Constant Contact is a pretty reliable email marketing service provider. My experience has been good so far. But what really makes the best email newsletter service? I'd say deliverability first. Frankly I don't care much about template designs or pricing structures (well, as long as reasonable...) If you're using a particular email service just because it's free or easy to use, check how many of your subscribers actually open your emails. No point if they don't get to receive them. Open rate is all it matters, and it needs to be fixed if it seems to be low, first and foremost! In this Constant Contact review I'll reveal some findings.
Overview
Constant Contact (CC) allows you to send unlimited number of emails, the price starts from $20 per month (up to 500 subscribers), and the main features include;
When I signed up and my first impression was - dull. Maybe it's my personal taste in design or color combination. But if you feel the same way, don't be fooled by it, the look of the dashboard is nothing to do with the usability. In fact I soon discovered that the navigation menu was the most comprehensive one, out of other major email marketing services; AWeber, GetRespnse, or Mailchimp.
Pricing Structures
CC provides two sets of pricing structure; "Email" option that's suitable for a basic individual user, and the other one "Email Plus" option for a syndicate up to 10 users.
On checking other reviews of Constant Contact, the pricing plan doesn't seem to be favored by many. Perhaps the most disappointing part is that the basic option doesn't include autoresponder. Though it allows you to schedule-post, and make a duplicate copy of your previous mail at a click of a button.
If you want the autoresponder feature, you need to go for Email Plus option which will be pricier up to 10,000 subscribers. But if you have 10,001+ subscribers, both options offer the same prices.
Max. subscribers | Email Option | Email Plus Option |
|---|---|---|
500 | $20 | $45 |
2.500 | $45 | $70 |
5,000 | $65 | $95 |
10,000 | $95 | $125 |
15,000 | $195 | $195 |
25,000 | $225 | $225 |
30,000 | $295 | $295 |
35,000 | $315 | $315 |
50,000 | $335 | $335 |
As well as autoresponder, with Email Plus option you can also have some extra features;
- Event Marketing
- Online Donations
- Surveys & Polls
- Coupons
- Subject Line A/B Testing
Discount Schemes
10% discount is offered if you pay 6 months in advance, 15% discount is offered if you pay 12 months in advance, and 30% discount applies if you are a non-profit organization.
If you have just under 10,000 subscribers and pay for 12 months in advance, 12 x $95 x 85% = $969 (works out as $80.75 per month).
1 -month Free Trial
CC offers a month free trial, but you need to provide your credit card (or PayPal) detail, so if you're not happy with it, make sure to cancel your account before expiry!
BUT... (One Thing I Really Don't Like!)
There's one thing I was disappointed to discover upon writing this Constant Contact review... If you want to cancel your account - WHEN you want to cancel your account - you will leave at some point in the future, you have to speak to their representative on the phone. You can't close your account from your settings menu.
It's an online service and it (obviously) allows you to join online. But it doesn't allow you to leave online. You need to have a telephone conversation with them. I think that's wrong, don't you? Though it says "don't worry, they won't try to keep you in", whatever the reason behind it, I don't like that.
Who Is Constant Contact For?
CC prohibits certain niches to promote via their services, listed below. Also from the fact that the autoresponder is not available for those on a budget... It's clear that CC's target customers are primarily hybrid users and corporate businesses.
If you are an individual marketer who wish to promote evergreen products, it may not be for you. More specifically, if you are an AWeber user (who can use autoresponder for $19 per month up to 2,500 subscribers), CC is not your ideal alternative.
This email marketing service is definitely ideal for any retail businesses including e-commerce, catering businesses, government bodies, non-profit organizations for discounted rates.
Prohibited Contents
Contents that are not permitted to promote by CC's policy are;
Check the prohibited content by Constant Contact from here.
Totally understandable. Because these categories are often associated with spam, CC deliberately tries to avoid people like niche affiliate marketers in order to maintain their own reputation, their existing customers' reputation, and protect the subscribers from spams.
In terms of "work-at-home" niche, I've had a discussion with the support desk to clarify further (for the sake of it because I'm in that niche!). They say you're allowed to promote ways to build a business and make your own successful career. But depending on the context and the product you promote, it's easy to mislead your subscribers, so they're reluctant to allow you to place an affiliate link to any "make money" products.
There's a very thin line between the two statements "you can make money online" and "you can make money online easy". The latter is definitely spammy. As for affiliate links, even if your intention is genuinely to help your subscribers (to build a career), there may be a misleading content in the destination page.
For most of niche affiliate marketers, it's essential to be able to use an autoresponder in order to promote the same products to any subscribers as they sign up. If I were to continue to use CC, I'd have to go for "Email Plus" option and only promote some useful online tools, I wouldn't any of the promote "start an online business" products.
Solo ad vendors - stick to your AWeber account! ...Or account(s)!
Sign Up Forms
Left: Popup form / Right: Inline form placed in sidebar
The form templates are very easy to customize, allowing you to publish on your site within minutes. I like the fact that it's not equipped with fancy patterned variations like "Classic Office" "Ocean Breeze" and stuff like that. Simple. You can change the color of text and background. No more. There are more fields you can add; first name, last name, phone number, address, birthday, anniversary, job title, etc.
Inline form is size responsive, so you don't have to worry about setting the width. But on the other hand, because all you have to do is to simply embed the code in your webspace, if you embed it in the middle of an article you'll end up having a full-length form. If you wanted to set the form width, you'd have to insert a column in WordPress for example, or Thrive Architect users can insert a content box and set the box width accordingly.
Facebook lead ad is a great feature. It allows you to create a Facebook ad with an opt-in form, where you can add your logo or any photo. You need to provide your own "Thank You (for subscribing)" page URL, where a new lead should be directed to immediately after signing up. Also need to provide your Privacy Policy page URL.
Sending Campaigns
It has over 100 ready-made templates as well as variety of blank templates (1 column, 2 columns with a main image on top, etc, etc.) And the drag & drop editor allows you to delete any elements in the template, ad new elements, add your own image, change background and change the font size/style.
You can save your images in the Library section - there's more than enough storage space. 1Gb for a basic user or 2Gb for an Email Plus user.
Email Plus option can get you to do much more, such as;
- Shopify Block - Insert your Shopify product and pricing information to promote your products or services.
- Event Block / RSVP Block - Your subscribers can respond by clicking directly in your email, so you can get an accurate headcount for an upcoming event.
- Poll Block - Add questions or prompts for your subscribers. They can directly click on your email.
- Donation Block - Subscribers can donate by clicking directly in your email, so you'll collect and review donations easily.
- Coupon Block - To offer special discounts/savings to your customers. Again they can respond by clicking directly in your email.
- Instantly access your Facebook and Instagram images.
You can send it out either immediately or schedule it for any time later on.
There's another extra option available for Email Plus users - subject line A/B testing. Test two subject lines on a % of your target audience in order to maximize your open rate. This is definitely useful if you have more than tens of thousands of users and send similar newsletters periodically.
List Management
Obviously, your new subscribers will be automatically added to the list of your contacts as they sign up via the form. You can also add contacts manually, or by uploading a list from elsewhere, import from Gmail, Outlook or other apps. You need to confirm that you have a permission from the subscribers that you're importing.
The Contact section doesn't retain any other information other than what you collected, and the time of subscription. It means if your signup form only has an email field, it only shows the email address and the date/time of subscription of each subscriber. It doesn't detect their IP address or country.
For instance, if you are planning to run country-specific campaigns, you do have to ask for their country of residence in your signup form.
Another example is where the same person signs up multiple times using different email addresses with malicious intent (i.e. harassing your business), if you knew the person's IP address you'd be able to block them (considering they're not using VPN). You can't do that with Constant Contact. Though if you're get into such trouble you can always ask the support desk to help.
List Segmentation
Segmenting the list of subscribers is the way to keep engaging with your subscribers, and avoid losing them. By sending generic messages to all of them, some will simply lose interest and unsubscribe.
You want to offer discounts only to people who didn't click your last email, for example, in order to keep them in.
I've seen quite a few list segmentation tools that are so overcomplicated and hard to set, but Constant Contact has a really comprehensive, straightforward one. It allows you to segment your list by multiple criteria, name it and save it. Then that list can also be segmented further at a later date.
Deliverability!
EmailToolTester results
The best reason I think you should go for Constant Contact is its excellent deliverability. No matter how good your copywriting skill is, if a quarter of your subscribers don't get to see your newsletter because their mail boxes are treating it as spam, if will be a wasteful campaign. Your hard work will end up in despair.
According to email deliverability tests carried out by EmailToolTester.com in the past 1.5 years, CC has proven to deliver the 2nd best rate on average, next to ActiveCampaign. At January test, it came to the 3rd, beaten by MailerLite.
MailerLite is another one that offers a service for affordable price, but I cancelled my membership only a few months ago because of the low deliverability rate that I was experiencing. Perhaps this is another one that I'll keep an eye out for.
To make sure CC is delivering good rates, I carried out my own tests too. I first subscribed 4 times using different email addresses (Gmail, iCloud, Hotmail and Mail.com). Then I created a spammy email, inserted some typical spam words both in the subject line and in the body. (NB: not swearing words! Words including a large sum of money, words related to debt collection, etc.)
Amazingly, all 4 of my mailboxes safely received this email in inbox. Perhaps because it was just a list of 4 subscribers, but this has convinced me. (I'm not doing this again, I'll get told off otherwise!)
Help and Support
Knowledge Base has plenty of Quick Start guides and video tutorials, but you could spend hours learning how-to's. I suggest that you play around with it and if you have any question, search by keyword or "ask the community". If you have a problem, contact their Twitter support. That's the best option. Don't bother sending emails - their email support doesn't work/respond!
You can also ask for support directly by;
- Phone support - I find them very friendly and helpful. Open internationally (US & Canada, Australia, France, Germany, India, Spain, UK and Mexico) But only open between Monday - Saturday. Longer than office hours up to 14 hours, depending on the day.
- Live chat - I find them also very friendly, but they have a limited knowledge. If you need something technical, they'll ask you to use the phone support.
- Ask the community - there's a vast amount of threads but you can search by keyword and learn how people have solved the problems in the past.
- Twitter support - my personal favorite. They'll direct you to the best solution within a few hours.
- Email support - does not work (according to Twitter support). I did send a question and received an acknowledgement by email saying it would get back within 1 working day. I never received a response!
Constant Contact Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Constant Contact Review - Final Verdict
Finding Constant Contact extremely easy to navigate was a pleasant surprise for me. As well as the usability (but much more importantly) for the trustworthiness, I would recommend CC to any organizations who wish to expand the customer base through email marketing. The price range is not the lowest in the market, not designed for internet business newbies. But if you are looking for a safe email marketing experience, it may be worth trying.
Hi, I just think Constant Contact is one of the best email marketing services. I have used many others in the past but as far as customer service is concerned, Constant Contact is basically the most helpful one. I wasn’t sure how to link it to my website pages and sales funnels. They taught me how to do it step by step. I significantly increased the number of subscribers and my click rates shot up afterward thanks to Constant Contact.
If you would like to increase the number of visitors and make more money as a result, definitely this is the one I would recommend. I have created the most comprehensive document for you with some invaluable tips for people who have just started email marketing, so everyone can read it and learn how to use Constant Contact. I have checked all the errors and this is a revised version, so check the links below and you will be a successful online business owner in no time. I hope it helps. Check it out, what are you waiting for?!
Thanks for your positive comment, Phoebe. I’m afraid I had to remove your link for security purposes. But I wish you all the best!
I have been using Constant Contact and I can use any of these strategies or all of them, by using this powerful marketing tool to develop my own e-commerce site. Good thing is you can build a mobile-responsive store for any industry, complete with a constant site navigation system, secure checkout and things like that, so you can make it easy for customers to find you.
You can spread the word using email, social media, SEO, and other marketing methods* with this company to persuade people to be loyal by sending emails. This will let me send subscribers tailored content based on various criteria to measure the results. For the past few years I have identified and materialized all the real time relationships with leads using Constant Contact’s analytic tool, which provides detailed visitor metrics. I recommend it to anybody but especially for e-commerce website users 100%.
Hi, my name is Samuel and I am from Germany. The Constant Contact review that your organization has written is amazing and I was amazed by the eye-opening content. Having registered with Constant Contact previously, I noticed this email service offers a good service. It was only because I could no longer afford to pay the subscription fee and I couldn’t find good subscribers that I left CC.
However, I found the customer service to be excellent. I was given some tips on how to effectively build subscribers from the staff when setting up my account with them. Currently, I am not ready to do email marketing, but when I do it next time, I am sure I will use all the materials provided and eliminate all the unnecessary things that I used to do.
By utilizing Constant Contact, I am confident that I will be successful in selling my own business. It is very helpful to have this information. Our sincerest thanks go out to you for all your advice.
Hi, thank you for the useful information.
I have been using Aweber but recently was increasingly unhappy with the delivery issue, waking up to find out with an error or if it’s sent low open rates. I used to have 33-50% deliverability it cannot be less than 5%. Obviously some spam issues are going on beyond my control because I’m always careful about that.
I have been thinking about changing the provider for a while, CC is one of my candidates. Your article has helped me. Can you please email me ********* as I want to know a few private matters. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your email marketing experience Jessie, I agree with you, although some technical glitches may be inevitable but if they occur on more than a few occasions it’s definitely time to change the provider. Your “private matters” by the way…contact me from the top menu above, then I can reply to you. Thanks for your comment. I wish you all the best.
Hi there, it’s a great Constant Contact review. I have been using it for just over a year now and I’m totally happy with it. I also use Getresponse and Aweber to send multiple newsletters. Like many other big buck email marketers do, I need to keep several reputable email marketing services and also need to keep the price control. Constant Contact is not too expensive and it’s always responsive. Some people complain about the customer service but in the past 12 months plus, I have had no problem with them. It’s one of the best.
Hi Mel, thanks for sharing your experience, sounds great that you’re happy with CC. Tell me more if you can, what makes this one stand out? Say, compared to GetResponse and AWeber? Thanks for your comment, I wish you all the best in continued success.
I hope you and your family are all staying safe by taking good precautions as we enter into troubling times. I find your Constant Contact review intriguing as I am trying to set up a new business and find out what the best email newsletter services. Constant Contact was one of my candidates but I’m not so sure now after I read your review. There are too many topics that I was thinking of but not allowed to promote. Is this normal, or just exclusive to Constant Contact? Are there any other email newsletter program that you can recommend? I am interested in the affiliate business right now but I’m not 100% sure after researching in the past few weeks.
Thank you in anticipation for your advice.
Constant Contact is the best autoresponder.. I tried others but they didn’t work. I tried many free ones plus some paid accounts.
Thanks for your comment Lola, tell us more about other email marketing services that you’ve tried but didn’t work? Usability? Deliverability? We’d like to know why you think CC is the best one – thank you!
Hi Ray, I’m glad you mentioned about having to cancel the account over the phone because that was one thing I didn’t like. I agree with you about autoresponder not a part of the basic charge. that was the reason I decided it wasn’t for me. There are many other email marketing services. Constant Contact is unfortunately not the best one.
Hi Bud, yes CC is not the most reasonable email marketing service as far as the pricing is concerned, though the deliverability is (almost) all that matters. Thanks for your comment.
I’ve had an awful experience with Constant Contact. Firstly they told me the automation is part of the cheaper option, it was the only reason I signed up. As soon as I got in I knew the automation was not there. I had to call them to cancel and they tried to persuade me to upgrade. What a cheek! I was not impressed.
Hi Cassie, sorry to hear about your bad experience! It’s a shame because the service it provides is so decent! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Yeah it was easy to use but I had a trouble cancelling it too. I couldn’t get though to the billing team, waited over 10 minutes, then took ages for them to cancel my account.
I decided to try constant contact coz I thought automation meant something else. Then found out it was autoresponder, I couldn’t use it with my option. Disappointed a little esp. I imported some of my leads already.
Hi Vikas, thanks for sharing your experience, and sorry to hear that. I hope they’ll improve the system, though some other email marketing companies exclude autoresponder from their basic mailing option, there must be a reason behind it (I’ve asked this question in the past but couldn’t get an answer). Perhaps extra maintenance cost? Thanks for your comment.
I totally agree, Ray. If I joined once and wanted to leave, why would I have to speak to someone on the phone to cancel it? Especially I hardly use my phone for anything other than SNS, I find it outrageous. It seems to provide very good service but it’s the biggest off-putting factor. Thank you for your thorough Constant Contact review, Ray!
Hi Ingrid, thanks for your comment. Let’s hope they’ll change the policy in the near future!
Active Campaign is better if you want to choose a hybrid email marketing service. Better price, better options and includes automation.
Hi, thanks for your comment. Yes Active Campaign seems to provide great service. At least CC has a good delivery rate, that’s one thing I like about!
Hello. Is Constant Contact available globally? Can I start from one subscriber, and build up the subscribers gradually to 10, 100, 1000 and so on? Before I was using a Dutch company and they did not accept me because I did not have enough subscribers. Thank you for your assistance.
Hi, yes CC is available wherever you live. It’s interesting to hear that the Dutch email marketing service didn’t approve your request to join because of the number of subscribers. Everyone has to start from zero and, yes as you say, you build up your subscribers by collecting them via opt-in (signup) form. You can certainly sign up with CC with no subscriber. If you already have some subscribers from elsewhere you can import the list to CC, of course. Thanks for your comment, any more questions don’t hesitate to get back to me any time.
I think it’s outrageous that you have to speak to the agent to cancel the account. You are totally right, it’s an online service. If they only accept cancellation over the phone why don’t they only accept new customers over the phone? Totally 20th century. I’m not too impressed.
Hi AJ, I’m hoping that they’ll change the system in the near future. Yes you should be able to cancel your account online, whatever the reason behind is. Really, that’s one reason that I’m hesitant to recommend CC to anyone. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it.
Hi Ray, thank you for the useful review. I read with interest.
I can see that Constant Contact is clearly not for casual users for because the price is not competitive. It’s hard for people like me who are willing to start an online business but to start as an affiliate to make some extra money and also confidence.
I feel it’s a shame because it sounds like a very good service they supply.
Your information is valuable to me. Thank you.
Hi Angel, thanks for your comment. Yes as you say, this is not for new affiliate marketers, but who knows you might use it in the future; when your business has taken off and your monthly income is constantly on the rise, you might want to pay double on email marketing to take a step further to expand your business!
I didn’t think it was user friendly it kept asking me. To log back in…I have to put my email address every time. Not convenient. It does not give many options.
Hi Hassaan, sorry to hear that you seem to be having a problem logging on to your CC account. Have you been in touch with their Twitter support? They’ll be able to take a close look at your account for you and hopefully fix the issue. I’ve never had that kind of problem… Check with them! Thanks for your comment.
Hi Ray, thanks for the great information. I didn’t know about this company. Def. keep in mind. My Aweber account was lately shut down and I don’t know the reason why. I was thinking about GetResponse because of the price. Maybe next one is Constant contact even though it’s pricier I don’t use autoresponder. Cheaper option is good enough for me. Can you tell me if it’s suitable for me to use it? Thank you.
Hi Hiyesh, thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear about your AWeber account shut down, possibly you’d received too many spam reports from your subscribers? It’s best to contact them to find out exactly why, but things don’t always work out in the way we want, but perhaps you can learn from it and move on. As long as the niche you promote is not in the “prohibited list”, CC will be happy to have you for sure. Any more questions don’t hesitate to ask any time 🙂
I think it offers the most compelling service comparing to others. Overall I’ve had a good marketing experience but I remember I had a trouble setting things up due to the instructions that were not very clear. Help desk I cannot say was the most competent either. Left after about a year for AWeber.
It’s disappointing a good email marketing companies like this one charge a lot more than others. I like to be assured I am sending my newsletters safely so I use reputable companies. I am not sure of Mailerlite or Getresponse but Mailchimp and AWeber are popular I know. Constant Contact I believe is good but too expensive for me. If the price comes down I will start to use it.
Hi Sergio, thanks for your comment. Yes as you say, CC is not the cheapest in the market but the safe delivery counts. If you have in-depth opinions on other service providers, please let me know, I value your voice greatly. Thank you!
I don’t like the support system. It says in their website that if you want to cancel the account, contact the billing team, they don’t try to keep you in. But there is no option to email the billing team. You have to speak to them on the phone. They did try to persuade me to stay. No thank you. The worst support.
Hi Laura, thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts. I cannot disagree with you, unfortunately. Many support options are displayed but few of them actually work. And I don’t like the fact that you have to use a telephone to cancel your membership while everything else is operated online. I’d say it’s a waste of resources. Looks like it’s best to use Twitter support to receive quicker response.
Hello Ray, thank you for introducing Constant Contact review to us. It looks like very good system for sending to subscribers newsletter. I am looking forward to email subscribers by Constant Contact. I don’t know yet 100 or 1000 subscribers. Firstly, I have to call many people. I will send when I have enough. I like your many pages to study. Thank you very much.
Hi Ryo, thanks for your comment. Sounds great, it may take time and effort in building a list of subscribers, but if you need a hand don’t hesitate to contact me any time. Good luck!
It wasn’t my cup of tea unfortunately… I learned solo ad in the past and it wasn’t worth for me. I have lost faith in email business.
Thank you for such a great review, Ray. I can tell from your explanation that Constant Contact is one of the best, because of the deliverability. I can totally understand if you put all your effort into lead generation and spend so much time writing good email swipe but if so many of your subscribers don’t receive it, there is no point. I would love to use this company and will definitely keep any eye on it. Thanks.
Hi Stevie, great to know that you’re interested in CC. Depending on your budget, it’s worth starting an email marketing at an early stage. If you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to contact me any time. Thanks for your comment!
Hi, thanking you for good advice. How can I learn email marketing. Does Constant Contact offer training and if so is it a novice friendly ? I am willing to pay the price indicated but I wouldn’t know where to start or what to write. Thank you.
Hi Campbell, CC is not a training program, although there are tips and advice you can receive from the knowledgebase as well as community and live support. It’s certainly user-friendly but if you are completely new to email marketing, you need to learn the basics first. Contact me and ask any questions in detail, I can give you some advice. Thanks for your comment!
Hi, I manage event venues in a football stadium. No problem with budgets, very few subscribers right now. I’m willing to run a campaign a little more aggressively. Is this suitable, if so how do I start? Thanks.
I see very few newsletters by this company but they all from companies in big scale I can see what you say. It’s for corporate users not so much for people who try to make a success on internet.
Hi Mars, CC is not as affordable as other popular email marketing service providers among sole trading marketers such as AWeber but it provides a secure and reliable service as I explained in the post. It’s worth using for anyone, regardless to the level of fees. Thanks for your comment!
It sounds like the best option is to go for email plus and pay 12 months in advance but I have over 20k subs it’s not exactly the price I can pay easy. What if it doesn’t work out?
Hello, thanks for your comment. Yes it will be a lot to pay (12 x $195 x 0.85 = $1,989) but one month free trial is offered so that you can make sure you’re absolutely happy with the service before you’re making the payment. You can specify the monthly payment option first, then a few months in if you’re still happy, you can go yearly too. Any more questions don’t hesitate to get back to me.
Great review. It looks like doing a great job to keep businesses going. You need this kind of thing. Look at all the possibilities with different styles of campaigns you can run. Good job well done.
Thanks Saskia, I appreciate your comment!
Constant contact has nothing but disadvantages for me.. When I need a support I want immediate answer. I shouldn’t have to wait for more than a few hours..
Hi Andre, thanks for your comment, and sorry to hear that you don’t seem happy with CC? If you could please share your experience with us a little more in detail if you don’t mind, perhaps it can help all of us. Have you ever used their Twitter support?
I don’t understand why you have to pay extra money for auto responder… I appreciate about good delivery rate however I have no reason to use this company now I know other company’s are cheaper and better. I have never used mailer lite I will have to look. Because I am not 100% happy with Aweber. It sometimes do not let me send broadcast but I’m tired of contacting support every time.
Hi Mo, sorry to hear about your bad experience with AWeber. Their support is good though, as far as I’m concerned. Although if your broadcast is put on hold for security check purpose etc, you’ll have to wait for the response from the compliance team which may take a long time.
CC’s target customers are primarily companies, and the customers seem happy to pay higher rate for more stable service. For individual marketers by all means there are other decent mail marketing services available. Thanks for your comment!