How to Subscribe Contacts to a Campaign When Importing a Contact List

When you move from Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, or another ESP to systeme.io, you often need more than a plain contact import—you need subscribers to land in the right place inside an email sequence (campaign) without restarting from email #1. During CSV import, you can pick a campaign and map columns that tell systeme.io which email each person already received and when.

This guide explains that workflow—based on How to subscribe contacts to a campaign when importing a contact list—and how it connects to standard import steps in How to import or export a contact list.

• A systeme.io account
• A campaign already built in Emails (same order and timing you want going forward)—see How to set up an email campaign
• A CSV file with at least: email addresses, plus data for campaign resume (see below)
• Consent: only import and subscribe people allowed to receive your emails

Prepare the CSV from Excel via Save As CSV ( How to import or export a contact list). For full migration context, read Migration of your contact list to systeme.io: advanced tips.

If you choose a campaign on import, your file should support three mappings on the column screen:

1. Email—required for every contact
2. Last sent email number—position in the sequence on your old system (e.g. 0 = none yet, 3 = already received email #3 in the matching sequence)
3. Last sent email date—when that last email was sent (so delays can continue logically)

Export these fields from your previous ESP or build them in a spreadsheet before upload. If you omit the campaign position column, import may error with a message asking you to select the column that contains each contact’s position within the email campaign—add that column and re-import.

Tip: recreate the same email order in systeme.io as on the old platform so “email number 3” means the same message on both sides.

1. CRM → Contacts → Import contacts
2. Set CSV delimiter (comma, semicolon, or pipe)
3. Upload your CSV
4. Optionally assign an import tag ( How to create a tag)
5. Optionally choose Campaign (optional)—covered in the next section
6. Click Next
7. Map all columns (email, names, campaign fields, etc.)
8. Complete Import

While importing your contact list, open the Campaign (optional) dropdown and select the campaign that matches the sequence you are migrating. Then continue to the next step (Next).

Leave the campaign dropdown empty if you only want contacts in CRM without joining a sequence yet—you can subscribe later manually or via automation ( How to automate the sending of an email sequence (email campaign)).

On the mapping popup:

• Map one column to Email (required)
• Map one column to Select last sent email number column (campaign step from previous system)
• Map one column to Select last sent email date column (date of that last send)
• Map other columns (first name, last name, tags, etc.) as needed

These two campaign fields tell systeme.io where each subscriber sits in the sequence so the next scheduled email can follow your campaign delays instead of blasting the full series from the start.

After mapping, click Import. Contacts are created or updated, tags apply if selected, and campaign subscription uses your mapped step and date data.

Verify a sample of contacts in CRM: check campaign membership and that the next send timing looks reasonable. Warm up volume after migration ( How to migrate without hurting your email deliverability?).

• Brand-new leads with no prior sequence—import with a tag only; trigger welcome via funnel automation
• No consent for marketing email—do not subscribe to a live campaign
• Test imports—use a tag like import-test without campaign first
• Mismatch between old automation and new campaign structure—rebuild the campaign or reset step numbers to 0 for a fresh sequence

Error about campaign position column

Add a CSV column with each contact’s last email number in the old sequence and map it to last sent email number.

Everyone restarted at email 1

Check that numbers/dates mapped correctly and that campaign email order matches the exported “step” meaning from your old tool.

Import without campaign first

Import with tags only, fix data, delete batch if needed ( How to delete multiple contacts), then re-import with campaign mapping ( Essential steps to import contacts successfully).

Is campaign selection required on every import?

No—it is optional. Use it only when you intentionally migrate active sequence subscribers.

Can I combine campaign subscribe and tags?

Yes—select both a tag and a campaign during the same import for segmentation plus sequence placement.

Does this replace automation rules?

No—ongoing opt-ins still use funnel or automation rules ( How do automation rules operate?). Import-time campaign subscribe is mainly for bulk ESP migration.

• How to subscribe contacts to a campaign when importing a contact list
• How to import or export a contact list
• How to set up an email campaign
• Migration of your contact list to systeme.io: advanced tips

systeme.io — import once, resume sequences where subscribers left off.