What to Know When Importing Data From a CSV File

  • Updated

Before importing data from a CSV file into Demandbase, review the data priority, record matching rules, and External ID requirements to ensure accurate data imports and prevent duplicate records

To import data, see Import, Update, Add, and Delete Data from a CSV File.

Data Priority by Source

When a record contains data from multiple sources, Demandbase uses the following priority order to determine which field values to retain:

  1. CRM
  2. Marketing Automation System (MAS)
  3. CSV imports
  4. Demandbase

Record Matching 

Demandbase matches imported CSV records with existing records using the following criteria:

  • Accounts: Matched against CRM or Demandbase records using the following prioritization:
    • External account ID (if provided)
    • Account domain and account name
  • Opportunities: Matched to accounts using the external account ID, account domain, or account name.
  • People: Matched to accounts using the external account ID, account domain, or account name. See Understanding Lead to Account Matching.
    Important: Importing people records makes the data available for advertising campaigns only. To view person-level activity, you must integrate Demandbase with a CRM or Marketing Automation System.
  • Activities: Matched to people using the external person ID.
    Important:

    • If the person is associated with an account, the activity is matched to both the person and account.

    • If the person is not associated with an account, the activity is matched to the person only.

Data Storage and Time Zone Conversion

Demandbase processes and stores all dates and timestamps in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). In the user interface, dates and timestamps are converted to your browser's local time zone. See Understanding Demandbase Data Availability.

As a result, the displayed date may differ from the date in your imported CSV file.

Example: If you import a date of 2025-08-27, Demandbase stores it as 2025-08-27 00:00:00 UTC. For users in Pacific Time, the date appears as 2025-08-26 because Pacific Time is behind UTC.

External IDs

External IDs are unique identifiers (UUID) used to identify and match records across data sources.

Including External IDs in your CSV file helps Demandbase match imported records with existing records and prevent duplicates.

Obtain External IDs

You can obtain External IDs in the following ways:

  • From an external system: Use an existing record identifier, such as a Salesforce Account ID or Contact ID.
  • Without an external system: Create your own unique identifiers or use a UUID generator.

Tip: External IDs can contain letters, numbers, or both.

Find External IDs in Demandbase

To find External IDs for existing records:

  1. Go to the table containing the records.
  2. Click Edit Columns.
  3. Search for and add the External [Object] ID column (for example, External Account ID).
  4. Click Apply.

Include the corresponding External ID column in your CSV file to help Demandbase match records during import.

Account Fields

When importing account data from a CSV file, include the required fields to ensure Demandbase can identify and match account records. You can also include optional fields to provide additional account information.

Required Account Fields
  • Account Name
  • Account Domain
Optional Account Fields
  • Owner (Email or Name) 
    Tip: Highly recommended to include an email address, as having an associated account domain improves match rates. It also makes the owner eligible for Snapshot Subscriptions on the Auto-Create Account Lists settings page. See Configure Auto-Create Account Lists.
  • Phone Number
  • Employees
  • Annual Revenue
  • Industry
  • External Account ID (highly recommend)
    Important: To match CSV accounts to CRM accounts, include column named "External Account ID" or "Account External ID".
  • Custom Fields

People Fields

When importing people data from a CSV file, include the required fields to ensure Demandbase can identify and match people records. You can also include optional fields to provide additional people information.

Required People Fields
  • External Person ID 
    Tip: A person's email address can also serve as the Person ID. However, the import file must still include a separate Email field.
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email
Optional People Fields
  • Account Name
  • Account Domain (highly recommend)
  • City
  • Country
  • External Account ID (highly recommend)
  • Person Type
  • Postal code
  • Role
  • Title
  • State
  • Custom fields

Opportunity Fields

When importing opportunity data from a CSV file, include the required fields to ensure Demandbase can identify and match opportunity records. You can also include optional fields to provide additional opportunity information.

Required Opportunity Fields
  • External Opportunity ID
  • Opportunity Name
  • Account Name
  • Type
  • Account Domain
  • Created Date
  • Owner Email
Optional Opportunity Fields
  • External Account ID (highly recommend)
  • Stage
  • Probability
  • Close Date
  • Is Closed
  • Is Won
  • Amount

Activity Fields

When importing activity data from a CSV file, include the required fields to ensure Demandbase can identify and match activity records. You can also include optional fields to provide additional activity information.

You can import task, call, meeting, email, and custom activity types.

Task

Required Task Fields:

  • TimeStamp
  • Activity Date
  • Owner
  • External Person ID
  • External Activity ID

Optional Task Fields:

  • Title
  • Account Name
  • Description
  • Account Domain
  • Priority
  • Status
  • Type
Call

Required Call Fields: 

  • Activity Date
  • Caller
  • TimeStamp
  • Title
  • External Person ID
  • External Activity ID

Optional Call Fields: 

  • Duration
  • Account Name
  • Description
  • Account Domain
  • Recording URL
  • Callee
  • Direction
Meeting

Required Meeting Fields:

  • Start Time
  • Title
  • Activity Date
  • Owner Id
  • End Time
  • External Person ID
  • External Activity ID

Optional Meeting Fields:

  • Location
  • Account Name
  • Account Domain
  • Body
  • External URL
  • Outcome
Email

Required Email Fields:

  • TimeStamp
  • Subject
  • Activity Date
  • From Email
  • External Person ID
  • To Email
  • External Activity ID

Optional Email Fields:

  • Open Sales Email
  • Open Sales Email
  • Account Name
  • Attachment IDs
  • Account Domain
  • Sender First Name
  • Click Sales Email
  • Recipient Last Name
  • Marketing Email Open
  • Status
  • Click Email
  • Sender Last Name
  • Body
  • Recipient First Name
Custom

Important:

Required Custom Activity fields:

  • Activity Date
  • External Person ID
  • External Activity ID

Optional Custom Activity fields:

Any custom activity field that is a string type.

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