SurveyTown filters out your imports to make sure you are not accidentally sending to people who have unsubscribed and also that every contact you have entered has a valid email address.   Essentially we run your list through our filters and what comes out on the other side is a clean list of people that we sent the email.  

You might be curious as to the results of this filter, so we give you the list of past imports where you can see in-depth how many contacts got added after you imported your file.

In this article, you will get a full understanding of your Import Summary report. 

To find your import summary you will go to Contacts>Imports. From here, you can find any imports within the last 30 days. This information will give you a quick overview of your import summary.  The top of the page will be your latest import. 

On this page your “Imports” will be broken down into:

• Type – This is the method you used to import your contacts.
• Action – When adding your contacts, you can choose to have the imported contacts be subscribed, unsubscribed, or updated.
• Description – This will give a description of the method of importing contacts as well as the date and time the import occurred. You can click “View Summary” to get an in-depth look at the success of the imported contacts. 
• Survey – This is the given survey you have imported contacts to. 
• Contacts – This gives the number of contacts imported. 
• Status – This will determine whether or not your import was successful. 

You can see a review of your import by clicking on the “View Summary” link that is in the row that details your latest import.  An import summary will also be emailed to you. 

Here is what the “Import Summary” looks like.

When clicking on the “Import Summary”, you will notice that the summary has been broken down into:

Status – Below “Import Summary” it will be indicated whether or not your import was a success. 

Started – This is when the import began.

Finished – This is when the import completed. 

Total in Import – This will determine the number of total contacts imported, and whether or not they have been filtered.

Filtered – This is the initial filtering done on known bad email addresses.

Processed – This will be the total number of contacts imported after initial filtering.

• Disallowed – SurveyTown will not allow role-based email address like [email protected] or [email protected]
• Invalid – These are contacts who’s email address is malformed, meaning missing a correct domain extension, has invalid characters, etc.
• Blank – These are contacts who’s email address is blank.
• Duplicated contacts – These are contacts that are listed twice in your import file.

Left for import after screening – This will indicate the total number of valid contacts that can now be imported.  There is one more check that must be done.  

• Globally unsubscribed – SurveyTown will not import contacts that have requested to be Globally unsubscribed.
• Bounced – SurveyTown will filter out email addresses that have been sent to previously but bounced back to the email not being received by the recipient.  Most commonly, bounced email address are due to old addresses that may be valid but has been deleted or is no longer receiving mail.
• Over quota – Each pricing level gives you a certain number of contacts you can survey.  If you are over quota, you may want to upgrade your account so that you can survey more contacts.
• Already in your account – These are contacts that have been subscribed previously.

Added to your account – This will be any newly imported contacts added to your account after all the filters and processes have been applied.

Final Thoughts

SurveyTown’s filtering features can give you a sense of comfort that we are keeping track of who’s opted in and who’s bounced.  It’s always a good idea though to keep a good list so you you don’t accidentally send any spam. Understanding your “Import Summary” report can be helpful to know which contacts are successfully imported helping you maintain a healthy relationship with your customers.

Aggregate survey data is incredible to see, but being able to filter your results based on data you know about your respondents can provide you with even more insights.  

SurveyTown allows you to create custom fields for your contacts and then map your customer data to those custom fields, so you that you can create filtered views of your aggregate data.  So for example, if you were a chain of stores you could see what your customer satisfaction ratings differ based on where ted, what store the customer shopped at or what the customer bought.  Or if you are an accounting firm you could see how Net Promoter Scores differ based on the partner in charge. This way you can insights into your business by breaking down the results given who your target customer is. 

There are three steps to using custom fields.

1. Create Your Custom Fields
2. Map Your Contact Data to Custom Fields
3. Filter Reports on Your Custom Fields

Creating Custom Fields 

Creating custom fields through SurveyTown is simple. First, hover over the Contacts in the top menu and choose “Custom Fields”. There you will see a button that says “New Custom Field”.

 Here you choose the data type that best represents the data you are importing.  If you importing customers’ first names, you will choose “Text Box” and call it “First Name”.  Another example, if you had a set number of business locations, you would create a “Radio Buttons” or “Drop Down” data type and fill in the options with the business locations.  

 SurveyTown will allow you to create many types of custom fields. The data types of fields you can create are: 

• Text Box
• Decimal
• Integer
• Drop Down
• Radio Buttons
• Checkbox
• Checkbox List
• Date
• State Drop Down
• Mailing Address

Create Your Own Custom Field

Once you select the data type, you will then create the custom fields.  If it is a data type that has a specific number of options, you will have an interface to add those options.

Match Your Custom Fields to  Contact Data When Importing 

Whether you upload a file or copy and paste your contact list, your data is able to be mapped into the custom fields you created. If you have your contact list broken down into fields such as “First Name”, “Last Name”, and etc., you will be able to map that data into custom fields you created.

Filter Results

Now, fast forward in time and your contacts have received your survey via email and taken it online.  You have a bunch of new survey data. Once results from your survey email start coming in, you can filter results from the custom fields you created so you can see how different customer groups answered differently.

In the “Results” of your survey, you will notice a “Filter Results” button above your visual statistics. When you click on this button, you will be directed to a page where you can add custom fields to filter your data. For example, if your contact list has data that can be broken down into the region or state your contact is from, you can see how contacts from that state responded. 

Data Intelligence 

When filtering your results through custom fields, you can get a feel for the needs of your customers based on who your customer is or the experience they had at your company. If you notice that a certain group is responding more or less favorably to your business, you can use this information to help determine what changes you might need to make in your business. For example, if you created a custom field for the industry or business type your contact works in and certain industries are more satisfied with your services than others which in turn will help you focus your business in the appropriate areas.  

Final Thoughts

Adding custom fields and mapping your contact data into SurveyTown will give you incredible new insights into your customers’ experiences.

After designing your email, you can move on to the next step of sending your survey email. In order to send out your survey email, you must first add contacts to your survey. SurveyTown’s email feature has multiple methods to import your contacts in your survey email. In a few simple steps, you can import your contacts to your survey email. 

In this article, we will cover how to import your contacts into your survey email. 

Getting Started

Getting started importing your contacts is simple. After customizing your survey email, you can move on to importing your contacts. You will find this step at the bottom of the design page of your email.  

Contact Source

Once you have found the step to import your contacts you will be sent to the “Contact Source” page. SurveyTown allows you to add your contacts in a variety of ways. Here are the methods in which you can add your contacts:

• Copy/Paste
• Comma-delimited (CSV) file
• Microsoft Excel (XLS) file
• Microsoft Excel 2007+ (XLSX) file

On this page, select the file type you will be using to upload your contacts. Depending on which method you choose, you will be prompted to either upload a file or paste your contact list on the next page. 

Map Your Contacts Through Custom Fields

After you have uploaded your contacts, you have the option to map your contacts data to custom fields that you have set up inside of SurveyTown.  This will break down your contacts into custom fields defined by you. You can add custom fields such as name, age, email, and etc. To map your contacts data, select the custom field from the dropdown that matches the data.  Any unmapped fields can be easily categorized by choosing a field in the drop-down box. 

Review Your Import

After uploading and mapping your contacts, you can review your contacts before importing them and sending the email. Your contact list will be shown in the same format as was in the mapping stage, however, no further changes can be made to the categorization. In addition, you can do a final preview of your email before sending it out. You can do this by clicking on the preview link. 

Import Report and Summary

When importing your contacts, how can you determine whether or not your import has worked? After importing your contacts, you will be sent an import summary detailing the success of your import. To find your import summary, first, go to the “Contacts” tab. In the drop-down menu of the “Contacts” tab, scroll down and choose “Imports”. 

On this page your “Import Summary” will be broken down into:

• Type
• Action
• Description
• Survey
• Contacts
• Status

After importing your contacts, you will be shown a page that lists all of your imports.  At the top of the page will be your latest import.  

When clicking on the “Import Summary”, you will notice that the summary has been broken down into:

Status
Started
Finished
Total in Import
Processed
Left for import after screening
Added to your account

Final Thoughts 

Whether you copy and paste or upload a supported file, importing your contacts to your survey email is simple. In a few easy steps, you can import, map, and review the contact list you choose to send.