No. Textra does not import Excel files. Export the spreadsheet to CSV from your spreadsheet program and load that file.
How to send WhatsApp messages to your customers from a CSV file
Textra imports contacts from a CSV file with a phone or email column and any data columns you want to add. Textra does not import Excel files: if your list is in a spreadsheet, export it to CSV before loading it. You then use that data to segment and to personalise each message.
From spreadsheet to personalised message
Export your list to CSV
In your spreadsheet program, save or export the file in CSV format. Textra only reads .csv files.
Import the file
The file needs an identity column, phone or email. A column called name or full_name becomes the contact's name, and the other columns become attributes.
Check what the import reported
Rows with problems are reported row by row, without discarding the whole file.
Use the data in your messages
Each attribute can be text, number or yes/no, and is used to segment and as a message variable, filled in with each contact's value.
Illustrative example
A customer list, from CSV to message
- A car workshop exports its list to CSV with the columns phone, name and "model".
- It imports it into Textra: the phone identifies each contact, name becomes their name and "model" stays as a text attribute.
- It builds an audience with "model" equal to a specific model and checks the count and the sample.
- It sends a WhatsApp template whose variables take each contact's name and model.
- Each customer receives a message with their own name and their vehicle's model.
Frequently asked questions about importing
An identity column, phone or email, and the attribute columns you want to add. A column called name or full_name is used as the contact's name.
Textra reports the rows with problems one by one. The rest of the file is not discarded.
Yes. A message variable can take its value from a contact attribute, so each person receives their own details.
Keep reading
Let's try it with your list
Tell us how you keep your customers today and we will show you how to load them into Textra.