When you import a lead list into BrandJet AI, the CSV is parsed column by column and mapped to lead fields. You do not have to match column names exactly — you will be prompted to map them on import — but using the recommended headers makes the process much faster and avoids most common errors.
Minimum required columns
A lead must have at least one way to be reached. That means every row needs either an email address or a social handle (LinkedIn URL works best).
email — preferred for email campaigns
linkedinUrl — preferred for LinkedIn DM and social campaigns
If neither column is present, the row is rejected.
Recommended columns
These are not required, but they unlock personalization variables in your sequences.
firstName
lastName
company
jobTitle
website
industry
city
country
phone
Custom fields
Any column that is not a known field becomes a custom field on the lead. You can reference it inside a sequence as {{custom.column_name}}. Use snake_case or camelCase — both work.
Sample CSV
email,firstName,lastName,company,jobTitle,linkedinUrl,industry,custom_persona
jane@acme.com,Jane,Doe,Acme Co,Head of Growth,https://www.linkedin.com/in/janedoe,SaaS,Founder
john@globex.io,John,Smith,Globex,VP Sales,https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsmith,Fintech,Decision makerFile rules
UTF-8 encoded
Comma-separated, with quoted strings if a value contains a comma
Maximum file size depends on your plan — Starter and above support large lists
One header row at the top, no merged cells (export from Sheets or Excel as CSV)
Common upload errors and fixes
No email or LinkedIn URL — at least one of those columns must have a value on every row.
Invalid email format — extra spaces, missing TLD, or smart quotes from a copy and paste. Trim values and re-export.
Duplicate rows skipped — BrandJet deduplicates by email and by LinkedIn URL across the same list and brand. Skipped rows are reported in the import summary.
Could not parse file — usually means it is an .xlsx file renamed to .csv. Open it in Sheets or Excel and choose Save as CSV.
After import
Imported leads land in the list you selected (or a new list you named). You can then add the list to a campaign, enrich missing fields with credits, or apply filters to clean up. See the article on filtering and bulk-deleting leads for cleanup tips.