How to Import Facebook Contacts into Nimble CRM (Mac Users)

Did you just start the free trial in Nimble and wonder how to import your Facebook contacts? Well, you are not alone. In this post, I will explain why it is not as easy as just pushing a button in Nimble and will show you how to use (Apple) Contacts to bulk import all your Facebook friends into your Nimble database.

In April 2015, Facebook changed their API to limit the way people could use their Friends list in third party applications. One of the consequences was that people could no longer directly import their Friends to third party applications like Nimble and other CRMs.

They also closed off their API for messages and notifications to make it so users could only access this data through their website and apps. The good news is that you may still use the Nimble Smart Contacts App in Facebook to work with your contacts in Nimble.

Using Contacts to import Facebook friends into Nimble

If you are a Mac user (or run OS X on a PC) you can use Contacts – known as Address Book prior to the release of Mountain Lion – to import your Facebook contacts into Nimble.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Contacts and connect your Facebook account

Add Account2. After clicking on Facebook and hitting “Continue”, a message will pop up prompting you to enter your Facebook login information.

Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 8.37.14 AM

3. One more message box with information will show up explaining what you are getting into 🙂 Just go ahead and hit “Sign in”.

Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 8.40.21 AM

4. Once your contacts import, select all of them from your Contacts list and hit “Export vCard”.

Export to vCard

  1. Log into your Nimble account, go into Networks & Imports

Networks & Imports6. Scroll down to vCard and import your file into Nimble. (You can also create a tag for this import for future use).

Export to vCard

How do I keep my Facebook friends updated in Nimble?

When on your desktop, you can open Contacts, go to Accounts and select “Update Contacts“. After you do so, export to vCard and import to Nimble (all duplicates will be merged).

On mobile, open the Nimble iOS App, go to Settings, click on Contacts and select if you’d like to sync your contacts Now or Periodically.

Another option is to use our Smart Contacts App. It’s a browser extension that allows you to take your Nimble database everywhere you are and it will prompt you to update a record if we identify new details on a Facebook profile. Download for free here.

How do I bring new contacts in from Facebook? 

Bringing contacts from Facebook into Nimble with the widget is super easy. Just hover over any name (you don’t even have to be friends) and Nimble will create a live profile for this person.

Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 1.33.30 PM

Nimble will also start suggesting you the person’s other social profiles, like LinkedIn and Twitter.

Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 1.35.30 PM

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