How to Import Lead Lists into Salesflow via CSV

Whether you are sourcing leads from Sales Navigator, Apollo, Clay, or a custom scraper, getting them into Salesflow is the fastest path to running campaigns. This guide covers exactly how to import any CSV lead list and launch your first outreach in under 10 minutes, updated for the current Salesflow interface in 2026.

What is a CSV File?

A CSV file, or “Comma-Separated Values” file, is a basic format for storing data like names, emails, and phone numbers. They are easy to work with as they can be opened and edited with a wide range of software and applications.

This simplifies the process of reaching out to your leads, keeping track of your interactions, and ultimately converting these leads into valuable business opportunities.

Use Salesflow-Sales Navigator for Efficiency

Integrating your LinkedIn account with Salesflow grants you direct access to your Sales Navigator filters right from your dashboard(this feature is extended to premium LinkedIn Sales Navigator account holders only).

Click here to learn more about LinkedIn Sales Navigator!

What’s more, Salesflow’s LinkedIn automation tool seamlessly syncs with prominent business applications, including HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zapier, and Salesforce, ensuring a smooth process for exporting LinkedIn contacts to your CRM and creating lead lists tailored for you.

CSV Import Requirements in 2026

First, let’s understand the requirements and common errors. Before importing, make sure your file meets these requirements:

- File format: .csv only (not .xlsx or .xls)

- Required column: a LinkedIn profile URL for each contact

- Only standard LinkedIn profile URLs are accepted, Sales Navigator URLs are not allowed

- Maximum contacts per file: 5,000 per import

- No duplicate profile URLs, if a contact already exists in another campaign, Salesflow will notify you and will not import them

- Sales Navigator is not required for CSV imports, basic LinkedIn accounts can import via CSV too

Missing the LinkedIn profile URL column is the single most common reason imports fail. Make sure this column is present and populated before uploading.

CSV Template for Salesflow Imports

To save time, structure your CSV file with these column headers before importing:

First Name | Last Name | LinkedIn URL | Company | Job Title | Email | Phone

The only required column is LinkedIn URL. All others are optional but recommended, they power the personalization tokens in your outreach messages (first name, company name, etc.) and improve reply rates significantly.

How to Find Companies to Scrape on Sales Navigator:

With the Help of Scrapers

Data/Web scraping refers to the automated extraction of website information to an external repository, typically in a spreadsheet or CSV format. So, instead of laboriously sifting through web pages and manually transcribing data, users can delegate this task to third-party tools. However, these interfaces can be complex for non-developers to navigate.

In contrast, user-friendly tools like Apify, Mozenda, and Diffbot make data extraction accessible to everyone. As part of the broader strategy of lead generation, which entails identifying and targeting potential business clients, they become an asset.

When your business is dependent on B2B prospecting, it becomes a no-brainer that you do not want to limit your lead generation efforts till the Sales Navigator search bar. Sure, it stands out as a potent tool but third-party platforms such as Crunchbase, Glassdoor, and Yelp showcase a distinct array of companies, broadening the scope of prospective leads. Moreover, they provide valuable insights into pain points that the Sales Navigator alone may not accurately identify. Let’s understand this process with an example:

Glassdoor- Apify

Glassdoor proves to be a valuable avenue for lead generation, particularly when your target market consists of businesses seeking outsourced capacity or service-based offerings. In such a scenario, you can seamlessly address these staffing needs, effectively acting as a solution to bridge the urgent gap.

1. Go to Glassdoor.

2. Search for companies hiring for the skillset you offer.

3. Click ‘more’ to add filters and get more specific on your ICP or buyer persona. Choose company size, location, the job function being hired for, and the seniority level.

How to export these companies

To extract your Glassdoor information, you’ll have to utilize one of the data scraping tools listed earlier. In this article we will demonstrate the process using Apify’s Glassdoor scraper to retrieve a roster of companies that are hiring.

1. Copy the URL to your filtered list.
2. Open Apify and paste the Glassdoor URL into the Apify Glassdoor script. Then, press start.
3. After the script completes, export the results in CSV format, and you can use the list of hiring companies as your target list.

(Learn how to create powerful prospecting lists from Crunchbase, Google Maps, and Social Media.)

Creating Your Prospect List

Once you have your list of companies, you have three options. You can use a tool like Google Apps Script to populate your list with prospects. Or, you can upload your CSV to LinkedIn to save these companies as a target account list. Once saved, you can use Sales Nav search to find users with relevant job titles at these companies. Or, you can export a list directly from data enrichment tools like Clay, Apollo.io and more.

Import Data from Sales Navigator Using Salesflow

1. Firstly, setup your profile with Salesflow. Then, create a new campaign

2. The next step is to choose campaign type, and proceed to set the connection messages and limits.

(Please note that you can send a connection request without a message too, but we recommend using this feature. You can also use our AI generator for templates).

Get our guide on 100+ LinkedIn message templates that convert here!

3. Once you have set the campaign details, Click “Add contacts”.

4. Then, you can import from Sales Nav. Sales Navigator does not allow direct CSV exports natively. Use Salesflow's built-in Sales Navigator integration instead, it connects directly to your saved searches and account lists without any export step required.

For a full walkthrough of finding and filtering leads in Sales Navigator before exporting, see our guide on how to export leads from LinkedIn Sales Navigator to a spreadsheet.

Importing from Apollo.io, Clay, and Other Tools

Most teams in 2026 are not building lead lists from scratch. Here is how to export from the most common sources and prepare the file for Salesflow:

From Apollo.io:

1. Run your search in Apollo and select your target contacts

2. Click "Export" and choose CSV format

3. In the exported file, locate the "LinkedIn URL" column, Apollo includes this by default

4. Remove any contacts without a LinkedIn URL before importing to Salesflow

5. Import the cleaned CSV directly into your Salesflow campaign

Want to go further with Apollo and Salesflow together? Read our guide on unlocking enhanced lead segmentation with Apollo.io in Salesflow.

From Clay:

1. Build and enrich your table in Clay as normal

2. Make sure the LinkedIn profile URL column is populated (use Clay's LinkedIn enrichment if needed)

3. Export the table as CSV

4. Import into Salesflow, all enriched fields (name, company, title) will map to your personalization tokens

Want more insight on how to use Clay with Salesflow? Read our Clay + Salesflow guide to 2x your outreach.

For other tools (Lusha, ZoomInfo, Cognism, Hunter):

Export as CSV, confirm a LinkedIn URL column exists, clean any rows where the URL is missing or malformed, then import.

Troubleshooting Common CSV Import Errors

Import failed entirely:

- Check that the file is saved as .csv and not .xlsx

- Open the file in a text editor and confirm values are comma-separated

- Remove any special characters or line breaks inside cells

"Invalid URL" error on specific contacts:

- The LinkedIn URL column contains a malformed or incomplete link

- Make sure all URLs begin with https://www.linkedin.com/in/

- Remove any trailing spaces after the URL

Contacts imported but not launching:

- Check that the campaign has an active connection message set up

- Confirm the LinkedIn account connected to the campaign is active and within weekly limits

Duplicates not being removed:

- Salesflow deduplicates based on LinkedIn URL, if the same person appears under two slightly different URL formats, both may import

- Standardize all URLs to the format https://www.linkedin.com/in/username before importing

File exceeds 5,000 contacts:

- Split the file into multiple CSVs of under 5,000 rows each

- Import each file into its own campaign or use the "Add contacts" function to top up an existing campaign

If you are still building out your Sales Navigator workflow, start with our LinkedIn Sales Navigator guide for best practices on search, filters, and saving lists before you import.

Export Data from Salesflow to a CSV

Suppose you create a campaign successfully and have connected with X people. How can you save and share this data with your team members? How can you use this data to further scale your campaign with e-mails, or integrate it with other CRMs? Let’s take a look:

1. Navigate to the ‘Campaigns’ section and choose the specific campaign for which you intend to generate a lead list. Click on Export.

2. Choose the extension CSV. You can also choose to export lists to Excel.

Seamless data migration using CSV files is a catalyst for exceptional lead generation. With the power of data at your disposal, your campaigns become more targeted, more effective, and more efficient.

However, exporting to CSV is not the only way to move your data out of Salesflow. Here are two other options worth knowing:

Salesflow's Native Integrations and Zapier Connections

If you are using HubSpot CRM, you do not need to export a CSV at all. Salesflow connects natively with HubSpot and through Zapier with Salesforce, Pipedrive and any other CRM, meaning every new connection, reply, and campaign update syncs directly to your CRM in real time without any manual export step. For tools not covered by a native integration, Salesflow also supports Zapier, which lets you build automated workflows that push contact and campaign data to hundreds of other platforms including Notion, Slack, Google Sheets, and more. This is the cleanest way to keep your outreach data and your CRM in sync as your campaigns run.

Watch our native integration live below:

Salesflow's Analytics Dashboard

Before you export anything, the analytics dashboard inside Salesflow gives you a real-time view of how your campaigns are performing: invite sends, acceptance rates, reply rates, positive reply counts, and campaign timelines. For most reporting needs, the dashboard covers everything your team or client needs to see without pulling a single export. If you do need to share performance data externally, you can export campaign reports directly from the dashboard in addition to your contact lists.

Take a look at it below:

Data Security and Compliance

In the realm of lead generation, safeguarding sensitive client information is of paramount importance. As businesses and professionals engage in outreach campaigns, they often handle a trove of data that includes personal and confidential details of potential clients or customers.

Ensuring the security and compliance of this data is not merely a best practice; it’s an ethical and legal obligation, especially in lead generation where sensitive client information is involved. Salesflow takes the lead in this aspect, maintaining stringent security measures and adhering to legal standards, guaranteeing the protection of your valuable data.

Find out more about LinkedIn Automation safety by clicking through.

Leveraging CSV Lead Lists: Beyond Lead Generation for Marketing and More

Your meticulously curated lead lists are versatile assets with a number of applications beyond lead generation. As an expert, it’s crucial to understand how to maximize the potential of these lists:

• Precision Marketing: Harness the data within your lead lists for highly targeted marketing campaigns. Utilize demographics, job titles, and behavioural insights to boost conversion rates.
• Nurturing Client Relationships: Track lead interactions to tailor communications. This builds trust and lays the groundwork for lasting relationships.
• Sales Funnel Advancement: Guide leads through your sales funnel seamlessly, from initial contact to deal closure, enhancing the efficiency of your sales process.
• Market Research: Extract insights and perform market analysis by studying lead behavior and trends. This informs your strategic decisions and keeps you ahead in your industry.
• Partnerships and Collaborations: Identify potential partners or collaborators within your lead lists for joint ventures and strategic alliances that expand your horizons.
• Recruitment and Talent Acquisition: Extend the use of your lead lists for talent acquisition by identifying potential employees, streamlining the hiring process.

In closing, the ability to smoothly import and export CSV contacts from LinkedIn represents a pivotal aspect of data management. It’s a skill that can save you time, reduce errors, and empower you to leverage your professional network more effectively. Furthermore, through the seamless integration capabilities and advanced data analytics offered by Salesflow, automation can be an indispensable ally for your business.

Take action today

Import your first lead list into Salesflow and have a LinkedIn outreach campaign running in under 10 minutes. Start your free 7-day trial here, no credit card required.