Constant Contact Review
Customize your email to maximize salesEasy template creation using drag-and-drop
Use Facebook & Instagram ads for new leads
Send out surveys and track real-time responses
Donation feature for secure payment processing
Pros & Cons
- Free 2-month trial period to try out all of the features
- Easy to learn interface with intuitive design and clear walkthroughs
- Great template designs that can be edited using a drag and drop interface
- An expensive email marketing tool for minimum features
- The Email Plus account is required if you have more than one user
- Newsletter editor has minimal features
Plans & Pricing
Constant Contact offers two packages: Email and Email Plus. Both packages include unlimited emails, contact management, list-building tools, tracking & reporting, customizable templates, image library, marketing calendar, email scheduling, apps & integrations, mobile app, and live support.
The price for each package depends on how many email contacts you have on your lists, and payment can be made monthly. If you choose to prepay every 6 months, you get a 10% discount, and 12 months prepaid gets you a 15% discount. Each package comes with the first month free. Nonprofit organizations have the option to prepay and save up to 30%.
Email package
For the Email package, prices start at $20/month for up to 500 emails and go up to $335/month for up to 50,000 contacts. The Email package includes 1GB of file storage that can be used by 1 user.
Email Plus package
The Email Plus package prices start at $45/month for up to 500 emails and the same prices as the Email package – $335/month – for up to 50,000 emails. The Email Plus package offers all this as well as additional features exclusive to this package including 2GB of storage for usage by up to 10 users, email automation, event marketing, online donations, surveys and polls, coupons, and subject like A/B testing. If you have lists with over 50,000 emails, you can reach out to Constant Contact for a customized quote. The software offers a generous 60-day free trial and a 30-day money back guarantee.
Constant Contact also offers additional professional services for with Google Analytics and personalized design.
Compared to other email marketing tool, Constant Contact offers very affordable packages for the long list of features they include, which is why they are so popular among small businesses. However, they can be considered a bit on the pricey side compared to competitors.
Overview
Constant Contact has become a popular choice among email marketers and small businesses. The company has over 500,000 small business customers, offering small businesses everything they need to grow online. Constant Contact’s email marketing services include top features and an easy interface that anyone can understand and use.
Features and Functionality
Drag and drop editor
Constant Contact offers a number of sophisticated templates that you can easily edit to create campaigns and newsletter designs quickly. They even have seasonal templates added throughout the year so that businesses can send out great looking emails for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc. Users are able to create newsletters that are customized to fit their needs.
The templates are very easily edited using a drag and drop interface, so the process is intuitive and does not require a significant learning curve. At any point, users can see a preview of the email or newsletter on computers and mobile phones to get a better idea of how it will appear to their target audience.
Personalized autoresponder
The autoresponder allows users to create personalized emails and build stronger long-term connections with their subscribers. You can send out birthday emails, personalized welcome emails, emails for customer milestones, and more. It’s available as s part of the Email Plus package only, and there are video tutorials showing you how to set a series of automatic emails for your contact list.
Contact management
This is a basic feature that is usually available in all email marketing tools, but it is still important to mention. List management requires minimal intervention by the user. Simply upload the emails using an Excel, Gmail, Outlook, etc. and the rest is automated by Constant Contact. This includes unsubscribes, bounces, and inactive emails, which are updated regularly and automatically.
Real-time reports
Another common feature, but very important, Constant Contact offers reports for all campaigns with real-time data. The reports are easy to understand and are presented in graphs and numbers, which is a great way to get a quick glimpse of how a campaign is doing without digging into the numbers.
Surveys
This is a unique feature only available in the Email Plus package, and it allows you to email surveys to your contacts and track their answers in real-time reports.
Donations
Another unique feature in the Email Plus package is online donations. For non-profits, this is a great way to raise awareness and get support from subscribers. The “Donation” button can be added to any email, and a responsive landing page can be created, featuring secure payment processing and real-time reports to track donations.
Templates
ConstantContact offers easily editable templates to drive engagement with every newsletter or email. They system uses action blocks to increase email click-thru rates. You can also include one-click calls-to-action for greater engagement.
Ease of Use
The interface is designed in an intuitive way, with a main menu at the top of the screen for campaigns, contacts, reporting, forms, library, and integrations, and side sub-menus for each one. Very clear buttons on each screen make it easy for users to understand what needs to be done next, and you are walked through every process with clear instructions. The basics don’t require a learning curve at all, and anyone, with or without email marketing experience, can upload contacts and send out their first campaign in minutes.
Customer support
There is a great knowledge center on the site with video tutorials, FAQs, and an online community forum. If you need assistance from the company, they can be contacted via phone or 24/7 chat. Users can take advantage of a live, 30-minute webinar to get their account up and running and get answers from a Constant Contact Email Marketing expert. Constant Contact also has a community forum where users can get detailed, specific feedback from other, more experienced users. “Critique My Campaign” is an area where users can submit their email newsletter designs for critique and feedback before they send it to their newsletter subscribers.
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24/7 Help & Support
The knowledge base offers step-by-step help and tips on how to use and get the most out of the platform. -
Phone Support
Phone support is available to ConstantContact customers. -
Live Online Chat
Simply sign in with your login credentials to get started. -
Video Tutorials
Videos cover the basics like setting up accounts and how to use certain important features. -
Community Forum
A community forum is available to get tips, advice, and exchange information with other users. -
Blog
The blog offers small business marketing insight and help.
Final Word
Constant Contact is a great solution for any sized business, thanks to its advanced features and integrations. It is particularly popular among small businesses because it is easy to understand and manage, and does not require its users to be email marketing experts. Some features are more advanced, and require going through the video tutorials or contacting the company for further assistance, but overall it is a pretty intuitive email marketing tool.
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How much would it cost to have up to 2,500 e-mail contacts?
According to the pricing on Constant Contact's website, it would cost $45/month for up to 2,500 contacts. Of course, if you pay for a 6 or 12 month period, the price will be cheaper than subscribing monthly. Don't forget you also get a free one-month trial!
Best regards,
Melissa Till
Does CC interface with ACT? All of my contacts are in ACT.
You can visit their site here to get in touch with them.
Our current email process company has resulted in our emails going to the spam/junk folder. Our clients are not seeing the emails. What process does Constant Contact use to avoid this from happening?
Will Constant Contact integrate with my CRM?
Does Constant Contact have the ability to send an auto response to certain contacts?