Choose this option if you want to build an audience based on your own customer data. It's a simple process: save your audience in a properly formatted CSV file. The only required field for each record is an email address. Upload the file, and LiveRamp processes the users.
Take a tour
Click the gif and watch the workflow in action.
About LiveRamp
In North America, illumin's identity partner is LiveRamp. Uploaded customer data is securely sent to LiveRamp, and personally identifiable information (PII) is not stored on the illumin platform. LiveRamp processes the audience and returns the audience populated with its RampID. These identifiers are then targeted in bid requests from publishers. Data is received from the customers' email platform in real-time (every hour) but is only synced with LiveRamp every 24 hours and may take up to 72 hrs to populate in illumin.
Opening the Audiences page
Log in to illumin. Go to the top menu bar and select Library > Audiences. Click the New Audience button. A new window displays.
Select Upload 1st Party Audience and then click the Next button.
Creating a bulk import file
There are multiple templates that support different customer data types. Read the readme.txt file in the download zip to get the details.
illumin supports these types of customer data:
- Simple CRM uploads with or without CCID (customer IDs).
- Hashed Email (MD5, SHA256, SHA1) for customers who don't want to upload raw email.
Formatting guidelines
- Leave the first row intact. Change nothing. Add nothing.
- Each record must have an email address in the EMAIL1 column.
- New Requirement (April 2026): The file must include a Country column, but values can be left blank. If a country is specified, LiveRamp will match against the corresponding regional ID graph. Enter an eligible country name (the United States or any country in the EU or LATAM region). If left blank, LiveRamp will match against all supported graphs.
- Type each email address in lowercase only.
- The upload file must have at least 25 records.
- Including more details, like names and addresses, can help improve your LiveRamp match rate.
Privacy note
Plain text email addresses are now automatically hashed before being sent to LiveRamp to maintain privacy.
Uploading a file
On the General Settings page, click the link to download the template file. Move the zip file to a work folder and then unzip it. Open the Simple CRM Upload Template - Plain Text CSV file.
Fee
LiveRamp charges a fee for records under management (the number of records in your list and not the number of matched users). The fee is prorated based on the timing of the file upload. If you have an inactive list, be sure to remove it from the Audience Library to avoid unnecessary charges.
Creating a file
Add properly formatted records to the spreadsheet and save the file.
Once the CRM list is complete, come back to illumin's Upload 1st Party Audience page, click the Select file button, and upload the file. The template file uploads if there are no formatting errors. Enter a unique Audience Name. That's required. Optionally, switch on the Suggest Audiences toggle. If selected, the page displays a list of similar 3P audiences in the library once their audience has finished processing.
Reviewing the auto-deactivate setting
First-party uploads now default to auto-deactivate (April 2026 update).
- Any uploaded audiences that are not in active flights, and with no flights scheduled or published within the next 15 days, are automatically deactivated.
- Once deactivated, LiveRamp stops sending updates for those audiences and RUM changes cease.
- Users can manually reactivate or deactivate audiences from the Audience Library.
- Deactivated audiences are automatically removed from the system after 90 days of inactivity.
Uploading
Go to the top-right corner of the page and click the Upload Audience button. Read the Terms and Conditions in the pop-up and, if you agree, click the Accept button. A confirmation pop-up displays a reminder that processing could take 1-2 days to complete. illumin adds the audience to the Audiences library and displays the processing status in the table. You can add this audience to a campaign right now, but the audience won’t be live until LiveRamp delivers the processed records to illumin.
FAQs
Why does a 1st party audience upload fail even when the file looks correct?
A 1st party audience upload fails when formatting rules are not strictly followed, even if the file appears valid. Common issues include modifying the header row, missing the Country column, using uppercase email values, or uploading fewer than 25 records. The system only accepts files that meet all validation rules exactly.
Can marketers use a 1st party audience before LiveRamp processing completes?
Marketers can attach a 1st party audience to a campaign immediately after upload, but it does not serve until LiveRamp returns processed RampID data. This delay affects campaign delivery timing and may result in no impressions until the audience becomes active.
What happens if the Country column is left blank in the upload file?
The Country column can remain blank and the upload still succeeds. When no country is specified, LiveRamp matches records against all supported regional identity graphs, which may impact match precision depending on the dataset.
Can a deactivated audience be restored after auto-deactivation?
A deactivated audience can be manually reactivated from the Audience Library before it is removed. If the audience remains inactive for 90 days and is deleted, it cannot be restored and marketers must upload the data again.