A contact list is the group of people a campaign is sent to — the foundation of everything you send. This guide takes you step by step through importing a list into Arsel, mapping your data correctly, and starting clean so your future campaigns land in the inbox.
Before you start
- Have your contacts ready in a CSV file, with a column for email — and a column for phone number if you plan to send SMS.
- Make sure you have permission to contact these people. Importing a purchased or scraped list is the fastest way to damage your deliverability, see Email List Hygiene Best Practices.
Step 1: Open Lists and create a new list
From the sidebar, open Audience → Lists, then click Create List. (To add just a handful of contacts by hand, use Quick Add instead.)
Step 2: Name your list and upload your CSV
In the Create a new list dialog, enter a List Name, then drag and drop your file into Upload CSV File, or click Choose File.
Not sure how your file should look? Use the Download sample CSV template link first. When your file is attached, click Next.
Step 3: Map your columns to contact fields
Arsel reads your file and tries to match each column automatically. On the Map Fields step, review each CSV Column and its Map to field value.
One rule matters most here: you must map at least one column to Email or Phone Number, otherwise the import can't continue. Map the rest to fields like First Name and Last Name, or turn any extra column into a custom property by choosing the (New) … option. See What Are Properties and How to Use Them.
When your key columns are mapped, click Confirm and Import. Arsel adds the contacts to your new list.
Step 4: Your list is ready
Your list now appears under Lists with its member count and creation date, ready to use as the audience for a campaign. See How to Create an Email Campaign.
Common mistakes to avoid
- No email or phone mapped. The import won't proceed until at least one column is mapped to Email or Phone Number.
- Importing a list you don't have permission to email. Consent is non-negotiable for deliverability. See Email List Hygiene Best Practices.
- Leaving useful columns unmapped. Anything you don't map is data you can't personalize or segment on later. Map extra columns to properties.
- Phone numbers in the wrong format. For SMS, numbers must be in international format (+966…). See How to Create an SMS Campaign.
- Not cleaning the file first. Remove obvious typos and empty rows before uploading.
Next steps
- What Are Tags and How to Use Them
- What Are Properties and How to Use Them
- How to Use the Segment Builder
- How to Create an Email Campaign
- Email List Hygiene Best Practices