A Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting, Cleaning, and Re-Importing Keap Contacts Without Creating Duplicates

Maintaining a clean, accurate CRM is paramount for efficient operations, especially in high-growth B2B companies. Duplicate contacts in Keap can lead to communication errors, wasted marketing efforts, and inaccurate reporting, ultimately costing valuable time and resources. This guide provides a meticulous, step-by-step process for exporting your Keap contacts, thoroughly cleaning the data, and re-importing it seamlessly, ensuring data integrity and preventing the proliferation of duplicates. Our methodology focuses on actionable steps designed for business leaders who prioritize precision and efficiency in their Keap CRM management.

Step 1: Strategic Planning and Initial Export Preparation

Before initiating any data export, a clear strategy is essential. Begin by defining the scope of your cleaning effort: are you addressing specific segments, or is this a comprehensive database audit? Access your Keap account and navigate to the contacts section. Identify any existing tags, custom fields, or segments that might help isolate the data you intend to clean. It’s crucial to perform a full database backup before proceeding, serving as a critical safety net. This initial preparation ensures you have a recovery point should any unforeseen issues arise during the cleaning or re-import process, adhering to best practices for data management and minimizing operational risk.

Step 2: Executing the Keap Contact Export

With your strategy in place, proceed to export your Keap contacts. From the contacts list, use the “Actions” dropdown menu and select “Export.” Keap provides options to export specific fields. We recommend exporting all available contact fields to ensure you capture every piece of information that might be relevant for deduplication and data enrichment. Select “All Fields” or carefully choose specific fields if your cleanup is highly targeted. Ensure the export format is CSV, which is universally compatible with spreadsheet software. Once the export is complete, save the file in a secure, easily accessible location, naming it clearly to indicate its origin and date (e.g., “Keap_Contacts_Full_Backup_YYYYMMDD.csv”).

Step 3: Comprehensive Data Cleaning and Standardization

Open your exported CSV file in a robust spreadsheet program like Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. This is where the meticulous cleaning begins. Start by standardizing critical fields such as names (e.g., consistent casing), email addresses (removing spaces, converting to lowercase), and phone numbers (uniform formatting). Look for variations in company names or job titles that represent the same entity. Employ Excel functions like `TRIM`, `PROPER`, `LOWER`, and `UPPER` to automate much of this standardization. This step is foundational for effective deduplication, as consistent data points make it easier to identify and manage duplicate entries later in the process.

Step 4: Advanced Deduplication Strategies

Now, focus on identifying and consolidating duplicate records. Use your spreadsheet program’s built-in deduplication tools, such as “Remove Duplicates” in Excel, targeting primary identifiers like email addresses or unique Keap Contact IDs (if you exported them). However, be cautious: these tools often delete entire rows. A more refined approach involves sorting by email and visually inspecting adjacent rows for similar names or addresses. Create a new column to mark records for deletion or merging. When duplicates are identified, consolidate relevant information from secondary records into the primary record you intend to keep. This ensures no valuable data is lost during the deduplication process, maintaining a single, rich source of truth.

Step 5: Preparing the Data for Re-Import into Keap

After thorough cleaning and deduplication, your data needs to be prepped for a smooth re-import. Remove any temporary columns you created during the cleaning process, ensuring your spreadsheet contains only the fields you wish to update or add to Keap. A crucial step here is to remove the “Keap Contact ID” column from your cleaned file if it was included in the export. Keeping it could lead to re-import errors or unintended updates. Save your cleaned file as a new CSV, distinct from your original backup, ensuring it’s UTF-8 encoded to prevent character corruption. This prepared file is your definitive source for re-integrating clean data into Keap.

Step 6: Executing the Keap Re-Import Process

Return to your Keap account and navigate to the “Contacts” section. Select “Import” from the “Actions” menu. Choose your cleaned CSV file. Keap will guide you through the field mapping process. Carefully match each column from your CSV to the corresponding Keap field. Pay close attention to custom fields to ensure accurate mapping. Crucially, when asked about handling duplicate records during import, select the option to “Update existing contacts” based on email address. This prevents the creation of new duplicate records and ensures that your cleaned data overwrites or merges with existing entries, rather than adding new, redundant ones. Review all settings before finalizing the import.

Step 7: Post-Import Verification and Ongoing Maintenance

Once the import is complete, it’s vital to perform a thorough verification. Navigate through various contact records in Keap to spot-check for accuracy, ensuring the updated information is correctly reflected and no new duplicates were introduced. Create a new segment based on a recent import tag to easily review the newly updated contacts. As a proactive measure, consider implementing Keap’s built-in duplicate detection tools or integrating third-party solutions for continuous monitoring. Regularly scheduled data hygiene practices, perhaps quarterly, will help maintain the integrity of your Keap database, saving your team countless hours and ensuring reliable data for all your business operations.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Keap Data Recovery Best Practices: Minimizing Duplicates for HR & Recruiting Firms