Configuration


Important Note

(S)FTP-based data synchronizations are not available out-of-the-box (additional costs may apply), contact your sales representative for an estimation.

(S)FTP Data synchronization are not available to MailUp trial accounts

An (S)FTP import datasync allows to import recipients and related demographic data into your MailUp account by uploading a .csv file onto an SFTP server.


The system awaits for a csv file to be uploaded and then it is immediatelly handled and imported, so there's no actual schedulation to set as the system will run and import any file as soon as it is submitted.

An instance of a (S)FTP Import Datasync (hereinafter referred as to an Instance) will be configured to import email addresses, SMS mobile numbers or both, in one or more MailUp Lists. Along with the key fields Email and Mobile number, specific subset of recipient fields can as well be imported.

The setup process includes:

Every import session handled by the SFTP Datasync will be logged in the MailUp web application so that the result of each import process can be checked from the MailUp user interface at the Import status section.

Important note

The standard behavior of the MailUp recipients import process is that:
  1. All new recipients are imported as subscribed

  2. For existing recipients that are matched based on their email or mobile phone number:

    1. related demographic data will be updated. Duplicates are never created

    2. the subscription status won't be updated (unsubscribed recipients will remain unsubscribed and subscribed recipients will remain subscribed)

An (S)FTP import datasync can overcome the subscription bevahiors as described below

Where and how you want to import recipients

Lists and Groups

(S)FTP Data Sync Import to add and update recipients:

  • into one specific MailUp List
    The Instance will be configured at the setup stage so that all of the recipients are going to be imported into one defined MailUp list.
    In this very case you can import recipients into a specific MailUp Group, too.

  • into several MailUp Lists and Groups
    Destination lists and the groups can be indicated for each and every single recipient included in the csv file, so that it won't be necessary to create more than one file in order to import recipients that belong to different lists or groups.
    In this case the CSV file must include the specifc columns (i.e. idList and IdGroup or ExternalGroupName)  that indicate the destination list and optionally the destination groups, when needed.
    The Instance will be configured at the setup stage to read and use these fields.


Important Note

Destination groups must be created beforehand in the MailUp web application, at the page Recipients > Groups

List IDs and group IDs are listed at the page Settings > Codes table

Incremental mode or Full mode

Incremental import implies a csv file containing only the changes since the last import, while the Full import mode imports the entire database every time, replacing previous data. 

The Full import mode can be configured at

  • List Level
    • The subscription status of any existing subscribed recipients not included in the file will be updated to unsubscribed 
    • The subscription status of any existing unsubscribed recipients included in the file as subscribed (optout field =1. See subscription status paragraph for further details) will be updated to subscribed, with the exception of the Subscription status of Recipients unsubscribed due to hard bounce.
  • Group Level
    • Any existing recipient in the group who is not included in the file will be removed from the group
    • Any recipients included in the file will be added to the group.


 Examples
Some contacts have to be subscribed to list 2, group 105 some others in group 106 and some others in no group
email;idlist;idgroup
name.surname@myprovider.com;2;105
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;106
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;
Some contacts have to be subscribed to list 2, groups 105 and 120, some others to list 3, in no group
email;idlist;idgroup
name.surname@myprovider.com;2;105
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;106
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;

Subscription Status

It is possible 

  • to import all of the recipients contained in the file as subscribed or as unsubscribed.
    The Instance will be configured at the setup stage so that all of the recipients will be imported in a specific subscription registration status.


Important Note

  • If the Instance imports recipients as subscribed, Subscription status of recipients already registered as unsubscribed won't be altered in their subscrption status. They will stay as unsubscribed
  • If the Instance imports recipients as unsubscribed, Subscription status of a recipients already registered as subscribed will be updated to unsubscribed
  • or to import recipients contained in the file as subscribed or unsubscribed based on data provided in the CSV file.
    Recipients' subscription status can be specified for each recipient contained in the csv file so that it won't be necessary to create more than one file to import subscribed and unsubscribed contacts.
    The CSV file must include a column (optout) to indicate the Subscription Status of each recipient.
    The
    Instance will be configured at the setup stage to read and use that column value to rule the subscription status as follows:
    • When the value of the column is 1, the recipients will be imported as subscribed.
    • When the value of the column is 0, the recipients will be imported as unsubscribed.


Important Note

  • If a subscriber is already registered in the destination list as unsubscribed and is imported as subscribed, its subscription status is updated to subscribed. Subscription status of recipients previously unsubscribed due to hard bounce won't be updated.
  • If a subscriber is already registered in the destination list as subscribed and is imported as unsubscribed, its subscription status is updated to unsubscribed.


 Examples
Some contacts have to be subscribed to list 2, some others have to be unsubscribed from list 2
email;idlist;subscription_status
name.surname@myprovider.com;2;1
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;0
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;2;1

Channels

It is possible to import all recipients

  • only into MailUp email context: recipients are going to be imported using only their Email address
  • only onto MailUp SMS context: recipients are going to be imported using only their Mobile address
  • or into both MailUp email and MailUp SMS contexts, where the recipients are imported using both Email and Mobile number as a key.

Based on how the instance is configured the CSV file is to include columns that display the email address and/or the SMS phone number that identify the recipients in MailUp.


Important Note

  • When importing a mobile number, if it is provided without area code, the default area code (for the list he's being imported to) will be used for that mobile number.
  • It is very important to check the correct syntax of email addresses, i.e. that there are no forbidden characters or spaces. Spaces before and after the address are trimmed automatically during the import process.


 Examples
Some contacts have to be subscribed to EMAIL channel, to list 2
email;idlist;idgroup
name.surname@myprovider.com;2;105
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;106
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;2;
Some contacts have to be subscribed to SMS channel only, to list 2
phonenumber;idlist;idgroup
+39XXXXXXXXXX;2;105
+49YYYYYYYYYY;2;106
+30ZZZZZZZZZZ;2;
Some contacts have to be subscribed to EMAIL AND SMS channel, to list 2
phonenumber;email;idlist;idgroup
+39XXXXXXXXXX;name.surname@myprovider.com;2;105
+49YYYYYYYYYY;name2.surname2@myprovider.com;2;106
+30ZZZZZZZZZZ;name3.surname3@myprovider.com;2;

Fields Mapping

The Instance will be be configured at the setup stage so that it can associate the colums of the CSV file with the personal fields of your MailUp account.

The CSV file structure/layout is 100% configurable, it requires to comply to a correct correspondence between the fields in the file and:


 Examples
  • The CSV your CRM produces should look like the following:


email;name;second name;Location;Job Title;idlist;subscription_status
name.surname@myprovider.com;John;Smith;Everywhere;Manager;2;1
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;Martha;Smith;Anywhere;Manager;2;0
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;Gordon;Smith;Anywhere;Operative;2;1
  • You want the CSV file to Update the recipients data in your MailUp account.
  • Your MailUp Account has beforehand configured the following Recipient fields:
    • email address,
    • field 1: name,
    • field  2: second name,
    • field 3: Title;
  • you aren't interested to store the location of subscribers.

In this case, the columns in every row will be bound to the following personal data fields:

Csv Fields MailUp fields 
positiontitleidfield
1email
email address
2name1name 
3second name2second name
4Location

5Job Title3Title
6idlist
destination List
7subcription_status
subscription

In case of empty personal data fields, their column has to be specified anyway

 Examples
email;name;second name;Location;Job Title
name.surname@myprovider.com;John;Smith;Everywhere;   -> Last field is empty
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;Martha;Smith;;Manager  -> fourth field is empty
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;;Smith;;Operative      -> second and fourth field are empty

File Properties

Recipients’ fields Data is always imported as text and fields must not contain more than 200 characters

it is possible to set:

  • the character to be used as a field separator, keeping in mind that just one type of separator is allowed in a file and that the separator should not be used at the end of a line, after the last field.
  • the text delimiter enclosing the column values

If needed, the first row of the file can contain a header row that gives the columns a name.

 Examples
Instance use , (colon) as separator
email,name,second name,Location,Job Title
name.surname@myprovider.com,John;Smith,Everywhere,   
name2.surname2@myprovider.com,Martha,Smith,,Manager
name3.surname3@myprovider.com,,Smith,,Operative
Instance use ; (semicolon) as separator
email;name;second name;Location;Job Title
name.surname@myprovider.com;John;Smith;Everywhere;
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;Martha;Smith;;Manager
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;;Smith;;Operative
Instance use " (double quotes) as delimiter
email;name;second name;Location;Job Title
name.surname@myprovider.com;John;Smith;"Here;There;someplace";HouseKeeper
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;Martha;Smith;;Manager
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;;Smith;;Operative
Instance don't foreseeen header row
name.surname@myprovider.com;John;Smith;Everywhere;HouseKeeper
name2.surname2@myprovider.com;Martha;Smith;;Manager
name3.surname3@myprovider.com;;Smith;;Operative


Additional Properties

For every configured data sync, once a file is uploaded to the SFTP location (on the MailUp server), the import process will be carried out and completed as soon as possible (the execution time depends on the number of recipients and the columns the csv contains). 

If preferred, a third party FTP / SFTP server can be used for the file exchange. If you are using your personal FTP server, the import will be executed at the schedule defined in the configuration.

  • The instance can be configured to overwrite existing field value saved in MailUp when then csv columns are empty, as opposed to having the data sync to ignore entirely the csv columns displying no value.
  • You can configure one or serveral email addresses that will be notified with an email message with the result of the import process every time a file is imported.
    Multiple addresses must be added separated by ; (semicolon).


 Examples
email1@mailup.com;email2@mailup.com;email3@mailup.com  -> The instance will sent a notification email to these three addresses for each processed csv file.