Send Event Leads to Salesforce: Import Guide

You can send event leads to Salesforce with the Data Import Wizard, which comes with every Salesforce org. Export your guest list from the Impulse client portal as a CSV, import the guests as leads, and assign them all to a campaign for the event in the same step. Your sales team sees new leads the day after the event, with the event attached.

Impulse collects guest details when guests sign up to get their event photos. Each signup becomes a first-party lead with a phone number and the answers to your signup form. At the Genesis Invitational, Genesis signed up 4,000+ registrants through separate VIP and general flows.

What You Need Before You Start

• An Impulse event with guest signups, and access to the Impulse client portal

• A Salesforce user with permission to import leads and edit campaigns

• A campaign for the event in Salesforce, if you want to track event results

Create the campaign first. Go to Campaigns, click New, and name it after the event. The import wizard can then add every lead to it.

Step 1: Export Your Guest List From Impulse

1. Sign in to the Impulse client portal at portal.impul.co and open your event.

2. In the left menu, click Guest List.

3. At the top right, click the settings icon to open Configure CSV export. Choose the columns you want and drag them into order. Turn on GalleryLink if you want each lead to carry a link to their photos. It's off by default.

4. Click Export CSV. The file downloads with a name like guests-<event>-<date>.csv.

Screenshot: the Guest List page with the Configure CSV export panel open.

The export can include these columns:

• HumanId: the Impulse ID for the guest

• GalleryLink: a link to the guest's photo gallery (off by default)

• PhoneNumber: the mobile number the guest signed up with

• SignupDateUTC: when the guest signed up, in UTC

• MostRecentCheckInUTC: when the guest was last checked in, in UTC, if your team checked guests in

• OptedIn: marketing consent. The guest ticked the marketing opt-in checkbox when they signed up.

• OptedOut: unsubscribe flag. The guest replied STOP to your texts.

• Your signup fields: one column for each field on your event's signup form, such as name or email if your form asks for them

Check that phone numbers kept their country code. If a spreadsheet app has changed them, export again.

Step 2: Add the Fields Salesforce Requires

Salesforce needs a Last Name and a Company for every lead.

• Last Name: if your signup form asks for a name, use that column. If not, fill a Last Name column with a placeholder such as "Event guest". HumanId keeps each lead unique.

• Company: if your signup form asks for company, use that column. If not, fill the column with a placeholder your team agrees on, such as the event name. Sales can update it when they qualify the lead.

Before you import, remove guests flagged in OptedOut, because they replied STOP and unsubscribed. If you plan to send marketing, keep only guests flagged in OptedIn, because they ticked the marketing opt-in checkbox at signup.

Step 3: Create Custom Lead Fields

Create these lead fields in Setup before your first import, so every event lands in the same place:

• Impulse guest ID (text) for HumanId

• Event gallery link (URL) for GalleryLink

• Event signup date (date/time) for SignupDateUTC

• Event check-in time (date/time) for MostRecentCheckInUTC

• Impulse marketing opt-in for OptedIn and Impulse unsubscribed (STOP) for OptedOut. A checkbox works well for both. Look at how the values appear in your file, and convert them to your CRM's checkbox format if needed.

Step 4: Launch the Data Import Wizard

1. In Salesforce, click the gear icon and open Setup.

2. In Quick Find, type Data Import Wizard and open it.

3. Click Launch Wizard.

4. Under standard objects, choose Leads.

5. Choose Add new and update existing records if you run repeat events with the same audience and collect email. Otherwise choose Add new records.

6. Set Match Lead by to Email, if your export has an email column.

7. Set Lead Source to a value such as "Event".

8. Use Assign All Leads to Campaign to pick the event campaign and set the member status, for example "Attended".

9. Turn on Trigger assignment rules if your org routes leads to owners automatically.

Then upload your CSV and click Next.

Step 5: Map the Fields

The two date columns are in UTC. Check a few values after the import to make sure the times look right in your time zone.

Click Next, review the summary and click Start Import.

Step 6: Check the Import

Salesforce emails you when the import finishes. Then:

1. Open Setup > Bulk Data Load Jobs to see how many rows were processed and how many failed.

2. Open the event campaign and check the member count.

3. Open a few leads and check the phone number, signup date and gallery link.

The Data Import Wizard handles up to 50,000 records per file, which covers almost any single event.

How to Follow Up With Event Leads in Salesforce

• Build a list view of campaign members with status "Attended" for your sales team.

• Report on the campaign to see leads, converted leads and opportunities from the event.

• If you use Marketing Cloud or Account Engagement, email consenting guests within 48 hours with their gallery link.

To estimate what those leads are worth, use the event ROI calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Impulse sync directly with Salesforce?

CSV import works today with any Salesforce org, and this guide covers it. If you want a direct sync instead, contact your Impulse contact to set it up.

Should event guests be leads or contacts?

Import new people as leads, so sales can qualify them. If most of your guests are existing customers, import them as contacts with Add new and update existing records and match by email.

Why did some rows fail?

The usual causes are a missing last name, a missing company, or a picklist value that doesn't exist in your org. The error file from the import job lists the reason for each row.

Can I do the same with HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365?

Yes. See how to send event leads to HubSpot and how to send event leads to Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Capture More Event Leads

Impulse turns guests who want their photos into first-party leads, with no app required. See how Impulse captures event leads, or book a demo to see an export from a real event.