Many companies use email marketing to reach their target consumers effectively. It is a very powerful marketing technique that can pay off hugely if you know how to leverage it effectively. Constant Contact is an email service provider that can help you with your email marketing. Read on to find out how it can benefit your business.
We’ll look at the options they provide, the ability to automate campaigns, and the ease of use. You’ll also find pricing and plans in order to make a decision that makes sense for your business.
Table of Contents
Is Constant Contact Good: The Bottom Line Up Front
The bottom line is: it’s a great service for small business and even some larger businesses trying to work on their e-mail marketing. They offer a lot of different email templates, giving you a wide variety of options.
They even have photos that you can add easily to your emails as well. The service is easy to use and praised as being very effective by many users. There are a lot of different useful features that they offer as well. Let’s dive into it and see all the details related to this service, both good and bad.
Pros
One of the main pros of using Constant Contact is how simple and intuitive it is to learn how to use their interface. Many customers love their templates too, they are very easy to customize and you don’t need any coding or advanced tech knowledge.
Another great pro is that they track everything for you. They track how many people have opened your email, and what links were clicked in your email as well.
They will even help you compare your effectiveness against other companies like yours. You can also easily upload your email lists, and Constant Contact will even organize them for you.
This comes very handy, especially if you’re short on time or don’t have extensive knowledge in the area.
Cons & Problems
One of the main problems Constant Contact has is glitches while customizing templates or creating new ones.
While it is simple to use most of the time, it can be time-consuming to customize certain parts of your email. The statistics that they track could be a little more custom and unique.
One major con is that the system can’t handle too large of a contact list. If you have a list that is too big, you could be flagged in some systems. This means you won’t reach all of your contacts.
In this case, you have to make a decision based on how big your business is. Would you need to reach 1000+ contacts? In that case, an unlimited plan might be a better fit for you and that would likely be using another service.
Real Customer Reviews: What People are Saying
As with every service out there, there are positive and negative reactions to its quality. We want to be as objective as possible which is why we’ll present both sides in order to help you make the most appropriate decision for your situation.
Good things people are saying
Overall, the reviews are pretty good. Customers say that it’s great for both small organizations or even nonprofits with a smaller staff base. Customers also feedback that Constant Contact is awesome for segmenting their email list. Constant Contact does not allow the same email to appear more than once in the same inbox which is a much-appreciated feature.
Some positive reviews also mention that it is easy to use and integrate with other software if you need to.
Bad things people are saying
A common complaint is how the entire email campaign can’t be exported to HTML easily. Some customers also wish that the formatting functions can be improved, although they do acknowledge that Constant Contact has been putting in the effort to improve it over the last few years.
At times, newly uploaded images might not appear with the latest templates. When that happens, you’d have to refresh the page for it to work. This seems to be a common glitch too.
Another common complaint is that it doesn’t offer an Android app.
Campaigns, Automations, and Autoresponder Series: Are They Easy to Work With and Manage?
Email campaigns are easy to create. They have different templates for you to choose from, and you can even create your own customized ones. It also will perform a spell check for you and crop images if needed. You can also choose if you’d like to send your email now or at a set time.
Automation isn’t a strong suit though. They only allow for two triggers, if it’s a subscribers birthday and for when they sign up. Here’s to hoping they will upgrade and add on to this in the near future. If you need very basic and simple emails sent, this won’t be an issue for you. If you’re interested in more customization and advanced options, however, you might not find this service suitable to your liking.
Constant Contact Deliverability Rate
Constant Contact has a 97% delivery rate (as of the time of writing), and they work hard to keep their rate high. They work to ensure their emails go to your contact’s inbox. They do this by monitoring trends of emails that get sorted into the spam folder. Their emails are also already authenticated, which makes it easier for the email to be delivered into an inbox.
Templates and Landing Pages: Are They Easy to Work With?
The simple answer to this is yes. Their templates are very easy to navigate and customize however you like. They actually design their interface for users who don’t have a lot of advanced technical knowledge. Sometimes, it can be a little time consuming to get it just right though. There is also an array of templates and landing pages to help you get started right out of the box.
Is There Drag and Drop Email Designing?
Yes, they do support a very simple drag and drop interface. They want it to be as simple as possible for you to create your emails. No coding needed!
Constant Contact Integrations, SMS, and CRMs
Constant Contact has its own marketplace, making it super simple to integrate other apps. If you have other apps you use for your business, you can likely easily link them to your account.
SMS marketing is becoming increasingly popular. Most people have smartphones and check them regularly these days. While many check their email daily, most text messages are read within 5 minutes or less. With SMS, you can reach your contacts faster and more frequently. SMS is great for quick reminders, sale alerts, and so much more. There are ways to optimize your SMS though.
Constant Contact isn’t technically a CRM. They do have some CRM capabilities, but not all of them. If you don’t need all of the capabilities, this might be a great choice for you. I’d say check and see if they offer what you’re specifically looking for.
Does It Support Forms in Email?
Constant Contact does support certain forms within the email. You will need to check their site to see which forms they accept at this time.
Single and Double Opt-In: Does It Support Both?
Yes, Constant Contact supports both. Even if you have double opt-in turned off, they will still send your contacts information to help them understand how to subscribe to your emails.
How Easy Is It to Monitor Click-Through Rates?
It’s very easy to monitor your click through rates. All you need to do is click the reporting tab, and then click the click through rate option. You can then look at all of the different ways you received a click through.
Does It Support RSS Feed Emails?
At this time, they do not support RSS feed emails.
Do They Support SPF and DKIM?
Yes, they do support SPF and DKIM. You can even personalize the domain signature on your emails if you would like.
Does Constant Contact Offer Dedicated IP Addresses?
No. They only offer a shared email marketing system.
Does It Have a WordPress Plugin?
If you have a WordPress site, you’ll be glad to know that Constant Contact does have a WordPress plugin that you can easily use. With their WordPress plugin, you can easily insert a signup form to your WordPress page to encourage your website visitors to sign up. If you need to manage your subscribers, you can even do so from the WordPress dashboard itself without having to go to your Constant Contact dashboard.
GDPR: How Do They Handle It?
Constant Contact has updated their privacy statement to make it align with GDPR. Having said that, you should still review their privacy statement to see how it applies to you.
If you ever have any questions or concerns about your information or how it is used, you can contact their customer service.
Making the Switch to Constant Contact: How Easy is it to Transfer or Upload Lists and Campaigns?
They make it really easy to transfer your lists, campaigns, and contacts. You can make the switch in no time!
Constant Contact Pricing, Plans & Money Back
Pricing, Packages & Plans
They do offer a risk-free 60-day trial at no cost to you. This is great because you can try out their service and decide if it is a good fit for you. After your trial, you can choose which plan fits your needs. The prices of the plans are based on the size of your contact list.
Is There a Monthly and Annual Plan Option?
You can pay monthly, but if you pay semi-annually or annually, you can save 15% on your plan.
How Does Canceling a Plan Work?
Canceling a plan is really easy and you can cancel at any time. While they don’t want to lose your business, they won’t pressure you to stay either. They will ask for your reason for canceling so they can improve their services.
Promo Codes & Discounts: Do They Have Special Offers or Deals?
They do offer special deals. They have special offers for plans starting at $20, nonprofits can save 30% if they prepay 12 months, and they have single platform plans for $79.
Does Constant Contact Have a Satisfaction or Money-Back Guarantee?
If you aren’t satisfied within 30 days of payment for your first month, they will refund your money. All you need to do is contact their billing team.
Security & Past Security Incidents
There have been a few people that said their accounts were hacked. Constant Contact handled the issue for them though. They suggest turning on the double opt-in feature for your emails.
Customer Service and Support
Constant Contact Phone Number: Do You Get a Real Person?
Yes, you do! You can also chat online with them. Their service numbers are listed on their site and have limited times. This is a major advantage as you can get answers quickly and without confusion. This is not the case with switchboards, so talking to a real operator is definitely super helpful.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that if your business is small and you only need very basic email marketing, Constant Contact is a good choice. They have already grown so much since the beginning, and they continue to improve their services. While they aren’t a super advanced or fancy service, they do have a lot to offer.
Their SMS marketing is also a good option too since you can reach more contacts quickly. They do have some downfalls, such as limited marketing automation, not being a CRM and some glitches but it is a good choice if you are just starting out.
This is a good beginning if you’re on a budget, as they have various plans. Furthermore, you’ll be able to reach a real person whenever you have doubts/ questions/ problems.
Have you used this service before? Do you have any experience to share? We’d like to hear from you! Was this constant contact review helpful? Let us know in the comments below.
