You will learn
Learn how to format and import a list of SMS contacts into Klaviyo. You can only import SMS consent for people in countries where Klaviyo SMS is available.
Here, we discuss importing currently opted-in profiles. If you want to import profiles and indicate that they are not subscribed to SMS, check out How to bulk unsubscribe SMS contacts in Klaviyo.
Before you begin
Before you begin importing phone numbers, you must:
- Turn on SMS.
- Set up your sending number(s) (you need a phone number for any country you want to send to).
- Turn off any flows triggered by a list or the Consented to receive SMS metric.
- Note: wait at least 2 hours after importing before you turn your flow live again.
- Filter opted-out contacts from the CSV.
When importing, any landline numbers are automatically detected, and consent won't be applied to those phone numbers.
Why these are prerequisites
If you don’t enable SMS, Klaviyo cannot add consent to your numbers. The numbers will still show as profiles in your account, but you won’t be able to send them SMS messages because consent isn’t applied. To avoid this, simply make sure you have set up SMS. To check that SMS is enabled in your account, navigate to Settings > SMS.
Turn any flows triggered by the Consented to receive SMS metric (e.g., SMS welcome series) or a list (e.g., email welcome series) to manual mode before beginning the import process. Otherwise, after the import finishes, every new contact from that CSV will be added to the flow. You should also wait at least 2 hours after the import finishes to turn the flow live again.
Klaviyo will either add consent to all imported contacts or none of them. Therefore, it’s critical to only upload a CSV where all contacts are currently subscribed to SMS. You don’t want to accidentally text someone who never subscribed or has opted out. Not only does this provide a bad customer experience, but it is also against compliance regulations and Klaviyo’s Terms of Service.
Required information for an SMS import
To upload SMS consent, the CSV must include the following for each contact:
- Phone number
- Country, either in a column or as a country code
| Example with country code | Example with country column |
For more information on including a country, read how to indicate the country for an SMS import.
Recommended informationRecommended information
Some information is "recommended" because it's helpful, but not required to add SMS consent. There are also columns you may think are helpful, but could cause errors in the import process.
See the table below for details of other information you may want to (or not want to) include.
| Do include | Don't include |
| Email address (if included, this should be the first column in the CSV) | Consent type (e.g., to specify that the consent type is SMS) |
| Consent timestamp | "Subscribed to SMS" column |
| First name | |
| Last name |
About the consent timestamp
The consent timestamp is optional. In most cases, it’s good to include if it’s available as long as it follows one of the accepted date/time formats.
If you choose not to include the timestamp, you will need to check a box to confirm that all profiles are currently opted into SMS.
However, adding the consent timestamp is not recommended in certain cases. Mostly, this occurs if you try to re-upload consent for a profile and the opt-out date is more recent than the consent timestamp. In this case, SMS consent won't be re-added to the profile.
Do not subscribe someone to SMS without their explicit consent. This includes people who have never opted in to SMS as well as those who used to be subscribers but since opted out.
How to import an SMS CSV
- Navigate to Audience > Lists & Segments.
- Select the list you want to add your contacts to (e.g., SMS Subscribers).
- Open the Manage List dropdown in the upper right.
- Choose Import contacts from the dropdown.
- Click Upload and select your CSV file of SMS subscribers.
- Map each column from your CSV to an appropriate property in Klaviyo, then click Next.
- If you have explicit permission from everyone in your CSV file to send SMS marketing, select the option Yes, update subscription status for all imported contacts to subscribed. If your CSV file contains both emails and phone numbers, select which channel(s) they’ve subscribed to.
- Click Import.
The import process can take up to a couple of hours to complete.
OutcomeOutcome
Once all the numbers are imported, Klaviyo will either create a new profile or associate the data to an existing profile. For instance, if you import a phone-number-only CSV, Klaviyo will look for profiles with the same phone number, update that profile's SMS consent status, and include any other profile properties attributed to that contact.
Additional resources