Constant Contact

Constant Contact - The Best Digital Marketing Tool for Your Business

Comments: Constant Contact enables me to easily and efficiently produce high-quality marketing pieces, manage data and see at a glance what is working and what isn't, for my business. Even the free version provides everything necessary to pick up and run right out of the gate!

Pros:

Constant Contact's user-friendly platform is my go-to for all things digital marketing. From designing marketing pieces to importing/exporting contacts, data organization, customization, reporting and analytics, social media posts and more - there is nothing that it cannot do!

Cons:

I would like to see more customizable features added.

Alternatives Considered: Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to Constant Contact: Constant Contact is more user-friendly and cost-effective than the alternatives I have tried.

Efficient but Limited

Pros:

I like that I am able to import templates I build in BEE Pro's email builder. Maintaining customer lists is easy. The company is well-known enough to have extensive plug-ins for both WordPress and WIX sites.

Cons:

Their things make their email campaign builder limited: no mobile design front-end editor, no ability to customize email width, or easily affect padding and margins. Also, it is weird that you have to contact their customer service to remove their logo at the bottom of the email - even if you pay for the pro plans.

Alternatives Considered: SendGrid

Reasons for Choosing Constant Contact: We are a school, who's SIS system will not integrate with other software. So, we constantly have to upload lists to our email servicer. Mail chimp kept flagging our account - got very annoying.

Switched From: Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to Constant Contact: Unlimited email sends - pricing based on contacts

Outdated service

Comments: In general, Constant Contact feels like a software built decades ago that's bolted on features over time instead of a well-designed, intentionally integrated solution. Templates are old fashioned. Automations are limited. (For example, a welcome email cannot be a series.) Old sign-up forms are maintained, but weren't migrated to the new functionality, so we'd have to rebuild each one to modernize them. Custom contact fields are limited to text or date. Missing details like this add up to each project taking more time than it should. I suspect Constant Contact was a front-runner in the early days, but there are better email marketing solutions now at a similar or lower price point that offer a coherent, simple-to-use, and modern product. This was one of the first SaaS products I replaced with another service when I took over my job.

Pros:

Drag-and-drop email builder is straightforward, and I appreciate the polling and RSVP functionalities. It's easy to collaborate with team members on the same projects (but not on a variety of projects -- see below). Overall the naming and location of items is intuitive, which makes it easy to find your way around if you've used other email marketing software. I like the ability to get a url to past email campaigns.

Cons:

The templates and functionality are outdated, and it takes time to build out customized elements that fit with a modern aesthetic. Support is so-so; other service providers (such as MailerLite) have raised the bar with quick response times that Constant Contact just doesn't offer. This product works best for a single user or two. The list, segments, and tagging attributes offer flexibility, but they get out of hand quickly when used for multiple goals or by different teams. This email marketing service has been the hardest for us to keep clean. Additionally, there is a single unsubscribe form, which doesn't make sense when different teams use the same service. The search function for past campaigns doesn't work well, so it takes time to riffle through the list to what we need. This is how many of the features work: they're probably there, but it takes time to get what you need.

Constant Contact Helps Our Business Thrive!

Comments: Overall Constant Contacts is phenomenal! It has been the hub of our communications with our team, volunteers, and community. We use it for newsletters, drip campaigns, marketing, and more. People are always so impressed with how beautiful our emails are laid out. It is easy to learn and use. And overall has helped our business grow!

Pros:

I love the beautiful layout options. The easy to use and design drag and drop. Ability to add your own images and videos. But most of all the analytics are amazing! They are comprehensive and allow me to download spreadsheets which is so helpful!

Cons:

I wish there could be more contacts per pricing tier.

Constant Contact for Email Campaign & Social Media

Comments: Overall, I have enjoyed using Constant Contact. It saves time with sending out social media posts. You can schedule a month's worth of posts in advance to different sites. You do not have to post to sites individually.

Pros:

The features I like most about Constant Contact are (1) the ability to post on at least 3 social media sites at the same time; (2) sending out email campaigns to your target audience; and (3) being able to schedule posts to go out at a certain time. This software is also easy to use.

Cons:

At this time, I have not experienced any issues or features that are difficult to use.