LISTS" page (Fig 9). This is where you can choose to create a list during the import process that would contain all the contacts you are importing into your database. You can also add your contacts to one or more existing lists. 


Note: The "Add contacts to one or more lists" option is NOT checked by default. We suggest, however, you always create a list during importation. This provides you a complete history of all contacts you import into your database(s) segregated by each import event.


Fig 9


Whether you elect to add your contacts to a list or not, when ready, click the "Next" button. 


Assuming you did wish to add your contacts to a list and checked the box to do so, you will see the screen presented below.


You will note the system provides you with a default list. To delete this list, simple click the "x" to the right of the name. If you wish to add your contacts to one or more existing lists, just position your cursor inside the name field. A drop-down menu of your existing lists will appear. 


If you wish to create a new list, click the "Create New List" button (Fig 10). After clicking the "Create New List" button, you will see this pop-up panel. Enter a name for your new list and if desired, an optional description. When finished, click the "Submit" button.


Fig 10


You will now see your newly created list in the field. When you're done, click the "Next" button.


On the next page, please enter your initials where indicated and then click the "Start Importing" button (Fig 11). 


Fig 11


When the system has completed the import process, you will see a summary of what transpired (Fig 12). 


Fig 12


If there's bad data found, click on "Click here for more information" for a report about the issues. In this example, you can see the system informing us that the email address contained an invalid character (a "#" symbol was inserted where the "@" should have gone) (Fig 13). You may also click the "download list of failed contacts" link to receive a CSV file of the contacts that failed to import.


Fig 13


Congratulations! You have successfully imported your contacts. 


You may go back to the "Manage Database(s)" section under the main "Contacts" menu tab and review your newly imported contacts within the database. If you added these contacts to a list during import, you may also view the list contents in the "Manage Lists" section.  


How do I create a new contact database?

A contact database is the primary repository that stores your subscribers. You must have at least 1 database, but you can create as many as you like. However, Pinpointe recommends only using one database and creating tagged lists and segments as a method to parse your subscribers into sub-groups. 


Companies often use different tagged lists when they want to group certain types of contacts together. For example, you might have one tagged list of contacts who registered directly on your website and another for those who you met at a trade show or signed up via a webinar.

 

To create a database, click the "Manage Database" icon on the home screen (Fig 14)


Fig 14



You can also click the main "Contacts" tab, and then choose the "Manage Database(s)" option (Fig 15):


Fig 15


On the next screen, click the 'New Contact Database' button (Fig 16).


Fig 16


Click the "Continue" button on the pop-up panel (Fig 17).


Fig 17

 


This will bring up the "New Contact Database" page. 


Note: You can move your mouse cursor over the small orange circles containing the italicized 'i'. Doing so will bring up an expanded description of each field.

  

Enter a name for your database (required) and a description (optional) in the provided fields (Fig 18).


Please Note: The name and description are what are displayed on the unsubscribe page, so please name accordingly.


Fig 18



Remaining fields:

  • Default Send-From Text: Recipients see this as the person or company the email came from. You might choose the sender's personal name, the company name or something the recipients will relate to. Avoid clinical descriptions such as "Discount Mailing List".
  • Default Send-From Email Address: Recipients see this as the email address that sent the message.
  • Default Reply-To Email Address: If a recipient clicks their "reply" button, their message will be addressed to this email account. It can be the same as the Send-From address above. Some customers choose to not allow replies by setting this to a mailbox that isn't monitored (e.g. noreply@company.com). If possible, you should set this to a monitored email address so as to provide another avenue of engagement to your customers.

Please Note: We highly recommend keeping your reply-to email address the same as your send-from address. Some email clients / spam filters now warn not to send the email when using the reply-to option if the reply-to email is a different (external) domain from the send-from email as this is considered a security risk.

  • Send event notification?: This option is checked by default and results in a notification email being sent to up to 5 different email addresses whenever a recipient subscribes, unsubscribes or submits a form. If no address is specified, will be sent to the Send-From email address. This option may be unchecked of course.
  • Send alert to: As noted above, you can specify up to 5 different email addresses to which the alert notification will be sent. If the "send event notification" is checked, this field cannot be empty. 


This next section of the page allows you to determine what fields (columns) will be included in your database and of these included fields, which ones you would like to see displayed when you view your database contacts. 


Every database includes basic fields such as "Email Address". 


The "Custom Fields" panel allows you to include other contact information such as First Name, Last Name, and Company (Fig 19). The more common custom fields are listed in the panel by default. You may check those you wish to include. 


Fig 19


You can also create new custom fields and add them to your database. Note there is no harm in selecting more fields than you will immediately use.


The "Visible Fields" panel allows to to select a subset of your custom fields that will be visible when you view your contacts' details in your database and any subsequent lists you create. 


This final section includes your company's information (Fig 20). Pinpointe is a CAN-SPAM compliant service, therefore accurate information is required for all outgoing emails. 


Fig 20



Once the required fields are filled in, click the "Save" button to continue.


If you return to the "Manage Databases" page, you will see your newly created database.


Receiving "Cannot Create New List(s)" Error

If you receive the error "Permission Denied - Please contact your administrator" when trying to create a new list, you've reached the default limit of lists you can create for your account. 


If you would like to increase this limit, please contact your account representative or send a request to support@pinpointe.com. 


Why am I receiving 'Invalid data' errors when importing a contact list?

If you receiving "invalid data" errors when importing a contact list, here are some common reasons why and how you can fix them.  


Your spreadsheet is in Excel's XLS format when it should be in CSV format.


To fix this, be sure to always import CSV files. When using Excel, you can choose Save As to save your file in a CSV format (Fig 21).


Fig 21


Email addresses have trailing spaces and/or special (hidden) characters


To fix this, simply remove the trailing spaces.


The last column of the CSV formatted spreadsheet has some empty cells. Pinpointe is getting caught up on if records that have an empty cell in the last column are incomplete or if they are actual errors.


If there are any empty cells in your last column, reorder the columns to make sure the last column does not have any empty cells. For example, you could take the column that includes email addresses and move it over to the last column.  


After fixing these problems, try reimporting your list!


If a contact signs up to multiple contact lists using a form will they receive multiple confirmation emails?

No. Your contacts will only receive one email to confirm their subscription with one link that confirms their status to all subscribed lists.


How do I export contacts who clicked on a specific link(s)?

There are two ways you can export contacts who have clicked on a specific link (or who have not clicked on any links):


  • Filter Results 
  • Create a Segment


Filter Results


On the main menu on the left, click Contacts -> Export Contact
(Fig 22).


Fig 22


To search a database, select Full Database or Custom Search, select the Database, and click on "Next" (Fig 23).


Fig 23

 


Now, you'll want to choose the Export Contact Status; typically, you'll want to select Active and click on "Continue" (Fig 24).


Fig 24

Now, you can specify how you want to filter the results of your export (Fig 25) . For example, in Email Address, we could type in "Smith" and our list of contacts to export would only include email addresses that had the word "Smith" in there. 


Fig 25


More fields to filter from can be added by clicking on the + button. To change from Email Address to another field, click on the drop-down box to select another field like "Clicked on Link" (Fig 26). 


Fig 26


Select what filters you want to add if needed. 


When you're all done, click on "Next". 


Now, we get to specify how to export our filtered list of Contacts (Fig 27). 


Fig 27




After specifying your Export Options, click on "Next" and you'll be directing to a screen where you can start exporting by clicking on "Start Exporting" (Fig 28). 


Fig 28



After the export process is complete, you'll be redirected to a screen where you can download the exported file. 


Fig 29 




Option #2: Create a Segment


On the left menu, go to Contact -> Search (Fig 29)


Fig 30 




On the Search for Contacts page, you can customize filter results. 

(Fig 31)


Fig 31


After picking and customizing which filters you want, like "Clicked on Link (URL)", click on the "Save as Segment" button (Fig 32) 


Fig 32



 On the Save as Segment window, give your Segment a name and click on "Save" (Fig 33). 


Fig 33

After landing on the Manage Segments page, find the Segment you just created and click on the "Export" link to the right under the Action column (Fig 34). 


Fig 34


When the exporting process is complete, you'll be notified that the contacts have been exported successfully (Fig 35). Click on the provided link to download the exported file. 


Fig 35


How do I export contacts who have opened a specific campaign?

There are two ways you can export contacts who have opened a specific campaign:


  • Filter Results 
  • Create a Segment


Filter Results


On the main menu on the left, click Contacts -> Export Contact
(Fig 36).


Fig 36


To search a database, select Full Database or Custom Search, select the Database, and click on "Next" (Fig 37).


Fig 37

 


Now, you'll want to choose the Export Contact Status; typically, you'll want to select Active and click on "Continue" (Fig 38).


Fig 38

Now, you can specify how you want to filter the results of your export (Fig 39) . For example, in Email Address, we could type in "Smith" and our list of contacts to export would only include email addresses that had the word "Smith" in there. 


Fig 39 


More fields to filter from can be added by clicking on the + button. To change from Email Address to another field, click on the drop-down box to select another field like "Clicked on Link" (Fig 40). 


Fig 40


Select what filters you want to add if needed. 


When you're all done, click on "Next". 


Now, we get to specify how to export our filtered list of Contacts (Fig 41). 


Fig 41




After specifying your Export Options, click on "Next" and you'll be directing to a screen where you can start exporting by clicking on "Start Exporting" (Fig 42). 


Fig 42



After the export process is complete, you'll be redirected to a screen where you can download the exported file (Fig 43). 


Fig 43 




Option #2: Create a Segment


On the left menu, go to Contact -> Search (Fig 44)


Fig 44 




On the Search for Contacts page, you can customize filter results. 

(Fig 45)


Fig 45


After picking and customizing which filters you want, like "Opened Email Campaign", click on the "Save as Segment" button (Fig 46) 


Fig 46



 On the Save as Segment window, give your Segment a name and click on "Save" (Fig 47). 


Fig 47

After landing on the Manage Segments page, find the Segment you just created and click on the "Export" link to the right under the Action column (Fig 48). 


Fig 48


When the exporting process is complete, you'll be notified that the contacts have been exported successfully (Fig 49). Click on the provided link to download the exported file. 


Fig 49


How do I export a list of opens for a given campaign date?

I have a campaign that I send periodically to various lists.  I would like to view the "Open" statistics for specific given dates for this campaign. How do I accomplish this?


Unfortunately, at this time, we do not offer the ability to export opens by a specific campaign send date. 


However, we do have the ability to export the statistics for Opens for a given campaign, but the statistics will be for all of the sends of a given campaign. To learn more, read the article How do I download contacts who have opened a specific campaign?


How do I merge databases?

Pinpointe allows you to merge two or more databases into a new, clean database. When complete, you will have the option to name/rename the new merged database.  


Operation Notes:

  • The newly created database does not carry along any historic data or statistics regarding email opens, campaigns sent, etc. The purpose of merging two or more lists is to create a new, clean database of active contacts.  
  • Bounced emails are not included in the newly created merged database. 
  • When merging is complete, the original databases will still remain. These databases still retain the historical information, including open and click statistics.

Note: If you delete the original source database - you will lose historical statistics and campaign results for the original lists you delete.  This includes any historical campaign statistics associated with the original lists, email queue logs associated with the original lists and per-contact event details such as clicks and opens.


To merge two or more databases, do the following:


Go to Contacts -> Manage Databases (Fig 50). 


Fig 50


Select the databases you wish to merge (Fig 52). 


Fig 52



In the "Choose an action" drop-down menu above the Database list, select "Merge the selected databases together" (Fig 53). 


Fig 53


On the Please Confirm window that pops up, click "OK" (Fig 54). 


Fig 54


After the merge action is complete, you'll be notified the databases have been merged together (Fig 55). 


Fig 55



When you return to the Manage Database screen, you'll see the new Merged database as a separate entry (Fig 56). 


Fig 56


How do I import data for a field with multiple checkbox values?

If you've created a custom field that uses multiple checkbox values, you may find that you are unsure of what format you need to import the data in for Pinpointe to recognize it. 


When using a checkbox field, use commas as separators between all checked (true) values (Fig 57). 


Fig 57


Can a subscriber subscribe to multiple databases (lists) at once?

Yes.


Create a form by going to Forms -> Create Form on the navigation menu on the left (Fig 58). 


Fig 58


When prompted to choose a Form Type, select Embedded Signup Form (Fig 59). 


Fig 59



In the Form Editor, click on the Select Lists tab (Fig 60). From here, you can select which lists you'd like to include in the form.


Fig 60




If you'd like to not give them the option but instead force them to be subscribed to multiple lists, you'll need to change the check boxes to hidden fields in your HTML code and make sure you "checked" them as the default value.




In this example, see the highlighted difference:


===================================================
<input type="checkbox" id="lists_34" name="lists[]" value="34">
===================================================

will become:
===================================================
<input type="checkbox" id="lists_34" name="lists[]" value="34" checked="checked" style="display:hidden" />
===================================================