Jimmy ParkerConstant Contact is a straightforward but extremely flexible tool that is ideal for small – to medium-sized companies to enhance the marketing abilities of their company. The user-friendly interface provides an ideal blend of simplicity and features. Beware of overly complicated processes and enjoy pleasant and efficient workflows with this application. Apart from its main expertise in marketing via email, it has been expanded to include other related marketing services that are beneficial.
Today, we’ll look at the features Constant Contact offers and the experiences you can expect when you decide to try it.
By the way, Constant Contact has its own website builder, but if you’re looking for some alternatives, don’t forget to have a look at our best website builders in Canada and best website builders in Australia articles!
Table of Contents
Pros of Constant Contact
- Amazing list of extensions
- Event management tools
- Easy contact list importing
- Free 30-day trial period (no credit card required)
- Superior email deliverability rate
- A wide range of integrations from third parties
- Simple and elegant User Interface
Cons of Constant Contact
- No multi-channel automation
- Templates don’t provide much flexibility
What is Constant Contact?
Constant Contact is a leading email marketing platform designed specifically for small companies, nonprofits as well as individuals. Apart from email marketing, the company offers tools for building websites as well as e-commerce, social networks, and much more, all of which are part of every plan.
Constant Contact Pricing
Constant Contact offers a wider selection of plans than we did when the last time we examined it. One of them is the Website Builder Only Plan that costs $10 per month. It’s for companies seeking to design a site and landing page. Constant Contact throws in free hosting in the price. Additionally, you’ll have access to tools to build lists, an e-commerce store, as well as the social media marketing options that come in the other plans.
To market via email The most basic tier will be the Email plan. It starts at just $20 per month for up to three people, with unlimited monthly email messages and simple automatization of marketing (list making tools, automatic email resending to those who are not open Subject line A/B test). These features will satisfy all the boxes that small – to mid-sized companies (SMBs) require, however, with an emphasis on smaller businesses.
The following plan will be next is the Email Plus plan that costs $45 per month , for upto 10 users and includes every feature of the Email plan but adding the ability to automate, segmentate eCommerce customized pop-up forms and online surveys, coupons as well as online consultation for brand new customers. Another great feature for those who are just beginning to get their feet wet in the world of digital marketing.
From Email Plus is the new eCommerce Pro Plan. This plan starts at $195 a month and is determined by the number of contacts you have with at least 2500. The name suggests that this plan is designed for companies who wish to sell their products online and also market and that’s why the pricing is determined by the quantity of contacts. If you’re in the right category You’ll be able to access a fully-featured platform that integrates with third-party store websites. Additionally, it offers personalized shopping powered by artificial intelligence, excellent automation workflows, as well as an analytics set that is specifically designed for e-commerce.
The higher levels are good however the Email plan includes all the features small businesses need to launch the process of creating an email campaign. It includes the management of lists, template creation and personalization, as well as audience segmentation. Email Plus is for companies with more complex requirements and offers A/B test as well as automated email series. registration and marketing for events online, surveys online, and much more.
When compared to its competitors, Constant Contact is only at the point of becoming in the race. With a price of $45 per month for 2,500 contacts in the base tier, however, it’s a bit more expensive over Campaign Monitor, which will cost you $49 a month for that same amount.
What is what makes Constant Contact competitive is the 60-day trial for free. This is far more than what competitors offer, and also includes the majority of the features offered by Constant Contact and an easy way to upgrade to a paid tier. The trial period doesn’t necessarily expire, and you’ll be able to access your data even without making a commitment to join. It also comes with a 60-day of money-back guarantee which is large in comparison to the other players we looked at.
Constant Contact Features
Keep in mind Constant Contact’s main focus is email marketing. after you’ve signed up for your account with Constant Contact, you’ll get the chance to build an email list. You’ll need to enter your contact details and make your very first email.
Contact information is mandatory and for those who are brand new to marketing via email, this is an important area to be aware of. There are many countries that have laws that are strict concerning data privacy and personal information. Be conscious of the laws, and ensure that you follow these laws prior to sending any emails for marketing!
Creating a List
Your subscriber list is at the core of any email marketing strategy and is comprised of all emails you’d like to contact. Making them available one at a time is an entirely new kind of insane which is why Constant Contact has several easy ways to populate your list.
The most efficient and quickest method is to upload them as part of a file, then import them from an existing Gmail contact list, or extract the list out of Microsoft Outlook. If you’re uploading your list as a text file, make sure you note it’s because Constant Contact recognizes Comma Separated Values (CSV), Excel, and simple text format.
Campaign Creation
Making a campaign can be simple as selecting those that have Email, Email Automation, Survey, Event, and other buttons. If you’d like to revisit an existing campaign or duplicate it then you can look up campaign dates or keywords or browse on the Recents tab. Constant Contact also has an integrated calendar for marketing so that you can plan emails to coincide with the holidays or other occasions.
To send an email message, it is possible to choose an email template to begin with. Constant Contact has redesigned its drag-and-drop editor from the last time we examined it. It has a wide range of layout options and fewer limitations. Editing tools let users alter text by having accessibility to Google fonts, as well as pictures and colors. You can also add teasers for blog posts and upload PDFs to create interactive emails. Constant Contact also has a customized template builder that allows you to take your logo as well as color scheme and social media profiles and incorporate them into your email templates.
Constant Contact’s mobile features aren’t the best. The templates are mobile-friendly however, not all templates come with this feature. The preview option for mobile-oriented emails isn’t as flexible as is with other programs, particularly top-tier ones like editors’ choice winner Mailchimp. However, in the event that you are unable to find something that suits your needs in Constant Contact’s comprehensive collection, Constant Contact provides an email template design service that can design anything you want, although it’s an additional cost option.
There’s a library of media that can store the company’s assets like logos, as well as other pictures. The library of images now offers 2GB of storage space, but with a maximum capacity of five megabytes. Similar to Campaign Monitor the users will have one-click access to both free and premium stock images.
When a newsletter is prepared to go then you can either immediately send it out or set it up for later (in intervals of five minutes, like 3:05 a.m. or 3:10 a.m., and the list goes on). It is also possible to send periodic emails to mark birthdays or birthdays, although it’s not possible to send emails on a regular or weekly basis as Campaigner allows and to mail messages according to the local time of the recipient’s address like GetResponse does.
Running Your Email Marketing Campaigns
Once you’ve completed your list of email addresses, then you’ll set to launch your email-based marketing strategy.
To assist you with this regard, Constant Contact has a vast collection of templates to help you go. Additionally, they have an editor that allows you to alter the templates to fit your requirements. It is possible to get a glimpse of some of the templates before signing up to Constant Contact.
Constant Contact Email Templates
Each template is packed with the necessary information needed for your email to meet most of the standard rules. A few examples include physical addresses for your company as well as the obligatory unsubscribe link as well as other useful details.
If you’ve got logos or other images from your own company, they can be uploaded and utilized in your newsletters too. You’re permitted up to 2GB of storage space, which means you’re unlikely to be able to fill it up anytime soon.
After you’ve named the email, edited it, and are happy with the email marketing campaign you’ve created then you can save it and either email it immediately or set it up for a later scheduled delivery date and time. Constant Contact is based on Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) which means you’ll need to change your local time in order to this to ensure that your emails are scheduled correctly.
One minor flaw I found to be important is that there doesn’t appear to be a method for the system to respond to user responses automatically. The feature Constant Contact considers as auto-respond is more of an event trigger that occurs when a pre-set time is set to send an array of emails.
Checking The Results of Your Campaigns
In the aftermath of any campaign, you will be able to view its results in the Reporting Tab.
Constant Contact has an easy-to-read graph of your results that contains vital statistics like open and click rates. If you decide to incorporate Google Analytics, more information is available. In addition to single-campaign outcomes, you may also compare your results across multiple campaigns.
Constant Contact Apps and Integrations
Constant Contact has an eye-opening collection of more than 300 apps and other modules that you can incorporate into your main account. This includes everything from email import applications to the use of your Google and Outlook accounts, as well as using Zoho as well as Azureplus to manage your customer relationship and Automated Lead Management as well as Sales Forecasting.
The apps are featured in the Marketplace where they are sortable in the same way as WordPress plug-ins, sorted by name reviews, ratings, or even the date it was added. These applications offer the unbeatable capability to increase the size of your email marketing tremendously.
Email Automation
To set up an automated series (previously known as”autoresponder”) or series (previously referred to as an “autoresponder”), select Email Automation from the Campaign options view. Begin by selecting the email trigger. These are actions that subscribers take, such as opening the mail, clicking on any hyperlink, clicking on a specific link, or having a new contact join the list.
You can then make a new email, or make use of one already in a campaign. The email will then be automatically sent as a response to the actions. There’s a lot of flexibility regarding how long you’d like to wait until the follow-up message is delivered and you’re able to add as many automated emails as you’d like to a specific campaign.
The reason Constant Contact comes up a bit short of automation is that it’s focusing exclusively on email marketing. Other competitors, like Mailchimp as well as The HubSpot Marketing Hub, offer multi-channel automation capabilities that allow you to develop workflows not just for emails, but also for SMS and social media.
Event Management
This is something the majority of email marketing tools haven’t been able to incorporate as of yet. It is possible to sign up to manage events in Constant Contact to add an added module for your account. It allows you to send an invitation to an event and let users complete their responses. These responses are then stored within the system, and you can keep track of registrations directly from your Dashboard.
It’s a basic feature that can be helpful to a variety of businesses. In fact, you could even request donations for specific events via email which can be linked to a personalized donation page. However, there is a cost per month for this.
Additional Resources and Support
Being among the top names in the field of email marketing, Constant Contact wants you to be successful in your marketing campaigns. In this regard, it offers a vast library of resources online that you can access for assistance. All you need to do is select the industry you’re in, and you’ll be able to get campaign ideas and suggestions for what templates are best suited to your specific needs.
Apart from that, the program also has an extensive knowledge base that contains the solutions to the most typical issues that previous users have had to face. It includes articles and videos. If you’re still not able to resolve the issue you’re having There’s also an extensive assistance system.
Constant Contact offers chatbot support and email support, as well as an active user community, and direct telephone lines for the US, Canada, Mexico, and the UK. Another line allows calls from different countries. The support for phone calls isn’t 24/7 but the support time is extremely generous.
For those who are desperate for help, Constant Contact also offers limited assistance during the weekend through their Twitter channel.
Conclusion
With more than 650,000 clients who have been served for more than the last 15 years, Constant Contact has become the leader in small business marketing. They provide a unique mix of expertise, efficient primary expertise, as well as solid support.
Personally, after having tried some email marketing platforms previously, Constant Contact feels pretty great. It offers all the features (and even more) that a professional website can provide while at the same time, it has a simple user interface that doesn’t make you feel intimidated. When you consider the strong service, in my opinion, this is a true winner.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do You Know if Constant Contact Has A/B Testing?
Yes, however, only for the subject line of emails. Constant Contact does not offer A/B testing of the content inside the email campaign, unlike other popular email marketing software vendors.
What Are the Advantages of Constant Contact?
It’s a simple tool to use for those who are new to the field and don’t have lots of time to spare. Features like building websites along with online shops are all included in the same platform, making it a complete tool to help you market your digital products. Additionally, you’ll have access to numerous email templates as well as dependable support for customers.
How Much Will Constant Contact Price?
The basic Email plan begins at $9.99 each month while The Email Plus plan begins at $45.00. Constant Contact prices increase based on the number of subscribers however, discounts are available for long-term commitments as well as non-profit organizations. Moreover, you’ll be able to save through Constant Contact coupons. Constant Contact coupons.
Is Constant Contact Offering a Free Version?
There’s no, but there’s the sixty-day Constant Contact free trial if you’re located in the US as well as a 30-day trial for all other countries. You’ll be able to use all features of the Basic Email plan, however, even if you’re not located within the US you’ll need to fill in your payment details for the trial to begin (and it will cost you immediately at the time it expires until you cancel the trial first).
Is Constant Contact Legit?
Constant Contact is a legitimate email marketing program for small-sized businesses. It securely stores your customers’ data and provides a safe method to manage your customers.
What Can I Do to End My Constant Contact Subscription?
In frustration, you’ll need to contact Constant Contact within business hours Eastern time to terminate your account.
Could Constant Contact Also Be Utilized as a CRM?
Constant Contact, in partnership with SharpSpring, provides an all-in-one CRM system. But at $399 per month, it’s better off looking at these CRMs designed for small-sized businesses that are less expensive. There are plenty of great free CRMs that you can choose from.
Is Constant Contact Superior to Mailchimp?
Mailchimp beats Constant Contact hands down.