You can import emails directly into your Podia as subscribers, customers, community members or as part of a waitlist.
Importing your email list into Podia
Here's a step-by-step guide to import your email list into Podia.
Preparing your import
Before you upload your email list, you'll need to prepare your import.
Here's how to prepare your import:
From your Podia dashboard, click on Audience and choose Imports in the sidebar menu.
On the Imports page, you'll see a list of your past imports, as well as an option to add a new import.
Click on + New import to start a new import.
On the New import page, select the access type for your import. Available options are:
Import people into my audience (imports them as subscribers-only, without giving product access)
Import people and give them product access
Import people and add them to a waitlist
Import people and give them community access
If you want to add tags to this particular import, use an existing tag or create a new one directly in the Tags field.
Once you're ready, click on Prepare import to upload your CSV file.
Uploading your CSV file
After your import is prepared, you'll move forward with uploading your CSV file. On the next page, click on "Upload CSV" to upload your .csv file.
For improved compatibility, your .csv file should contain the following columns:
Email (required)
First Name
Last Name
Tags
Only the Email field is required, so if you have a .csv file with no names/tags, it should be fine!
Your .csv file should look like this:
Here's a step-by-step guide to upload and correctly map the fields of your .csv file:
On the Getting Started step, we’ll provide an example spreadsheet and a downloadable .csv template you can use to format your import.
Once your file is ready, just click “Next step” in the lower right corner to continue.
Upload your .csv file into by browse your computer or drag and drop the file into the uploader.
After uploading your .csv file, you’ll need to confirm if the first row is a header row.
If you select that it isn’t, Podia will automatically add a header row for you. This step helps the system correctly map the fields in your file.
As the final step before importing, you’ll match the data in your spreadsheet to the correct fields in Podia. You can import four types of data:
First name
Last name
Email
Tags
You’ll see the columns from your .csv and choose which ones match these fields.For best results, make sure your spreadsheet only includes the necessary columns—email, name, and tags. You delete any extra columns before uploading to keep things clean and simple.
Once you click "Next Step", your data will begin importing. You will receive a confirmation email once it's fully processed and live in your account.
If your exported list includes a full name column instead of divided columns for first and last names, you can still import here without reformatting!
Simply map the full name column to the first name location and the importer will automatically divide them.
Importing a file with tags
You can include tags in your import to organize your audience more easily. Each person in your .csv file can have their own tag or multiple tags listed next to their name.
To import audience information with tags, make sure to include a Tags column in your .csv file:
For example, if your spreadsheet includes “USS Enterprise” and “Starfleet” next to Jean-Luc Picard, both of those tags will be added to his profile.
If a tag doesn’t already exist in your Podia account, it’ll be created automatically during the import based on the name in your file.
If you choose a tag on the main import screen, that tag will be added to every person in your file—on top of any individual tags already listed next to them.
Note: Make sure all your tags follow the same formatting in your .csv file.
Some tools may automatically add quotation marks (like " ") around each tag. If that happens, make sure all tags either have quotation marks or none do. Mixing both formats can cause issues during import.
Need to fix it? Use the search and replace feature in your spreadsheet tool to quickly remove any unwanted quotation marks.
Email limits
You can import subscribers to Podia based on your chosen Podia Email plan.
The number of subscribers you can import matches the limit of your current plan.
Click here to check out Podia Email pricing, or visit your Billing page to check out the plan you're currently subscribed to.
FAQs & Troubleshooting
What happens if my list has duplicated email addresses?
What happens if my list has duplicated email addresses?
Our import tool automatically detects duplicate emails and will not create duplicate entries.
However, it’s important to understand how re-importing existing emails behaves:
Re-importing will NOT update profiles.
If someone was previously imported without a name, re-importing their email with a name included won’t update their profile. The import tool will skip that entry since it’s recognized as a duplicate.
Re-importing CAN change subscription status.
If someone signed up for a product but didn’t opt in for marketing emails, importing them again into your audience will mark them as subscribed to marketing emails.
Double opt-in protection stays in place.
If someone hasn’t confirmed their subscription, they won’t be auto-subscribed through re-import—your double opt-in setting still applies
Some of the emails in my file were not imported/failed. What can I do?
Some of the emails in my file were not imported/failed. What can I do?
Please go back through your .csv file and ensure there are not any formatting mistakes within the text.
Things such as unclosed quotation marks [" "] around tags for a person can cause that email to not upload properly!
Additionally, any special characters within names or email addresses should be removed.
Still need help?
If you have any questions, send an email to hello@podia.com or click the purple help icon to send us a message 😄