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Uploading Contacts into HubSpot for Marketing

Once you’ve successfully completed your HubSpot transition, you’re ready to upload your contacts into your HubSpot account. Follow these steps to ensure your contacts upload correctly into HubSpot and sync properly to Ensemble.

  1. Begin by downloading the standardized template and reviewing the essential guidelines, rules, and best practices for your database list here.
    ContactsUploadBestPractices
  2. Fill out the standardized template. Note that the Country field and Communication Channels fields are dropdowns. In the Communication Channels field, you can select Print Magazine, Digital, Direct Mail, or any combination of the three options.

    For Print Magazine, only select the number of printed magazines you are allocated. If you add more names than your allocation, only the first set of names, up to your allocation, will be used. For Digital and Direct Mail, you can assign these options to all of your contacts. If you need to opt someone out of marketing, there is a fourth communication channel titled "Opt out of all"

    ContactsUploadStandardizedTemplate
  3. Save the completed spreadsheet to a folder on your computer that is easy to access.
  4. Navigate to your HubSpot account. Hover over the left-hand navigation menu and click Contacts.

    Note: Only import contacts once you have completed the transition to HubSpot with Ensemble Marketing. If you import before you have synced and before we have pushed a contact over to you, you will not have the correct fields in your HubSpot account including communication channels.

    ContactsUploadHubSpotContacts
  5. Click Import in the top right corner.

    ContactsUploadHubSpotImport
  6. Click Import a File. ContactsUploadImportFromFiles

  7. Click Start Import.

    ContactsUploadStartanImport

  8. Select Contacts, then click Next in the bottom right corner.

    ContactsUploadSelectDataforImport

  9. Drag and drop your file, or select it from the folder where you saved it, to upload your contacts. Then, for choose how to import contacts, choose the appropriate option for your upload. 

    • Create and update Contacts: This option will create new contacts and update existing ones based on the email record.
    • Create new Contacts only: This option will only create new contacts and will not update existing ones.
    • Update existing Contacts only: This option will update only the existing contacts, based on the email, and will not create new ones.

    Once you've selected your file and updated the fields, click Next in the bottom right corner.

    Note: We recommend not deleting contacts. Instead, manage your contacts by removing communication channels. Only contacts with communication channels will be synced to Ensemble, and these channels determine the communications they receive (Print Magazines, Digital, and/or Direct Mail).

    ContactsUploadFiles-1

  10. Review the mapping and correct any errors or adjust missing fields. You can also select "Don't overwrite" for any fields you do not wish to import or update.

    |screencapture-app-hubspot-import-48429822-new-import-standard-2025-01-20-11_53_03

  11. You can also correct errors directly within HubSpot by clicking the yellow exclamation icon next to the errors. For example, as shown below, the spreadsheet we uploaded contains "NY" for state but HubSpot requires "New York," you can select "New York" by typing it into the field. HubSpot will then update all instances of "NY" to "New York".

    ContactsUploadFixImportError-2

    For Communication Channels, you’ll need to update the values from the file with the correct selections. Hover over the value, as shown below, to see which communication channels it refers to. You can then select the correct channels to replace it by adding each value individually under Replace With. Repeat this process for all combinations, and all instances will be updated accordingly.

    ContactsUploadFixImportErrorCommunicationChannels

  12. Once you have corrected any errors and updated the communication channels, review the unmapped columns. If an unmapped column contains no information, as shown below, you can choose not to import it by clicking don't import data in unmapped column. After correcting all errors and updating the unmapped columns, click Next.

    ContactsUploadUnmappedcolumn

  13. Name the import, then review and agree that the contacts are expecting to hear from you. If you would like, you can set these contacts as marketing contacts or create a contact list from this import. However, these steps are not necessary for Ensemble Marketing. Finally, click Finish Import in the bottom right corner.  

    screencapture-app-hubspot-import-48429822-new-import-standard-2025-01-20-12_25_44-1

  14. Once the import is complete, you can review your uploaded contacts under CRM Contacts.

    ContactsUploadContactsReview