Contact lists may have user-defined fields so that you are not limited to predefined fields. A User Defined Field, UDF, is a specific characteristic or value that is associated with each contact. UDFs allow you to segment data to generate your target audience for your campaign. You may create fields such as anniversary dates, pets (yes/no) or company.
Please Note **UDF fields do not replace or merge PMS data**
Example: A field labeled ‘stay date’ is not the same as PMS data for stay date. You may label a field as stay data but automated emails will not be triggered based on contact list user-defined data.
Set up User-Defined Fields for a Contact List
1. Hover over "GUESTS AND SEGMENTS" at the top of the dashboard. Then select the, "CONTACT LIST":
This page will display all the current lists you have uploaded to Revinate Marketing. Here you can also create a new contact list or update older ones; for example, a list of your recent spa guests in order to send targeted campaigns with a specific spa-themed offer for their next visit.
2. To upload a new list, select the option in the upper right-hand corner of the page labeled CREATE CONTACT LIST:
To search for an existing contact list use the search bar to the left of the create contact list button.
3. In creating a contact list upload you will need to choose if this will be an automated API connection or a manual CSV upload. Click the ‘I have a CSV’ block, give your list a name, then click ‘next’.
4. The next page is where you will choose your spreadsheet from your desktop
For opting in purposes, click the box if you have permission to send campaigns to members on the list. After you choose your file, your page will now show the name of the file. Then, click upload.
5. If your contact list has headers in the data file, check the box that says ‘My list has headers’. This will eliminate the top row from being entered in as a contact. Once your columns are mapped, click ‘ Test Mapping’ in the lower left corner.
6. Click the drop down to identify the column, click the bottom field that says ‘Add New Profile Field’
7. This will open a new pop up where you will name the field and select additional identifying criteria. Identify if this is a date field or if you plan to use the information entered in a campaign as a merge tag.
Once you have identified the additional criteria, click ADD when you are done.
8. Once the mapping test is complete, the headers will go away. Next, click ‘Complete List Import’
9. Once uploaded, the Contact List page will look like this, as the list continues to process the contacts, the ‘Total Contacts’ and ‘Total Reachable’ numbers will increase.
Uploading Contact Lists are not immediate. Larger lists with 100,000 contacts can take up to four hours to complete.
- The following email addresses will be skipped from being imported 'test@', 'no-reply@', 'noreply@'. If any email address in the first five columns includes one of these email addresses, or an undeliverable email, the file will not import.
- The maximum number of contacts you can upload in one csv file is 100,000. A contact list can have more than 100,000 records overtime, but only 100,000 contacts can be added per upload.
- Max file size is 5 MB. If your Contact List is larger than 5 MB, separate your data into two separate files. Upload one file first, then upload the next. Note: there is no error message when the file is too big!
- Revinate's system will enforce some rules to make sure you can get a successful import. First, you need to save your mapping. You can't click "save mapping" for a Contact List until all issues in red are corrected. For example, there is a header row which requires that "header" option to be checked before the mapping can be saved. In addition, the mapping must be saved before "complete list import" can be clicked.
- You will receive an email once the Contact List has been successfully uploaded.
Your UDF Contact List is now added! Once the Contact List has finished processing, the UDFs will display in the Rich Guest Profile of the contact, in the ‘other’ section. In the guest profile, the ‘contact list’ is listed under the Contact List section. You also are able to use the UDF in the Segment Builder.
UDFs in Segment Builder
Follow this path, Guests & Segments → Segments →Create New Segment
In the Field name area, select the UDF that was created, in this example the UDF is ‘Market from NAVIS’, then pick the expression and value to complete the segment. A further in depth article can be found here.
Note that asterisks when selecting segmentation options will denote what fields are user-defined fields and can be part of the segment builder. This way when making segments it will be simple to understand what you can segment on.
Types of Data to Set Up in User Defined Fields
Remember that some fields in your PMS will make more sense to pull in via a UDF, but you should keep in mind the data format so that the field is actually stable during segmentation. Some common fields that should be normalized before uploading include:
Gender: uploaded value needs to be for example [male] or [female]
Date format for adding profile field section needs to be M-D- Y or Y-M-D depending on your region
Country (code) needs to be the 2 or 3 letter code according to the ISO standard. Full country name needs to be the English name or in the primary language of your PMS.
Contact Lists via API
When using an API connection to upload a contact list the API code is defining fields as an open text. For example: If you have a newsletter signup where guests tick checkboxes for subjects they are interested in, the system will initially not recognize the 'tick box' field as it will want to search for an open text field. In this case, it is recommended that someone with coding knowledge update the types of fields in your form.
Example of open text fields in an online form: Let us know which newsletter you're interested in by typing Y in the boxes below.
Restaurant
[______]
Spa
[______]
Hotel
[______]
Vacation
[______]
An email address is the key on a list, so uploading the same email address again will modify that profile rather than create a new one.
Create New UDF in Contact List API
Segment Builder using API Contact Lists
You can target audiences with your website sign ups! Here, you are able to target guests who have filled out information via your websites’ API who have checked a particular box in your sign up. Then, finish the segment with the expression and value. For API, 1 = true, 2 = false. The segment example here indicates that the contacts that will populate have selected they are interested in staying up to date on all things ‘Wine’; and the information is in their Rich Guest Profile.
If you have any questions regarding this feature, please contact support@revinate.com or education@thenavisway.com