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File Mapping Process

Audience Import Utility, File Mapping, SFTP, Mapping Attributes, Data Fields

Melissa Siegel avatar
Written by Melissa Siegel
Updated over a week ago

Once you have audience files prepared for upload via SFTP, you will need to map your files via the 3-step File Mapping process.

To start, Go to Settings > Integrations & Plugins > Audience Import Utility > New File Map. To upload additional Files for mapping, return to the Audience Import Utility page and select New File Map - after multiple maps are available, you can reorder them from the Audience Import Utility > Mapped Files tab.

This feature is not currently available in Organizations that are managed by a Parent Instance.

Step 1: Upload File

Before you Browse –

  • Check to make sure you have the appropriate data types. Correct data types are available in the File Format Help Spreadsheet.

  • Be sure to save your .CSV file with UTF-8 encoding in order to eliminate errors due to accent marks or other special characters included in your file.

  • Check to make sure headers are included.

  • Check to make sure that every column that you want to map is in the file.

    • Note: Column order does not matter

  • Check to make sure that you have at least one row of data in your file.

When you are ready to upload your file, Click Browse and select your file.

Important Note: If you are mapping attributes that you will not be sending via SFTP after you map your files, the data will be cleared for that attribute, including metadata and affecting segments.

Step 2: Mapping

Once your file is uploaded, Drag and drop data fields from the right side of the screen to the “Broadcast Data” field you would like to map to OR click the field on the right side of the screen and then click where you would like to map to. You can find more information about a given field by hovering over the “i” tooltip. When you are finished mapping, click Continue.

You can remove a mapped field by hovering over it and clicking the minus symbol to send the field back to the right hand side.

Pro Cerklers Tip: You can add unlimited metadata fields in the Metadata tab by clicking +. When dragged over, the field will take the name of your spreadsheet column name and be used throughout the platform. It can be String format so if you have data that cannot hold the prescribed format, we recommend using Metadata!

Enable Email-less Subscribers

During the mapping stage, you can also enable Email-less Subscribers for this specific file. To enable this feature, click the settings gear in the lower left corner to bring up the File Map Settings window. Here, you can toggle on the Mobile Only Opt-In Status will remove Email as required and allow users with Unique IDs but with no email address to be be processed.

Step 3: Review

You are almost done! Please review your mapping. After submitting your mapping, if you want to make any changes, you will need to restart the entire mapping process. You can download a copy of this table by clicking Download Copy on the bottom left. Click Submit and your mapping will be saved and used in all future SFTP uploads.

Make sure to send your files over by your chosen processing time in Settings. If we have all of the files, we will run them in the order assigned. If we do not have all of the files, we will completely skip the upload for that day – the status is shown in the report log.


If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at support@cerkl.com or use the support Chat toward the bottom right-hand corner of any cerkl.com page.


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