How Do I Import My Member or Listener Club Database Into SoCast?

Importing your existing Member or Listener Club database is an important part of setting up your SoCast website. To ensure a smooth and secure process, please coordinate with your designated SoCast contact. Because these files contain personal information, all files must be sent to SoCast using secure methods. Acceptable secure methods include:

• Placing the database in a password-protected ZIP archive (send the password in a separate email)
• Sending the file via a secure third-party transfer service
• Providing the file via a secure FTP site (send the login username and password in separate emails)

If you have any questions about the process, please contact your SoCast onboarding lead or email support@socastsrm.com.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Contact your SoCast onboarding lead at least five business days before your scheduled site launch to confirm that you require a database import. As part of your request, confirm that all Listener Club records are eligible to receive email communications. If this is not the case, SoCast will work with you to make alternate arrangements.
2. Provide your file 48–72 hours before your site launch.
3. Export your Listener Club database from your current system.
4. Format your export as a CSV file using the structure below. If a column does not exist in your database (for example, if you don’t collect mobile phone numbers), create the heading and leave the column empty. Email is the only required field.

   Column Name	Required	Format	Example
   email	Yes	Properly formatted email address	name@domain.com
   username	No	Username for the member. If not provided, first name will be used. If first name is not available, the first part of the email address will be used (e.g., john@domain.com becomes "john").	BiggestFan
   password	No	Plain text password. Do not provide encrypted passwords, as SoCast cannot decrypt them. If no password is provided, a new password will be generated and provided to you (see Step 6).	123456Abc
   first_name	No	First name of the member	John
   last_name	No	Last name of the member	Doe
   birthdate	No	yyyy-mm-dd	1981-05-22
   gender	No	male or female	male
   country	No	USA or Canada	USA
   state	No	State or province of residence	California
   city	No	City of residence	San Francisco
   postal_code	No	ZIP or postal code	90210
   address	No	Mailing address	123 Street Ave
   phone	No	Home phone number	(123) 456-7890
   mobile_phone	No	Mobile phone number	(123) 456-7890

5. If your Listener Club file contains unencrypted passwords: User logins will be imported as-is and their existing logins will work on the new site. No further action is needed.
6. If your Listener Club file contains encrypted passwords, or you do not have passwords associated with your profiles:
   1. SoCast will create new passwords for all Listener Club members and send the list back to you securely.
      1. We recommend sending an email campaign to Listener Club members to advise them of their new passwords.
      2. Do not send this campaign until at least one business day after your site has launched.
      3. Before sending the campaign, verify your DNS settings are correct and that the "Forgot Password" email is working properly.
   2. We also recommend setting a custom message in the "Login" window to let Listener Club members know their password has changed. To do this:
      1. Go to: http://admin.socastsrm.com/account/membership (Promotions > Members > Member Sign Up Settings)
      2. Scroll down to "Sign-up Call to Action"
      3. Fill in the "Call To Action Title" and "Call To Action Message" fields. We recommend messaging such as: "If you were registered on our old site, click on the 'Forgot Password' link above to recover your profile."
      4. For more details, see our how-to guide.
7. (Optional) Repeat steps 3–6 within 24 hours after launch to import users who signed up within 24 hours of launch. Only provide new members since the last import; otherwise, the SoCast import will reject the file.

TIP: Do not send Listener Club lists via email unless they are in an encrypted ZIP file.

TIP: All Listener Club members should have valid marketing opt-ins to receive email communications. Please confirm this with SoCast as part of your submission request.