Constant Contact vs. Twilio Zipwhip (discontinued)

Constant Contact is an excellent tool for sending out flyers and newsletters. However, I feel the content's appearance is typically all the same. When I receive an email from Constant Contact, I can immediately identify it - the templates usually all look the same. When sending out communications with images, it is easy to use Constant Contact and link webpages. However, the email layout is always vertical and can get very lengthy. I prefer a more flip-book approach with options to flip the page.

Incentivized

Zipwhip is well suited for many scenarios. Not only do we save money and time with integrations with other programs we have, but we can follow up with a client regarding a trip, should we need further information. A client makes an online reservation and we receive a notification. While we have most of the trip details, the number portion for the drop-off location is missing, so we can reach out directly to the client via Zipwhip and request this information. All aspects of the booking can be done online and with texting and without emails or calls, which is often what many clients who book online prefer. Zipwhip has improved its images/ photos which is fantastic as we use this to send vehicle images to clients, which helps secure bookings. Our employees also use it to send us images of receipts, vehicle engine warning lights that may come on, and other issues (such as a client who may have left a mess in a vehicle). We're also able to send clients documents too, which is great. Obviously, if we have a client with an issue or who is upset, texting is not the best platform on which to address their issues, but it helps us to assess the situation/ issue and gather information before we call the client in person.

Incentivized

• Market segmentation is great: my main segmentation is by region because that's how our sales team is divided.
• Lists: making customized email lists is easy and intuitive; the custom fields allow some flexibility in case our fields don't exactly line up with Constant Contact's.
• Campaigns: creating campaigns is quick and simple. I especially appreciate the 'resend to non-openers' option. I am constantly using this feature.
• Subject line generator: I like using the recommended subject lines. I'm able to plug in their recommended ideas, or sometimes, this feature helps me generate my own ideas.

• API to allow triggered text messaging.
• Tied to a direct phone number that people can also call.
• Easy to track a conversation in a thread.

Incentivized

• It would be nice if we had more customizable options for emails - like moving around pictures and text boxes, rather than a set spot for everything to go.
• I would like it if multiple people could work on a document at one time. So if I'm in charge of graphics, I can get those updated while someone else is entering content, etc.

Incentivized

• I would like the quick-use app that pulls from the taskbar to be able to hold more characters- It can only do 250 while the main screen can do 600.
• The ability to send video through this program would significantly enhance its functionality for us.

Incentivized

There is no doubt that we are going to renew Constant Contact. We have not just invested a lot of time in learning and creating a great looking product but we have developed a strong database of information that allows us to track how we are doing for each newsletter. This supports our goals of creating products that residents desire and are excited to receive.

There is always room for improvement. I don't know how they test their systems, but they should invite not-so computer savvy people to test it. If I, as an expert have problems, they need to think like the technophobe. Since I've used Constant Contact in the past as part of my former employment, I have not viewed any of the tutorials and just jumped in to work on my client's newsletter. With that said, I found some areas easy and some a bit cumbersome

It was very easy for users to use, straight forward, and user friendly. The desktop app is very basic but easy to reply to an incoming text, but the user had to know to allow Chrome notifications to see new incoming text via the web browser, which is how they mainly used it.

Incentivized

No major problems in sending out the email campaigns and accessing the analytics

Incentivized

The system seemed quite slow sometimes. Specifically, there was sometimes a delay in sends if it was during a high traffic period. There were time-outs when uploading new code for an email, and a lag in reporting analytics which was sometimes as long as 72 hours

I think the overall support for Constant Contact has always been incredible; I have nothing negative to say. Our customer support representative was attentive, easy to understand, and very knowledgeable. I never felt like I wasn't a priority of his and my issues, while very small, were fixed in a very short time frame.

Swift response time, multiple people have been willing to help with any issue, really anything you could be looking for from a service standpoint, they offer.

Incentivized

Implementation is very easy for someone who wants to send out the “batch and blast” type newsletters. If you want to use their templates with no customizations, the product works fine. However, the more customizations you get into involving link color, etc, that’s where things can get tricky for someone who may not be familiar with coding

Constant Contact is much more intuitive for people who are not tech-savvy. Also, while sendgrid offered more options in it's drag and drop interface, it displayed differently across different email clients, which made it very cumbersome to use. It also took much longer to upload contact lists and it was harder to manage existing contacts. Performance in sendgrid was much slower as well, and the Preview feature was quite buggy. Our team initially chose sendgrid because of the integration options that it's API offered, but we ultimately switched to Constant Contact because it was much easier to build campaigns and better suited our requirements.

Zipwhip is just a little bit more user-friendly than AliveChat because it allows you to text people on more scale. AliveChat has a great website chat function, but its texting platform is a little more clunky than Zipwhip. Zipwhip is a little more expensive but definitely the better product.

Incentivized

Very reliable in sending email campaigns and controlling the recipients so that no contact is sent the same email more than once, even if they are on a resent list

Incentivized

• I have had nothing but positive impacts from using Constant Contact.
• The church is large, and there are many subgroups and axillary groups within the church. Setting up specific groups based on responsibility, interest, member goals, and service needs allows me to send information quickly, saving valuable time for other tasks.
• Constant Contact allows leadership to stay personally engaged with the members I work with, without over-taxing my time. It feels so seamless.

Incentivized

• Less confusing worker experience for our customers
• Less back and forth communication
• Less need for documentation about things communicated over text

Incentivized