I have been using Constant Contact since 2001 and use it for my own businesses and also do setup and management for clients as a business affiliate. I have seen so many improvements and enhancements over the years. Here are just some of the great features that make it fun to use and a great communication tool.
- Pricing: I love the fact that the price is based on the size of your LIST – not on the number of emails you send out. You can send out any number of emails and you have a fixed cost. The price is also very reasonable and with a 60 day free trial anyone can test it out without obligation.
- Online Signup: The wizard helps you to setup a signup that will look good on any website. You can also add a signup to your email signature or your blog. This helps you to build your list.
- List Import: You can import lists in different formats and there are plugins that you can use to add names and emails from your desktop or integrated with Outlook or other applications. Once these are setup they are very simple to use to add new emails to your list.
- List Management: You can setup different types of lists – e.g. volunteers, donors, clients, or any type of category that makes sense for your nonprofit or business.
- Email Templates: Hundreds of email templates with different styles and designs. These are very customizable to brand matching your needs. Newsletters, announcements, specials, seasonal greetings, cards, notes and much more.
- Links and Tracking: Add links to your website pages, your blog, your facebook page. The administrator reporting will see tracking on each link. This is a real help in seeing which topics and links have the most interest. You can also make sub lists based on link tracking.
- Auto Responders. You can setup up to 15 auto responders. These are emails that will be received by people as they sign up on your list. Since an auto responder is based on the timing that you setup – the person would receive an email on a scheduled basis and you can setup the text and links to keep in contact and build a relationship with your list.
- Reports. See reports on the emails that were delivered and opened, bounce backs and undeliverable emails, links and history. Reports on your auto responders tracks number of auto responder emails sent and results.
- Help. Online webinars, recorded tutorials, and a searchable knowledge base all provide excellent tools. Customer support is very responsive by phone or by email.
These are a few of the key features for email newsletters – there are many more for the image gallery, event management and survey tools. Try out Constant Contact for yourself with the 60 day free trial.
Aleph Consulting offers services on setup and managing Constant Contact emails for businesses and nonprofits if you choose to outsource that service instead of doing it yourself. Contact me for details davies@alephinc.com
