Building an email contact database can be a real stumbling block for companies wanting to explore joined-up email marketing. Most people have their contacts in Outlook though often email addresses are tucked away in emails in the inbox. It is possible to use Outlook to send emails to a database but it is far from ideal as an email marketing platform. I was investigating this issue for a client, and realised that the solution may be useful for others and so thought that it would be worth sharing. We needed to get all of the contact details out of our client’s Outlook and into a spreadsheet. For the address book this is pretty straightforward, but did you know you can also export the From address from emails into a spreadsheet too. The process is very simple:
- In Outlook 2007, click on File, Import and Export and the Wizard opens up. This process works with Outlook 2010 and 2013 as well. The Import/Export link is found within the file tab at the top of the Outlook window.
- Select the option to Export to a File and click Next
- Select Microsoft Excel 97-2003 (or a CSV file) and click Next
- Select the folder that where the source emails reside (eg inbox) and click Next
- Click on Browse to select a location and then type the file name that you want to export the information to and then click Next
- Now for the clever bit – In the box that opens up click on the Map Custom Fields button. This will bring up a list of all the available fields that are available in that folder. Since we are only interested in Email address, click on Clear Map and then from the Left side click on From: (address) and drag that to the Right list. I would also suggest exporting the From: (name) and Subject fields too as this will help in sorting/filtering the list once you have exported it
- Click on OK
- Click on Finish
Once complete , the export routine will start, and once complete you will have a spreadsheet containing all the from addresses from your chosen emails. Unfortunately, that’s not quite the end of the process, as it will require de-duplicating and filtering to end up with your target list, but the fact that the names & addresses are now in a spreadsheet format will make this process much easier. I hope you find this tip useful. If you need any help, give us a call
