How to import trade show leads into HubSpot (step by step)

The short answer: put the leads from the show in one spreadsheet with an email column, add a column with the event name and one with the contact owner, and import it with HubSpot's advanced import using “Create and update records”. In the last step, create a segment of the imported contacts and set the legal basis. Email is the key that stops duplicates.

This guide is for marketing and sales teams that use HubSpot and come home from a trade show with a badge export, a spreadsheet or a pile of business cards. Every fact about HubSpot links to HubSpot's own Knowledge Base.

Before you import: set up the file

HubSpot accepts .csv, .xlsx and .xls files. Each file must have only one sheet, a header row and fewer than 1,000 columns. On paid plans a file can be up to 512 MB and 1,048,576 rows, and the free tools allow files up to 20MB (HubSpot: set up your import file). A trade show list is far below these limits, so the real work is clean columns.

Create a trade show property once

HubSpot already records how a contact was created. The Record Source property covers creation methods such as import, the mobile app or integrations (HubSpot: traffic source properties). It tells you “import”, not which show. That is why you add your own property.

1. 1

   Step 1: Open properties

   Click the settings icon, open Properties and select Contact properties (HubSpot: create properties).

2. 2

   Step 2: Create the property

   Click Create property and name it, for example “Trade show”. Choose a dropdown select field type, so everybody picks from the same list.

3. 3

   Step 3: Add one option per show

   Use one naming pattern, for example “2027-01 CES Las Vegas”. Then reports stay clean and you can compare shows.

Use a dropdown, not free text. With free text, the same show turns into “CES”, “CES 2027” and “ces vegas”, and your report splits one show into three.

How to import trade show leads into HubSpot, step by step

HubSpot has a quick import and an advanced import. The quick import skips advanced settings such as marketing contact status (HubSpot: quick import), so for event leads use the advanced import. The steps below follow HubSpot's guide to importing records for a single object.

1. 1

   Step 1: Start the import

   Go to Data Management, then Data Integration. Click Import data, then Advanced imports (all objects), and select contacts.

2. 2

   Step 2: Choose “Create and update records”

   This creates new people and updates people you already have. The other options are “Create new records only” and “Update existing records only”.

3. 3

   Step 3: Upload the file

   Choose the file. If your column headers are not in English, select their language, so HubSpot can match them to properties.

4. 4

   Step 4: Check the Email mapping

   Map the Email column to the Email property. It shows a key icon, because HubSpot uses it to match existing contacts.

5. 5

   Step 5: Map the other columns

   Map each column to a property, create a new property where needed, or choose not to import a column. Tick “Don't overwrite” for properties where the data in HubSpot is better than in your file.

6. 6

   Step 6: Finish the details

   Give the import a clear name, for example “2027-01 CES Las Vegas, booth leads”. Tick the consent box, which confirms that the contacts expect to hear from you and the file is not a purchased list.

7. 7

   Step 7: Create a segment

   Turn on the option to create a segment of the imported contacts. This gives you one ready group for the follow-up.

8. 8

   Step 8: Set legal basis and marketing status

   Choose the legal basis for processing and, if you will email these people from marketing tools, the marketing contact status. Both are explained below.

Marketing contacts: who to email, and what you pay for

In HubSpot, marketing contacts are the people you plan to reach with marketing email or ads. A contact set as marketing counts toward your billing tier, at least until the next update date. New contacts without a status are imported as non-marketing by default (HubSpot: set contacts as marketing). The import setting needs Marketing Hub Starter, Professional or Enterprise (HubSpot).

• Set as marketing: people who should get your newsletter or a nurture email sequence after the show.
• Keep as non-marketing: people sales will call or email one to one, for example a hot lead with a booked meeting.
• If you are not sure: import as non-marketing. You can set contacts as marketing later from a segment, and HubSpot says they become marketable immediately (HubSpot).

GDPR: record the legal basis on import

HubSpot has a contact property called “Legal basis for processing contact's data”. It has six default options, including “Legitimate interest - Lead”, “Freely given consent from contact” and “Performance of a contract”. When data privacy settings are on, you can set it for the whole file during the import (HubSpot: track lawful basis).

If people at the booth agreed to get your newsletter, and you can show it, consent fits. If you only talked about your product, many teams use legitimate interest. The choice is yours and your data protection officer's to make. Our guide on GDPR for trade show leads explains lawful basis, privacy notices and how long to keep event data.

After the import: check it in five minutes

• Open the import review page. It shows the status of the import (HubSpot). Fix the rows with errors and import only those again.
• Open the segment. The number of people should match your file, minus the rows that had errors.
• Filter by owner. Every contact needs an owner, or the follow-up does not happen.
• Check one person you already knew. The contact should be updated, not created a second time.
• Send the follow-up. The sooner the better. Our trade show follow-up email guide has timing and templates.

Common mistakes when importing event leads into HubSpot

• Importing a week after the show. People forget your booth, and notes from the stand get lost.
• No event column. Six months later, nobody knows where these contacts came from.
• Everyone set as marketing. You pay for contacts you will never email from marketing tools.
• Owner names that do not match. If two users share a name, use the email address in the owner column instead (HubSpot).
• Typing cards into a spreadsheet. It takes hours and adds typos to the one column that matters: the email.

If you use Salesforce instead of HubSpot, read how to track trade show leads in Salesforce with campaigns. For the full process from the booth to the CRM, see how to scan event badges into your CRM.

From badge to HubSpot without a spreadsheet

With Swopi there is no file to clean and no import to run. You connect HubSpot once in the Swopi dashboard. Your team scans badges, business cards and QR codes on their own phones, and each lead lands in HubSpot as a contact, with the event name, notes and intent score in a note on the record. Swopi AI adds the missing email and company data from 20+ data providers and drafts the follow-up email from your booth notes. Leads without typing. See pricing.