Item: Constant Contact
Rating: 7
Author: Matt Kalina

Overall Satisfaction

Pros and Cons

Pros

As far as content creation, the available templates to start a design have improved.
The library and archiving of past campaigns and emails are well organized and easily accessible to clone and revise for a new campaign.
The reporting functions are basic but straightforward and easy to review and forward for others to review.
Creating and revising an existing design has become easier and more intuitive over the years. There remain a few glitches when attempting to perform some seemingly simple design actions such as centering images and copy in certain instances, but I have seen much worse and constraining design functions in other email communication systems.

Cons

The design process is the area where Constant Contact has the most room to improve. Sometimes what seen as very simple functions such as centering text or images can be inoperable and frustrating to find a workaround, wasting a lot of time trying to figure it out.
Some of the design function glitches appear to be random, and attempts at workarounds can be quite time consuming.

Return on Investment

Constant Contact, if used properly, can be a solid, dependable tool for businesses, especially small businesses, to communicate in a structured, dependable way with customers.
The system can improve customer service if careful thought goes into proper frequency of sending messages.

Of the many email systems I have used, I tend to judge each on the useability of Constant Contact, which, while not perfect, is dependable. I use Constant Contact as the middle ground to judge the performance of other email marketing systems partly because it was the first one I've used and on which I had received training.

Likelihood to Recommend

Carefully review the criteria you must have in an email marketing system for your organization. Keep an open mind and search out all of the usual suspects in email marketing systems first. Consider using Constant Contact if your organization is a small business or non-profit. It may not be robust enough for larger enterprises.

Comments

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Nebojsa Kosijer
commented 7 years ago
Be careful with this prank company. I started my free trial planning to test the platform and quit if I don't like it. But they charged me for monthly subscription 5 days before my trial expired. Because, how they explained, "it says like that in T&Cs" which are hidden somewhere on the site. I sent them email asking for the refund straight away but they never replied because (again their explanation) "they don't have the team who handle that kind of queries". But why the heck you have contact form on the website??? I expected at least a reply. Today I finally called them because I couldn't find the option to cancel the contract (which doesn't exist so you have to call them) and successfully managed to leave this so-called company. I am sure their main income is coming from the cheated customers because their customer support is horrible. Stay away from them and keep using the reliable email marketers. Who knows what kind of "hidden T&Cs" you haven't read

Consider Constant Contact, but be aware of its limitations

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