Import your list of current subscribers and opt-in leads
1.To import your list go to manage contacts. Under manage contact you can see that there are several pages of contact groups, each contact group is associated with an automatic responder for more efficient funneling.
You can read more about the keys to a great campaign text message blog post, but for now just know that all of your contacts are held in your all contact / opt-ins group. As your opt-ins text your virtual phone numbers they will receive automated responses they are then copied into the associated contact groups.
2. To import a contact group you may upload your opt-in list into any group that already exists or you may create a custom group.
How to prepare your import
To prepare for your upload first ensure that your contact list is in a text file such as CSV, VCF, XLS or XLSX. This data sheet should contain only three columns phone number, first name and last name.
The phone number column must have only raw numbers that means no plus signs, no parentheses or no dashes. In your selected contact group click the Add button mark your imports as opt-ins and verify that they are in fact opt-in contacts.
Legal requirements when importing your contact list
It is important to note here that sending SMS messages to recipients who have not opted in to receive messages from you is against FCC regulations in the US and Canada.
Almost there, last step is scrubbing your list
Once your contact list has been successfully added it is now time to scrub. Aviaro has multiple built-in scrubbing features. For scrubbing your contact lists including a removal of landline numbers or otherwise invalid numbers do not call list contacts and scrubs that identify individual cell phone carriers and Caller Ids. It is an Aviaro best practice to always scrub your contact list for landline numbers and invalid numbers.
Sending large campaign messages to invalid numbers will not only affect your statistics negatively it will also lead to carrier’s viewing your messages as spam even if you have already scrubbed your lists. Scrub your imported contacts with our databases to ensure optimal campaign deliverability.
Congratulations!
You have now successfully uploaded and scrubbed your list of opt-in contacts in your Aviaro platform. In our next blog we look at how to send a campaign message, and happy texting.
