HubSpot Magical Import Overview

Insycle supports importing the following HubSpot object types:

• Contacts
• Companies
• Deals
• Leads
• Line items
• Orders
• Tickets
• Custom objects

At the top of the Magical Import module, select the object type that you would like to import.

Here, you can see that we can also select the custom object type, “Cars.” Any custom records that your company uses will be available in Insycle. If yours is not showing, please contact support through the chat to have it added.

Navigate to Data Management > Magical Import. 

In the top menu, select the database and record type. Then, choose the CSV file that you would like to import.

Select a template if you or someone on your team has already saved one that can handle importing from the same source.

After uploading your CSV data into Insycle, Step 1 will populate with a column for each field in the CSV. Insycle automatically looks for the matching CRM fields and maps them for you. You'll need to manually map any fields it can't figure out.

Next, tell Insycle how to use the data on a field-by-field basis by selecting the Import Mode for each column—update existing records, create new records, or do both depending on what's in your HubSpot data.

There are four Import Modes:

• Update: Import CSV values into HubSpot, overwriting existing CRM values (will skip empty CSV values).
• Fill: Import CSV values only when there is no existing value in CRM (will not overwrite existing CRM values).
• Overwrite: Import CSV values, including empty CSV values, into HubSpot (will overwrite existing CRM values).
• Append: Add CSV values to existing values in HubSpot. For example, append notes from a CSV to existing notes or add values on multi-select fields (checkboxes or picklists).

Insycle uses an Identity Field to compare the CSV to your HubSpot data and identify existing records for the same entity.

Identity Fields are data points that would only belong to a single record—such as email address, phone number, street address, or ID number. Names are not particularly reliable because there can be plenty of people with the same name. For companies, it could also be company name or company domain. 

There are four actions in Step 2 to choose from: 

Import CSV Data into HubSpot

Use the Import feature to enrich existing records or create net new records from data you have in a CSV (without adding duplicates). Learn more about importing from a CSV.

Select the Records Mode to tell Insycle how the imported data should be handled during the import process. 

• Update existing and create net new – If Insycle is unable to find a corresponding record, a new record will be created in your CRM.
• Only update existing – If a corresponding record is found, it will be updated with the data from your CSV import. Records that are not matched with an existing CRM record will not be imported.
• Only create net new – Only records that can not be matched with an existing record in your database will be imported. Records that already exist in your CRM will not be updated.

Look for Duplicates and Compare Values

Use the Compare feature when you want a side-by-side comparison of CSV data against matching items in HubSpot. This is a read-only operation.

Compare features: 

• Create a new CSV report comparing your import CSV values to HubSpot.
• See how many contacts from a file are net-new versus already existing in HubSpot.
• Show CSV data side-by-side with HubSpot data so you can preview how your CSV import would change data for existing records.
• Check unsubscribes against your HubSpot database.

Learn more about using Magical Import to compare CSV data to existing records in HubSpot.

Delete Listed Items from HubSpot

Use the Delete feature when you have a CSV containing records you know need to be deleted. You can match the CSV rows to CRM records and easily delete the data in bulk.

Learn more about using a CSV to specify records to delete from HubSpot.

Export HubSpot Data Side-by-Side with CSV Values

Use the Export feature when you want more information from your CRM about items you have in an external list. Put the items you want to look up in a CSV—you really only need an Identity Field used to look for matches in your database. Then select the HubSpot fields you want to export for the matching records.

Export features:

• Create a new CSV report comparing your import CSV values to HubSpot.
• Select the HubSpot field values to include in the export using the Fields to Export.
• See how many contacts from a file are net-new versus already existing in HubSpot.

This is a read-only operation.

Learn more about exporting CRM data for CSV comparison or enrichment.

Under Step 3, you can make bulk changes to the CSV data or filter out rows before it is uploaded to HubSpot. The options selected and applied here will be reflected in the table view of the data in Step 1, not done directly in your HubSpot database.

Use Functions to Transform CSV Data

On the Functions tab, you can select fields from your CSV and apply formatting and transformation changes to the field data. You could clean up, format, add or remove text, copy values to other fields, or make other updates before it is uploaded to HubSpot. These are the same functions found in the Transform Data module, which you can learn more about here. 

When finished, click Apply and view the changes under Step 1. 

Find & Replace Values before Importing

Using the Find & Replace tab, you can bulk update values in the Step 1 table so they are ready to go when you import. This saves you from needing to go back and edit the original CSV and setting it up in Insycle again.

Filter Out Rows in Your CSV

The Filter tab allows you to limit which rows from your CSV are imported based on criteria you define. You may want to do this to import in segments that are handled differently or if there are just some junk rows you don't want to import.

Make Bulk Changes to a Field 

On the Bulk Update tab, you can add values to CRM fields even if you don't have the field in the CSV. This will add the same value for all the imported records.

Associate Imported Rows to Other HubSpot Records

The Associate tab allows you to create relationships between CSV records and existing records in your database when you import. 

Learn more about making associations when importing.

You can create relationships between:

• Standard or custom objects of different types (such as the cars custom object with deals).
• Contacts, companies, and deal objects of the same type (contacts to contacts).
• One object and many objects (for example, one company to multiple deals). Learn more about multiple associations.
• Contacts or companies and meeting IDs (Learn more in the Advanced How-Tos, below.)

Explore the Associate dropdown for all the options for each object type.

Set Format for Dates Tied to Records

The Date Format tab allows you to reformat dates before the data is imported into your HubSpot database.

Learn more about reformatting dates before the data is imported into HubSpot.

Add Records to HubSpot Lists

When importing HubSpot contacts, the List tab will appear. From here, you can add the imported contacts to a new or existing list.

Type to search existing lists in HubSpot or use the button to Create a new list. If you select an existing list, the Show link will let you open it in HubSpot for a preview.

By default, Insycle will attempt to import all of your CSV data into your database. If there are only a few records you want to import, return to the table under Step 1 and check the boxes beside the select records. 

When you click the Import [X Objects] button under Step 5, you'll be prompted to confirm.

⚠️ Note that there is no preview step. Once you confirm, the changes will be applied to HubSpot immediately.

After the import runs, the Import Result breaks down the import information—how many records you tried to import and how many succeeded, failed, were updated, deleted, or unmodified. Click the Run ID to open a CSV record of the import.

Insycle will also email you a CSV report of these changes. If you open the CSV file, you can look at the Result column to see how each row of your import was handled.

The Result column may show:

• Created - A new record was created in HubSpot
• Updated - An existing record was found and updated with data from the CSV
• Failed - If there is an issue, the Message field will give you details so you can troubleshoot

You can also see the (Before) and (After Update) values side-by-side for each field in your import.

After you've seen the results in the CRM and are satisfied with how the import runs, you can save all of the configurations as a template to use each time you import a CSV with the same source and format. With a template, all of your settings are saved, including field mapping, actions, functions etc., so you will have minimal work for future imports.

Return to the Template menu at the top of the page and click the disk icon to save this as a new template, giving it an informative name.

Insycle uses Identity Fields to compare your CSV to your HubSpot data. Identity fields must be "unique identifiers." These are data points that could only belong to a single contact—such as email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses, or ID numbers.

Additionally, when using an email field, Insycle will automatically cross-reference any additional email fields in the records for a match. If using a domain field, Insycle will check additional domain fields. 

When you make your Identity Field selection, the data under Step 1 will refresh, and you'll be able to see which records are already in your HubSpot database. The records that Insycle found will become blue links that will open the record in HubSpot.

In this scenario, if you use the Update Existing and Create Net New setting, Insycle will create a new record for any CSV rows that don't match all five criteria.

If you use the Only Update Existing setting, there will most likely be few records that match all your criteria, and much of your CSV data will not be imported because Insycle will not be able to find the correct record to update.

Typically, it is best to use a single identity field to improve the likelihood of finding existing records in HubSpot.

If you rely on URLs to match imported data with records in your CRM, the formatting of those values can be key. Perhaps the data in your CRM is inconsistent, with different representatives entering URLs differently, or maybe website addresses are formatted differently in an external data source.

For example:

• https://www.acme.com
• http://acme.com
• acme.com
• www.acme.com

When importing, a CSV with varied URL formats might look like this:

Insycle lets you easily clean and format values from a CSV before they are imported. All the cleanup happens on the Insycle side, ensuring the import has standardized data.

By using the Functions under Step 3, you can make bulk changes to the CSV data before it is uploaded. The options selected and applied here will be reflected in the table view of the data in Step 1, not done directly in your CRM.

To eliminate format variants, you can isolate the second-level domain. Under Step 3, select the website or URL column, then select the Extract: Domain from URL function. This will keep just the second-level and top-level domain (acme.com). If you need to take it a step further, and remove the top-level domain (keeping "acme"), add a second function to the column, Remove Top-level domain. 

Click Apply, then review the changes to the column data under Step 1 to verify that the column data matches the needed format. In this example, the domain has been extracted from the URL, so only the second-level and top-level domains remain. These are the values that will be imported into your CRM.

Learn more about cleaning data before vs. after importing it into your CRM.

When date values are detected in a CSV, Insycle will decide which format is being used and make the values consistent when importing. 

Insycle will recognize the following date formats, all of which will work with or without the - or / symbols:

1. Date time with timezone: 2018-07-19T23:25:45.671-0400
2. Date time in UTC timezone: 2018-07-19T10:15:30Z 
3. YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
4. Date (YYYY-MM-DD): 2018-07-19 or 2018/07/09
5. Date (M-D-YYYY): 07-19-2018 or 7/19/2018

You can override this automatic standardizing using the Date Format tab, which allows you to reformat dates before the data is imported into your CRM.

Learn more about reformatting dates before the data is imported into HubSpot.

If your team's calendars are integrated with HubSpot, you can import contacts or companies and associate them with meetings in HubSpot to help track engagement. Multiple contacts or companies (meeting attendees) can link to the same meeting.

Your CSV will need to include the contact or company's identity field and the Meeting IDs from your calendar system. 

Suggested Identity Fields

In Step 1, make sure the attendee identifier is pointing to the appropriate HubSpot field. In this example, the attendee email maps to the contact Email field. There's no need to map the Meeting ID field. This will only be used for the association, not written to a field. 

Select the Identity Field under Step 2, then under Step 4, configure the association to make using the following settings:

• Action: Add
• Associate: Contact to Meeting ID or Company to Meeting ID
• Labels: Unlabeled
• CSV Column: Meeting ID

In HubSpot you'll see the newly added contact or company associations on the meeting activity.

  Note that there is no need to add Meetings as an object type to the account.

With the Activity Tracker, you have a complete audit trail and history of changes made through Insycle. At any time you can download a CSV report that lets you see all of the changes that were made during an import operation.

Navigate to Operations > Activity Tracker, enter "import" to search for the Magic Import module, or look for a template name, then click the Run ID for the operation.

If there are issues with a CSV row, the red warning icon will be shown on the left side of the record. Records that have errors in them will not be imported.

To learn what the problem is and determine steps to resolve it, hover over the red exclamation mark—an explanation of the error will display. 

If a field in your HubSpot database includes dropdown values and the data included in your CSV does not match, the row will display an "Invalid picklist value" error. This value needs to be changed to match the dropdown options used in HubSpot.

You can make quick fixes to the import data directly in Insycle by hovering over a value and clicking the pencil icon.

If a record in your CSV is not being matched to a CRM record and you know that it should be, there are several potential causes:

The Identity Field you chose does not match between the CSV and CRM

Have a look at your data in HubSpot using the Grid Edit module, adding columns to the layout so you can explore the fields and values. Then, compare this against the columns and values in your CSV to find a reliable but unique field that matches the two sources. 

You are using too many Identity Fields

You can select more than one identity field; however, ALL of the fields must match, not just one or some of them. If you include five identity fields and four of them match, but one doesn't, Insycle will not consider the record a match. 

Typically, it is best to use a single identity field to improve the likelihood of finding existing records in your HubSpot data.

Your Identity Field choice is too broad

Insycle uses Identity Fields to compare your CSV to your HubSpot data. If you're using a field that is not truly unique as an Identity Field, it's likely that Insycle won't be able to identify one single record as a match. For instance, there could be many people with the First Name, "John" in HubSpot. This is why uniqueness is key.

When selecting your Identity Field, make sure it is truly a "unique identifier." These are data points that would only belong to a single record—such as an email address, phone number, street address, or ID number. For companies, it could also be a company name or company domain.

There is a syncing issue

To refresh the data in Insycle, navigate to Settings > Sync Status, select the account, and click the Sync changes from last day button.

Alternatively, you could log out of Insycle and then log back in.

For help re-syncing a specific field, contact support.

If you have set up formatting or standardization functions in Step 3 but aren't seeing those changes reflected after importing your data, make sure that you click the Apply button.

You must apply these updates to your CSV data before importing it into HubSpot. Then, you will see these changes reflected in the data under Step 1.

Yes, Insycle will automatically map fields that it is able to identify. However, if there are cases where it can't figure out what a field should map to, a warning icon will appear, and the CRM field dropdown will say "Not Mapped." You should select the corresponding CRM field to ensure the field is included in the import.

Yes, you can easily add to existing data using the Fill or Append Import Modes in Step 1.

• Fill: Import CSV values only when there is no existing value in CRM (will not overwrite existing CRM values).
• Append: Add CSV values to existing values in HubSpot. For example, append notes from a CSV to existing notes or add values on multi-select fields (checkboxes or picklists).

Yes, Insycle provides many functions that can clean, format, and standardize data from your CSV before it's imported into your database. The options selected and applied here will be reflected in the table view of the data in Step 1, not done directly in HubSpot.

Under Step 3, on the Functions tab, you can select fields and apply formatting and transformation changes to the field data. These are the same functions found in the Transform Data module, which you can learn more about in the Function Catalog.

Yes, Insycle allows you to associate records while importing data from a CSV in Step 4 using the Associate tab. Learn more about associating HubSpot objects while importing from a CSV.

Yes, Insycle allows you to compare the CSV to existing data in your HubSpot records. The Compare (Preview) tab under Step 2 provides a simple CSV report showing the values from your original CSV next to the values currently in HubSpot.

To learn more, see the Compare CSV Data to Existing Records In Your CRM article.

Yes, the Magical Import module can handle up to 100k rows for each CSV import. Keep in mind that the more rows and fields you have in your CSV, the slower the import process will be. If you run into any issues, try breaking the CSV into segments and removing any extraneous fields.

Yes, in Step 4, you can choose to add import data to a HubSpot list in the List tab.