Uploading Contacts

Before uploading, make sure your CSV file is formatted correctly. (You can still map columns later even if they aren’t formatted exactly.)

Example CSV Format

Full name
First name
Last name
Email address
Phone number
Tags
Genres
Address
Brithday

John Smith

John

Smith

[email protected]

+1-234-567-8910

"Top Spenders", "VIP"

"Dance/Electronic"

San Francisco, CA

Jan 1, 1990

225B
example.csv
Open

Supported Date Formats

When including dates in your CSV (e.g., birthdays), Cymbal supports the following formats:

  • 2006-01-02 – ISO 8601

  • 2006/01/02 – ISO with slashes

  • 02 Jan 2006 – Human-readable (day first, abbreviated month)

  • 2 Jan 2006 – Human-readable, no leading zero

  • January 2, 2006 – US-style written date

  • Jan 2, 2006 – US-style with abbreviated month

  • 01/02/2006 – US short format (MM/DD/YYYY)

Steps to Upload Contacts

  1. Go to Audience tab: https://manager.cymbal.co/audience

  2. Click Add contacts (top right).

  1. Select Upload CSV.

  1. Upload your file by either:

  • Clicking Choose a file, or

  • Dragging and dropping your file onto the screen.

  1. Choose how to handle Email and Text subscriptions:

  • Subscribe everyone – marks all contacts as subscribed, even if they previously opted out.

  • Subscribe only if not opted out – adds contacts without re-subscribing anyone who unsubscribed.

  • Unsubscribe everyone – marks all as unsubscribed.

  • Unsubscribe only if not subscribed – unsubscribes only those not already subscribed.

  • Don’t change subscription – keeps current subscription status. Click Continue.

  1. Map your CSV fields to Cymbal attributes:

  • Left column = your CSV column names.

  • Middle = assign each to the correct Cymbal field (e.g., email, phone, first name, last name).

  • Right column = preview of your CSV data for accuracy. Click Continue.

⚡ Note: Only contacts with explicit consent may receive emails or texts.

  1. Add tags or lists to organize contacts:

  • Tags: Internal only, customers cannot see them. Used for segmentation and tracking.

  • Lists: Can be public or private. Customers can subscribe/unsubscribe if public. Used for managing preferences. Select tags and/or lists, then click Continue.

  1. Cymbal will process your CSV (this may take a few minutes). Your audience size will update once complete.

PreviousAudienceNextUnsubscribe contacts

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