Best practices for importing and segmenting contacts in Swagiq for targeted campaigns

If you’re running campaigns and want your emails to actually get read (and not deleted in a split second), you need to get smart about how you import and segment your contacts. This isn’t about “unlocking customer engagement” — it’s about stopping yourself from blasting the wrong people with the wrong message. This guide is for marketers, ops folks, and anyone who’s just tired of messy, unorganized contact lists in Swagiq.

There’s no magic button. But with some up-front effort and a few honest lessons from the trenches, you can make your campaigns way more effective — without turning contact management into a second job.

1. Clean Up Your Contact Data Before Import

Let’s be real: Most contact lists are a mess. Old duplicates, weird capitalization, half-complete records, and opt-outs lurking in a spreadsheet somewhere. If you import garbage, you’ll get garbage results — and maybe even get flagged for spam.

What to do:

  • Remove duplicates. Excel’s “remove duplicates” works fine, or use Google Sheets’ built-in tools.
  • Standardize fields. Make sure names, emails, phone numbers are consistent. “john smith” vs. “John Smith” may sound minor, but it adds up.
  • Check for missing or junk data. Empty emails, fake addresses (“test@test.com”), or obviously fake names? Delete them.
  • Get opt-in status clear. Don’t import people who never agreed to hear from you. It’s not just ethical — it’s the law in many places.

Pro tip: Spend the extra hour cleaning up now. It’ll save you days of headaches later.

2. Prepare Your File: Structure for Swagiq Import

Swagiq is pretty forgiving with imports, but it pays to get your columns right from the start.

Recommended columns:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email (absolute must)
  • Company
  • Phone (if you use it)
  • Tags (for segmentation, more on this soon)
  • Any custom fields you actually use (not just “because you can”)

Format:

  • Save as CSV. It’s the most reliable.
  • Use UTF-8 encoding if you’re dealing with international characters.
  • Stick to one row per contact. No merged cells or weird formatting.

Ignore the hype: You don’t need to fill every possible field. Only import what you’ll actually use.

3. Importing Contacts into Swagiq: Step-by-Step

Now to the actual import. Here’s how to do it without losing your mind:

  1. Log in to Swagiq.
  2. Go to your Contacts section.
  3. Look for the “Import” or “Upload” button — it’s usually at the top.
  4. Upload your CSV file.
  5. Map columns. Swagiq will try to auto-match your columns. Double-check — especially custom fields — so nothing ends up in the wrong place.
  6. Choose what to do with duplicates: skip, update, or create new. If you cleaned your data well, this shouldn’t be a big problem.
  7. Start the import and let it run.

What can go wrong?

  • Weird formatting or extra spaces can cause failed imports. Open your CSV in Notepad or a plain text editor to spot oddities.
  • Blank required fields (like missing emails) will cause rows to be skipped.
  • Column mismatch is the classic: “First Name” ends up as “Company,” etc.

Pro tip: Import a small test batch (say, 20 contacts) first. If that works, do the rest.

4. Segmenting Contacts: Tags, Lists, and Custom Fields

Dumping everyone into one giant list is a rookie mistake. Segmentation is how you avoid sending “Hey, {First Name}!” to people who don’t care.

The big three ways to segment in Swagiq:

1. Tags

Tags are simple, flexible labels you can attach to a contact: “vip,” “event-2024,” “lead,” etc. You can apply multiple tags per contact.

Works well for:

  • Quick, flexible groupings.
  • Temporary segments (e.g., “webinar registrants”).
  • Layering with other segmentation.

What doesn’t work: Tags get messy if you use too many or get inconsistent (“VIP,” “vip,” “Vip”). Set a standard and stick with it.

2. Lists

Lists are static groups you can add contacts to. Good for set campaigns (“Spring Launch List”), not so great for dynamic, always-updating segments.

  • Use lists for: One-off campaigns, where you want to control exactly who’s in or out.
  • Avoid lists for: Anything that needs to update automatically.

3. Custom Fields

Want to segment by customer type, region, product interest, or anything else? Use custom fields.

  • Great for: Targeted campaigns (“Send only to customers in California who bought Product X”).
  • Downside: Takes more setup. Don’t overcomplicate it — only use fields you’ll actually segment on.

5. Building Useful Segments for Targeted Campaigns

Here’s where things get interesting (and where most people overthink it).

Start with a goal

Ask yourself: “Who do I really want to reach with this campaign?” Not “everyone in the database.”

Examples:

  • “New customers who haven’t ordered in 90 days”
  • “Event attendees who didn’t book a meeting”
  • “VIPs in the healthcare industry”

How to build a segment in Swagiq

  1. Filters: Use built-in filters to select by tag, list, custom field, or recent activity.
  2. Combine filters: Layer them (e.g., Tag = “webinar-2024” AND State = “TX”).
  3. Save your segment: So you can re-use it next time.

What works:

  • Simple, clear segments (e.g., “All active customers in Chicago”).
  • Combining tags and custom fields for more precision.

What doesn’t:

  • Creating 20 nearly identical segments. You’ll never keep track, and your team will hate you.
  • Segmenting on fields you don’t keep updated (“Industry” is blank for half your list? Don’t bother).

6. Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Here’s what trips up most teams:

  • Over-segmentation. You do not need a list for every micro-campaign. Start broad and refine.
  • Messy tags. “Newsletter-2023,” “newsletter2023,” “NL2023” — pick one naming convention.
  • Importing stale contacts. If you haven’t emailed someone in over a year, ask if it’s worth it. Old lists can tank your deliverability.
  • Ignoring unsubscribes. Make sure opt-outs are respected. Swagiq can help automate this, but only if your data is right.

Pro tip: Keep a shared doc of tag/list conventions for your team. Saves a lot of “is it ‘VIP’ or ‘Vip’?” confusion.

7. Keeping Your Database Healthy

Contact management isn’t a one-and-done job. Schedule a regular cleanup — quarterly works for most teams.

Quick checklist:

  • Remove bounces and unsubscribes.
  • Merge duplicates.
  • Update or remove incomplete records.
  • Prune contacts who haven’t engaged in 12+ months (unless you have a strong reason not to).

Automate where you can, but don’t trust it blindly. Manual checks still catch weird edge cases.

8. Pro Tips for Smooth Campaigns

  • Test before sending: Always send yourself and a colleague a test campaign using your segment.
  • Document your process: Even if it’s just a Google Doc, write down how you import, tag, and segment. Future-you will thank you.
  • Don’t overthink it: If you’re hesitating about a field or segment, leave it out. You can always add more later.

Keep It Simple, Iterate Often

Swagiq gives you the tools to run targeted campaigns, but it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. Focus on clean imports, common-sense segments, and regular cleanups. Don’t try to build the perfect system on day one — just get started, see what works, and tweak as you go. The more you keep things simple and focused, the better your results (and your sanity) will be.