How to import geofences using a CSV upload

You will learn

Learn how to import multiple geofence locations into Klaviyo by uploading a CSV file.

Table of contents

To import geofences using a CSV upload:

1. Create your CSV file.
2. Upload your CSV file.
3. Review your import history.

Before you begin

If you have no geofences yet, go to Audience > Geofences and select Create a geofence. Follow Getting started with geofences to create your first location, then return to import the remaining locations.

Create your CSV file

Before you upload, prepare a CSV file no larger than 50 MB with a header row. Each data row represents 1 geofence location. Every location requires columns for:

• Name
• Address, or all 5 columns (Street, City, State, Country, and Zip), or both Latitude and Longitude

You can also include any of the following optional columns:

• Radius — the distance from the center to the edge of the geofence, from 50 to 10,000 meters
• Description
• Status — active or inactive; whether the geofence is enabled for triggering events
• Enter — true or false; whether to trigger an event when a profile enters the geofence
• Exit — true or false; whether to trigger an event when a profile exits the geofence

Set at least one of Enter or Exit to true for each location, either in the CSV or through the defaults you choose during import. A row with both set to false will not import.

You can download a pre-formatted template directly from the import flow. Navigate to Audience > Geofences > Import locations and select Create your own template. In the modal that appears, choose the columns that you want to include and then select Download. Open the downloaded file in any spreadsheet tool, such as Excel or Google Sheets, and fill in your location data. Then save the file with a .csv extension.

Upload your CSV file

Once your file is ready:

1. Navigate to Audience > Geofences.
2. Select Import locations.
3. On the Upload locations to create geofences screen, drag and drop your file into the upload area, or click Select file to browse for it.
4. After selecting your file, select Next to upload it.
5. Map your CSV columns to geofence fields in Klaviyo. Map Name and one of the location formats listed above. Each geofence field can be mapped to only 1 column. For columns you do not want to import, select Ignore column or clear the checkbox.

6. When all mappings look correct, select Next.
7. On Confirm defaults, select values for Enter event, Exit event, Status, and Radius. These apply when the corresponding CSV value is missing or blank. The initial defaults are Enter event: True, Exit event: False, Status: Active, and Radius: 500 meters.

The map on the right side of the screen gives you a visual preview of the geofence radius. You can type a sample address into the search bar above the map to see approximately how large the geofence will appear in a real location.

1. When your defaults are set, select Import.

Review your import history

After you select Import, Import history opens automatically. To return later, go to Audience > Geofences and select Import history. It shows imports from the last 7 days, including the date and time, how many locations were imported, and the status. An import can be Pending or Processing before showing a result:

• Complete — all locations imported successfully
• Partial complete — not all locations imported, or the import stopped because your account reached its geofence limit. Select Download failed rows to get a CSV of the rows that did not import, which you can correct and re-upload.
• Failed — the import could not finish successfully. Check the imported count before retrying, since some locations may already have been created. Select Download failed rows to check for a report of rejected rows.

Your import may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the size of your file. You can navigate away from the page, and the import will continue in the background.

Best practices

• Keep location names descriptive and consistent so your geofences are easy to manage. Imports create new geofences; matching an existing Name does not update that geofence. Rows with the same latitude, longitude, and radius as an existing geofence or an earlier row in the import are skipped as duplicates.
• Use the Latitude/Longitude columns, instead of Address, when you need precise placement, such as for a specific entrance to a building or a location within a large complex.
• Start with a small test file of 2 or 3 locations before importing a large batch. This approach lets you confirm your column mapping and defaults are correct before committing to a full upload.
• Review the failed rows report after a partial or failed import. Check the validation_errors column for each rejected row, then correct and re-upload those rows. Issues include missing required fields, addresses that cannot be located, out-of-range coordinates or radius values, duplicate geofences, or both Enter and Exit set to false.

Outcome

After a successful import, select Close in Import history to return to Audience > Geofences. Your imported geofences appear with the status and settings you configured. You can use geofence events in flows and segments for location-based messaging.

Additional resources