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What is it & why you need it

Automation on Import lets you trigger an existing workflow automatically while importing contacts using a CSV file.

Instead of importing contacts first and manually adding them to an automation later, you can now assign an automation ID during the CSV import process. Then the right workflow gets automatically triggered.

This automated system will save time, reduce manual work, and ensure every contact enters the right automation from the moment they’re imported.

How it works

Before importing, ensure you have the automation workflow(s) set up that you want to trigger. With the workflow(s) set, you can import contacts into an existing form using a CSV file and automatically trigger the workflow(s). 

Inside your CSV file, you can now use two data or columns that will help to trigger the automation workflow(s). 

i) automation_id

ii) is_triggered

automation_id is for matching which workflow the specific contact should be enrolled into. And the is_triggered data is for choosing whether to trigger the workflow on import or not. It could have one of two values: true or false.

How to get started using it 

First, make sure you have the automation workflow already set up from Marketing & Contacts -> Automation Workflows.

The workflow must have the trigger “Someone submit a form”.

And you have to select the exact form for which the workflow should run.

After adding the trigger, you can set your workflow with actions as you like. Save the automation.

Finally, turn the toggle on and enable the workflow. You can set up multiple workflows, if you are looking to trigger more than one during the importing.

Now, you can import the CSV file that contains automation_id and is_triggered values. To import the CSV file into your desired form, go to Marketing & Contacts -> Forms & Contacts. Click the three dots on the form and select the Import Contacts option. 

[Note: Ensure that the form you are importing contacts into is the same form that’s set as the trigger in the automation workflow(s).]

Choose the CSV file.

Map the CSV columns with the right field from the dropdown, and upload the file. 

That’s it. If you set up the CSV file with the right columns and everything, then the process should be successful and the right workflows will trigger for the contacts as you’ve given on the CSV file.

Adding CSV Columns for Automation

For automation, there are just two additional columns you need to add alongside the form fields. Learn how to structure the CSV file here.

In addition to form fields, add a column automation_id on the CSV file. This is for identifying the exact workflow that should be triggered.

You can find the automation workflow ID from the Automation Workflows menu.

Put the ID number as the value for the automation_id column. Note that you can use different workflow IDs for different contacts, making it efficient to enroll the different contacts into different workflows simultaneously. But, you cannot assign more than one workflow ID for one single contact.

The second column name is is_triggered. Its value could either be true or false, where true immediately triggers the automation as soon as CSV is imported. False is for not triggering the automation for that particular contact.

To save a sheet file as CSV, go to File -> Download -> Comma Separated Value. And then you can upload the file and import the contacts from your dashboard.