Importing data from a spreadsheet (CSV) file

The spreadsheet (CSV) file data source allows you import your customer/people and organization data from a CSV file to your Ortto account’s customer data platform (CDP).

CSV file prerequisites

This process assumes that you have a valid CSV format file whose first row of columns match* field names for people and organizations defined in your Ortto account’s CDP. Each "column" represents a set of vertical values down each line of the CSV file, delimited by the same number of commas from the start of each line.

Your CSV file does not need to contain every field defined in your CDP. Only a subset of fields is required for people data only as well as organizations and people.

If you are working with a spreadsheet file, then use your spreadsheet application to export each of the spreadsheet file’s relevant pages into individual CSV files, and upload each one of these CSV files separately to Ortto.

* The field names defined in the header row of your CSV file do not need to match those defined in your CDP. Ortto will automatically attempt to match these as part of the data import process. However, it is assumed that each column of data in your CSV file is valid for each field defined in the first row.

People only

A CSV file with people data only must meet the following criteria:

• The minimum fields required are: First name, Last name, and Email address.
• The format of your date data must match the format set in your General settings.

If you are setting the Language field value for a person, the value must be an ISO code. For example, to set a person's language as English, use en, or Spanish, use es. You can also specify region-specific language values, e.g. en-gb for British English. See the List of languages for a full list of the supported ISO language codes.

Organizations and people

Importing data associated with organizations must be accompanied by people who will be linked to these organizations.

A CSV file with organization data must meet the following criteria:

• The minimum fields required are: Name (of the organization), as well as either the Email address or Phone number of the person being linked to this organization.
• To link multiple people to a single organization in your CSV file, specify this organization name for each linked person, for example:

 
Name, Email
My Company, chris@example.com
My Company, alex@example.com

Upload your spreadsheet (CSV) file

Assuming you initially followed the Configuring a new data source procedure, use this procedure to complete importing and integrating your CSV file’s data into your Ortto account’s CDP.

1. After having clicked through Popular / CRM  Spreadsheet import  Get started (from the New data source page), on the Upload spreadsheet page, drag and drop your CSV file into the dashed rectangular area of this page. Alternatively, click the or browse for the file on your computer link in the center of the page to browse for your CSV file to upload to Ortto.
2. Click Next to open the Map the columns to a field page. On this page, Ortto attempts to match the columns defined in the header of your CSV file to field names defined in your CDP. If matches are found, then Ortto automatically applies the appropriate fields defined in your CDP to the field names defined in your CSV file’s header, indicated in the Spreadsheet columns section of the page.
   
3. If any of these field name matches are incorrect, then drag the appropriate field defined in your Ortto account from the CDP fields section of the page over the field name defined in your CSV file’s head in the Spreadsheet columns section. The existing mismatched CDP field is replaced with your new choice, and the old CDP field moves back to the CDP fields section.

   TIP:

   • If the list of CDP fields is too long, you can search and filter this list. At this point, you can also add a new CDP field, if any of the existing CDP fields are not suitable.
   • When importing organization data, ensure that the "column" of data representing the names of your organizations is matched to the Org: Name CDP field.
4. Click Next.
5. On the Tag page, click Add tag to begin adding a new tag (by typing its text and clicking Create to create the new tag) or selecting one from the existing list of tags. Similar to searching existing CDP fields in the previous step, if the list of existing tags is extensive, you can filter this list itself by typing one or more consecutive letters into the Type to search box.

   TIP: Tags are useful for filtering and grouping people and organizations (each being a record) within your CDP. For example, you can utilize tags to help move your CDP records from one playbook to another, control which CDP records enter a playbook, group CDP records created or updated from different CSV file imports, and so on. Note that an existing tag consisting of the name of your CSV file, as well as the date and time of import is automatically applied to all people and organizations data imported into your Ortto account through this CSV file.
6. Click Next.
7. On the Select a merge option page, choose the appropriate merge option to determine how Ortto behaves when integrating any existing people or organization data in your CSV file into Ortto. By default, Ortto uses the following data values as unique identifiers for:
   • a person — their email address, followed by their phone number (as a fallback), and
   • an organization — its name.
     Ortto merges lines in your CSV file, each representing a person or organization whose unique identifier values match those of existing people and organizations defined in your CDP. Note that these unique identifier fields can be customized under Settings > Customer data > Unique identifiers.
8. Click Done to commence the import.
9. Once the import process starts and your CSV data is initially uploaded, then synced, and completed when Import complete is shown, click Done again (or X at the top) to return to the Data sources page.

Searching existing CDP fields

If the list of CDP fields is extensive, you can filter this list itself by typing one or more consecutive letters into the Search box, and any of these fields whose names do not match these letters are dynamically excluded from the list as you type.

You can then select and/or clear the remaining CDP fields on this list.

Clearing the Search box, or clicking X restores all CDP fields to the list.

Adding a new CDP field

If your Ortto account’s existing CDP fields are not suitable for one or more columns of data in the CSV file you are importing, you can create a new CDP field to map to your CSV file column.

To do so:

1. Click Add a new field.
2. In the New custom field dialog, specify the Field name and Field type for your new CDP field.
3. Click OK and the new CDP field appears at the top of the CDP fields section list. You can now drag this field across to the appropriate CSV file column in the Spreadsheet columns section of the page.

Troubleshooting CSV file imports

Too many rows without merge keys

If you receive an error saying "Too many rows without merge keys", this means that Ortto cannot find in the CSV file enough data matching your account’s unique identifiers to be able to create or update records in your CDP.

To be able to create meaningful CDP records, Ortto requires the following minimum fields:

• For people: First name, Last name, and Email address.
• For organizations: Name (of the organization), as well as either the Email address or Phone number of the person being linked to this organization.

By default, Ortto uses the following data values as unique identifiers:

• For people: their email address, followed by their phone number (as a fallback), and
• For organizations: its name.

You can modify the default identifiers under Settings > Customer data > Unique identifiers.

As such, the likely issue causing the error is that your CSV file is missing identifier data, e.g. people’s email addresses. When you’ve updated your CSV file to include the missing data, this should resolve the issue and allow you to complete the import.