Documentation Marketo Engage Marketo Guide

Import a List of People import-a-list-of-people

Last update: Tue Feb 04 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Topics:
Getting Started

Mission: Import a spreadsheet list of trade show attendees into your database mission-import-a-spreadsheet-list-of-trade-show-attendees-into-your-database

PREREQUISITES

Get Set Up and Add a Person

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to import people from a spreadsheet file into Marketo.

Step 1: Download and Edit a Spreadsheet step-download-and-edit-a-spreadsheet

To start, download our practice spreadsheet file (tradeshow-attendees.csv) to your computer.

note note
NOTE
When importing a date, use this format: 9/21/20 (Month/Day/Year).

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NOTE
Any date/time fields being imported are treated as Central Time. If you have date/time fields in a different time zone, you can use an Excel formula to transform it to Central Time (America/Chicago).

Add your own first name, last name, actual email address (so you can receive the nurturing emails you’ll send in the next mission), and job title. Save the file on your computer.

note caution

CAUTION

Make sure email addresses contain ASCII characters only.
Marketo does not support email addresses that contain emojis.
Importing NULL values via CSV could generate a “Change Data Value” for numeric fields in a person’s activity log, even if the fields are already blank. If you have any Smart Campaigns that use the “Data Value Changed” filter or “Data Value Changes” trigger, it could cause people to qualify for those campaigns even though the data is not actually changing. You can use constraints to ensure nobody qualifies for those campaigns upon import.

Step 2: Create a Program step-create-a-program

Go to the Marketing Activities area.
Select your Learning folder, then under New click New Program.
Name the program “My Tradeshow Program” and select “Event” for the Program Type.
Select Tradeshow for the Channel and click Create.

NOTE

Event programs occur on specific dates. Learn more about Events.

Step 3: Import Your Spreadsheet into Marketo step-import-your-spreadsheet-into-marketo

In My Tradeshow Program, click New and select New Local Asset.
Select List.
Name the list “Tradeshow Attendees” and click Create.

In your Tradeshow Attendees list, click List Actions and select Import List.

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CAUTION
If you are using your own CSV file, make sure that it is encoded UTF-8, UTF-16, Shift-JIS, or EUC-JP.

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NOTE
The size limit for CSV files is 100MB.

Browse to the tradeshow-attendees.csv spreadsheet file on your computer and click Next.

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NOTE
In List Import Mode, choosing Skip new people and updates means you will not impact existing person records or log any activities. Use this mode if you want a quick, pre-filtered static list of existing people for use in your marketing activities. Selecting this mode will:
Skip new person creation Skip person field updates Skip activity logging

Map your List Column fields to their respective Marketo Field and click Next.

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TIP
Column headers should always match the field exactly (case sensitive) in order to achieve the best auto-mapping results. If you’re using custom fields and don’t see them in the drop-down, go back and create them so they can become options.

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NOTE
If there are any fields you don’t want to import, select Ignore in the Marketo Field drop-down menu.

Select My Tradeshow Program for the Acquisition Program, then click Import.
Wait for your people to import, then close the import progress pop-up.
Back in My Tradeshow Program, click the Members tab. You’ll see all the people you just imported.