Historically, adding a contact into your Constant Contact database required one key piece of information: an email address. However, as mobile marketing continues to grow, we've updated our system to match!
You can now upload a file of SMS-only contacts directly to your account. If you are utilizing our SMS marketing features, this is a massive time-saver.
But before you hit "import," you need to ensure your spreadsheet or CSV file is properly formatted. Here is your checklist for a seamless upload:
1. The Required Columns
Even without an email address, your file needs two specific column headers to properly process SMS contacts:
SMS phone number: To avoid import errors in Excel, format this column as "Phone Number" (or "Text" if you are importing international numbers).
SMS consent date: Format this column as "Date" or "Custom - General."
2. Don't Forget the Consent!
The "SMS consent date" column is absolutely crucial. If you upload a list of phone numbers without a corresponding consent date, Constant Contact will automatically mark those contacts as "SMS no permission set." You will not be able to send SMS campaigns to these contacts until they explicitly opt-in.
3. Add Your Extras
Just because they are SMS-only doesn't mean you can't build out their profiles! Keep your data clean by keeping it all on a single tab, but feel free to include columns for First Name, Last Name, custom fields, and even assign Tags right from your spreadsheet. Just make sure those column headings are clearly labeled so Constant Contact recognizes them during the mapping process.
4. The Best Part: Your Contact Tier
Here is the icing on the cake: SMS-only contacts will not count towards the contact tier of your email marketing plan! You can confidently grow your SMS audience without worrying about it artificially inflating your email billing tier.
Have you started collecting SMS-only contacts yet? Let us know how you're incorporating text marketing into your strategy in the comments below!
