| Constant Contact is a popular entry-level
Web-based service for the creation, distribution and management of email newsletters. It
is optimized for non-techies who want a fast, easy answer for low-to-moderate volume email
promotions. Over 90,000 small businesses, associations, non-profit organizations and
Realtors are said to be utilizing their online service.
While not "hiccup" free, the service fulfills a
market need. I found Constant Contact to be an affordable answer for small organizations
that lack in-house technical resources, but wish to leverage low-cost email marketing to
promote their products or services.
Constant Contact provides easy-to-use tools for developing
attractive email newsletters, managing email lists, and handling distribution issues
(compliance with spam laws, bounces, unsubscribes and filters). It also provides tracking
tools and reports for evaluating results.
If you are familiar with the features and functionality of
any word-processing program, then you can easily use Constant Contact for your email
campaigns. They have a plethora of templates, tutorials, guides and
"step-by-step" screens which ensure that anyone can create email masterpieces.
Email pieces can contain one or more links to landing pages on your Website or even PayPal
buttons for direct purchases.
Constant Contact makes it easy to sign up for their
service. They offer a sixty-day free trial without a credit card requirement (for up to
one hundred email contacts), pricing is attractive (starting at just $15 monthly for up to
500 email contacts), there is no software to purchase or install, and no long-term
contract is required. Moreover, if you have less than 50 email contacts, the service is
free!
As with any Web-based interactive service, however,
Constant Contact is recommended only for those who have a DSL or cable Internet
connection. Otherwise, you may be in for a frustrating experience -- it can take a while
for your newsletter editing inputs to show up on the browser screen.
The newsletter creation process itself is simple.
It involves modifying your choice of several newsletter
templates with your own content and images. Constant Contact has worked hard to make this
an easy process. In addition to modifying overall appearance (background color, font,
etc.), you can customize the content and look of each template section employing tools
familiar to any Microsoft Word user.
A word of caution here.
There are some quirks. Sometimes, what you want to happen
doesn't happen. For example, I found that font and spacing actions sometimes produced
unsought results. Despite an "undo" button, you might just have to close the
newsletter editing function, and then re-open it to eliminate unintended results. It thus
pays to "save' your work frequently as you go along. But, if you know a little HTML,
you can open a "code" window and usually resolve these mishaps in quick fashion.
Here is a hint - copy any text prepared in a
word-processing application or copied from a Website to the Microsoft Notepad before
inserting it into the Constant Content newsletter template. This will remove any
underlying formatting code that could affect your newsletter display.
I particularly like their list import capabilities.
Constant Contact offers a downloadable tool for easily importing selected contacts from
Microsoft Outlook. Other lists can be imported in .csv, .txt and .xml formats. And your
lists can be segmented for targeted email campaigns.
A newsletter sign-up form or button is automatically
generated for you. All you have to do is copy its underlying HTML into one or more pages
on your Website to promote your newsletter to site visitors. Obviously, you will get more
subscribers if you also offer an incentive, such as a free report or discount, to sign-up
for your free newsletter.
But Constant Contact is about more than just sending out
newsletters. It also allows you to set up email promotional campaigns. For instance, you
can modify their templates to promote events, seasonal specials, or product announcements.
These can then be sent to targeted segments of your email list(s) along with embedded
coupons or links to special offers.
In summary, Constant Contact gets "two thumbs up"
for being an affordable, hassle-free solution for low volume emailings (up to a thousand
or so contacts). Its ease-of-use, extensive functionality, variety of templates and
helpful learning resources make Constant Contact an excellent answer for small businesses
and real estate professionals. With Constant Contact, you can quickly launch and easily
manage professional-looking newsletters and other email promotions without a steep
learning curve or breaking your wallet. |
