Migrate your contacts from another ESP

Migrating marketing platforms doesn’t have to be a difficult task. Before you get set up with HubSpot, it’s a good idea to download your contacts from your email service provider (ESP) or customer relationship manager (CRM) so you can add them to your HubSpot account. 

This is a general guide for how to migrate to HubSpot from another CRM or ESP. There are also instructions available on how to migrate to HubSpot from Constant Contact and how to migrate to HubSpot from Mailchimp.

Terms to know

Learn how HubSpot refers to the same tools and features you're familiar with from your existing provider.

Export your contacts from your current CRM or ESP

Please note: these are general guidelines for how to export contacts. For more detailed instructions, search the help documentation from your provider.

• Log into the account you're exporting your contacts from.
• Select the lists or individual contacts you want to export. 
• Click Export. Your file will start to download or you'll be asked to save the file to your computer.

Open the export files and review the contacts' details. You can also sort your contacts based on property values before importing. Contacts that have expressed consent to receive your emails can be imported into your HubSpot account as a new contact list. Learn more about how to prepare your import file for HubSpot.

Import your opt-out list into HubSpot

• Identify any contacts from your exports that have hard bounced or unsubscribed from your emails, and add them to a separate file for importing.
• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Contacts.
• In the upper right, click Import.

• Click Start an import.
• Select An opt-out list.
• Click select a file. In the dialog box, select the import file from your device.
• Click the Email field column header dropdown menu and select the column header of the column in your import file that has the Email field.
• In the bottom right, click Next, confirm your choice.
• In the text field, enter the number of contacts to confirm they will be opted out from receiving emails.
• In the bottom right, click Begin import.

Import your contacts into HubSpot

Follow the instructions below to import a list of contacts into HubSpot. Learn how to import contacts associated with another object type in your HubSpot CRM.

• Set up your import file. Include a header row in your file and match each column's header with a contact property. You can include values for any of the default HubSpot properties or custom properties.
• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Contacts.
• In the upper right, click Import.

• Click Start an import.
• Select File from computer, then click Next.
• Select One file, and click Next.
• Select One object, and click Next.

• Click choose a file and in the dialog box, and select your import file. In the bottom right, click Next.

• On the Map properties screen, HubSpot automatically matches columns in your file to your contact's properties. You'll see a preview of the property values from your spreadsheet in the Preview Information column.

• If any columns do not match an existing property, click the corresponding dropdown menu:
  • Select an existing property to map the column to.
  • Click Create a new property to set up a new custom property in the right panel.
  • Select Don't import column to skip importing this column from your spreadsheet. You can select the Don't import data in unmatched columns checkbox to skip any columns without a match.

• After you've mapped all of the columns from your file, click Next.
• On the details screen, enter an Import name.
  • If you're importing a file with only contacts, select the Create a list of contacts from this import checkbox to automatically create a list when the contacts are imported.
  • If you're importing a file with a date property, use the Date format dropdown menu to confirm how the date values in your spreadsheet are formatted.
  • If you've turned on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) functionality in your account, use the Set the legal basis for processing a contact's data dropdown menu to select a lawful basis of processing.
• Once you've set the options for your import, click Finish import in the bottom right.
  
  

Manage account settings and import files

After importing your contacts, configure your email settings and import any image files you want to host in HubSpot:

• In your marketing email settings, enter your company's address. This information is required for your email footer.
• Upload image files to use in your content. Learn how to insert an image into your email.
• Learn more about how to set up your company branding in HubSpot.