You likely already have and use specific data points for segmentation, qualification, or lead assignment among all your marketing applications. Your new tool will come with a basic database, which needs to be expanded to include these custom data points. This means adding custom fields by using the upcoming steps. Custom fields are fields that you need in addition to the ones that come standard with your CRM. They might be used in your CRM, or they might be used only by your marketing team, specifically for segmentation and reporting.
After you have created and named your fields, make sure to note the data type and parameters of the field. If you aren’t sure of the needed parameters, ask your vendor. The parameters vary from vendor to vendor. Parameters dictate whether the information can be overwritten, used in email communications, or even automatically updated from third-party databases. A CSV file is a spreadsheet file format that stands for comma-separated values. Most spreadsheet programs allow you to import and export using this file type. After your data is in a CSV file, you can easily upload your data into the marketing automation tool. The time it takes to upload your data will depend on the size of your database.
The larger your database, the longer the upload time. Most tools can pull over all data upon your initial startup; however, I advise against doing so because this is also the best time to clean up your data.