You can import email subscription statuses for your contacts by uploading a CSV file into Hive.
Email and SMS subscription statuses are handled differently during the import process. To go straight to importing SMS subscription statuses, skip ahead to that section of the help article.
Start the import
Go to Contacts in the left-hand menu and click CSV Import.
Select + Upload new CSV file from the upper right-hand corner.
Give your import a recognizable internal name.
Drag and drop your CSV file, or click the upload box to select a file from your computer.
Click Continue.
Set import options
Header row: If the first row of your CSV contains column titles, check the box First row in CSV is a header row.
Column mapping: Use the dropdown menus to match your CSV columns to Hive column types. Hive will attempt to auto-detect fields like Email and First Name.
Map the subscription email status column
When you import emails, Hive automatically marks them as Subscribed unless the contact exists in your account as Unsubscribed (in which case, they will remain unsubscribed).
This behavior reflects Hive's commitment to adhering to consent principles, ensuring that user preferences are respected during the import process.
To properly separate subscription statuses during the import, your CSV must include a column for subscription status. Use "Yes" for contacts who want to be opted into email communication and "No" for those who are opted out.
Always ensure that the consent data in the CSV aligns with legal and ethical standards, marking contacts as "Yes" or "No" based on valid and up-to-date preferences.
During the second step of the import process, make sure to map this column to the Hive field Email Consent Provided. If "Yes" is in the column, the contact will be imported as opted in. If "No" is selected, the contact will be imported as opted out.
Optional: Add contacts to a subscription status segment
If you want to use the Subscription Status column to both opt contacts in or out and organize them into segments based on their preferences, you’ll need to either duplicate the Subscription Status column in your CSV file or create a separate column for segmenting. This ensures the data can be mapped in two different ways during the import process.
You can also set up two separate Subscription Status columns—one for Email and one for SMS. For details on how to manage SMS preferences during import, see the section below on opting contacts in or out of SMS.
When mapping fields during the import, select Add to Static Segment(s) (comma separated) from the dropdown menu. All contacts with the same value in the Subscription Status column will automatically be grouped into a static segment with that name.
Example:
All contacts with “Yes” in the SMS Subscription Status column will be placed into a static segment named “Yes.”
All contacts with “No” will be placed into a static segment named “No.”
Importing phone numbers for SMS
During Step 4 of the import process, you’ll be asked whether to opt all imported numbers into SMS. If you enable SMS Opt-In Configuration, every contact with a mobile number in your file will automatically be marked as opted-in.
Important: This setting applies to the entire import. If your list includes a mix of contacts who have given SMS consent and those who have not, you may want to split your CSV into two separate imports:
One for numbers with explicit SMS consent
One for numbers without
This ensures compliance and that SMS messages are only sent to contacts who have provided proper permission.
Where can you view a contact’s subscription status?
After you complete your import, you can easily identify whether a contact is opted in to receive email or SMS communication directly from your contact list.
Opted-in contacts will display a small checkmark next to their details.
Not opted-in contacts will display a small “x.”