Constant Contact Review 2019: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly...
Is Constant Contact right for you?
"All the tools and support you need to succeed." This is how Constant Contact promote itself. Is this really the case? In this post we will provide you with an in-depth review of the marketing automation tool Constant Contact. We will provide you with an overview of all the features and how these score and stack up against other tools. Do you want to know if Constant Contact is the right tool for your business? Check out this Constant Contact review to see if it's what you need to succeed!
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Our Review Score: 2.5/5
1) Email builder: 3.5/5
2) Email templates: 3.0/5
3) Form building: 1.0/5
4) Segmentation: 2.0/5
5) Automation: 1.0/5
6) Splittesting: 1.0/5
7) Integrations: 4.0/5
8) Reporting & tracking: 2.5/5
9) Support & Community: 4.0/5
10) Ease of use: 3.5/5
11) Value for money: 2.0/5
Constant Contact Review: Main Pro's and Con's
Main pro's
- Constant Contact is fairly easy to work with
- Great for setting up events
- Easy to use drag & drop editor
- Vast selection of email templates
- Great integrations of apps
- A lot of supporting information available. And we got good support during our Constant Contact review
- Some cool features, such as; web and social media sign-up lists, and a scan-to-join QR code to add to printed materials.
Main con's
- Overpriced for what they offer
- Limited options building forms
- Tagging options are limited and difficult to use. For example: You can not automatically tag/segment your contacts (you have to do it manually).
- Very basic automations only
- Can only A/B-test subject lines
- Email templates look a bit old
- No tagging system to segment based on contact behaviour
Constant Contact Review Rating Details
How does Constant Contact score as a Marketing Automation tool? After doing extensive research, using the the tool for our own Marketing purposes, and seeing how the tool stacks up against other tools, we have constructed this Constant Contact review feature table to give you a clear overview of the most important features. Every rating is accompanied by a small summary.
| Feature | Score | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | (2.5/5) | After our Constant Contact review we must say the tool is fairly easy to use and contains all the basic features. If you are a beginner, or you only need a basic, simple marketing automation tool, then Constant Contact might be suitable for you. Also, Constant Contact is great for setting up events. |
1 – Email Builder | (3.5/5) | Constant Contact is easy to work with. A downside is the limited amount of customization options available within the editor. Visually, it is also a bit outdated. |
2 – Email Templates | (2.0/5) | Using Constant Contact's editor makes it easy to customize templates. There are many templates to choose from, but the designs are pretty outdated, though. |
3 – Form Builder | (1.0/5) | Constant Contact is as basic as it can be, in terms of building forms. It offers no options like customization, pop ups, slide ins, etc. |
4 – List Management & Segmentation | (2.0/5) | Tagging options are limited and difficult to use. You can not automatically tag contacts based on their behaviour, which is a big red flag if you are serious about automation/personalization. |
5 – Automation | (1.0/5) | Constant Contact is very limited in setting up automations. There is no visual workflow builder, you can only send very basic autoresponders and everything takes too many clicks to set up. Really one of the worst tools we've reviewed in the automation department. |
6 – Splittesting | (1.0/5) | The only thing you can A/B test with Constant Contact are the subject lines. |
7 – Integrations | (4.0/5) | Constant Contact integrates with basically every app (also Zapier integrations). |
8 – Reporting | (2.5/5) | Basic tracking and reporting. For advanced metrics not very suitable. |
9 – Support & Community | (4.0/5) | With Constant Contact, you will have access to an abundance of information. There is a lot of information on their website with many video tutorials. Also, you can contact them through live chat and phone. There is also a community present. We've had good support during our Constant Contact review. |
10 – Ease of use | (3.5/5) | You don't need much time to be able to use all features. It works pretty straight forward. |
11 – Value for money | (2.0/5) | A bit expensive, especially if you have a list of 10K plus. |
Constant Contact Pricing
Ofcourse we can't leave pricing out of this Constant Contact review. How much does it cost to use Constant Contact? Below you can find the prices based on the amount of contacts you need to manage.
We try to update the pricing as best we can in this Constant Contact review. However, the pricing as listed on this page might be different from the prices listed on the ESPs official site due to changes.
| 1.000 contacts | 10.000 contacts | 25.000 contacts | 50.000 contacts | 100.000 contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite plan | Lite plan | Lite plan | Lite plan | Lite plan |
| $45/per month Free migration | $95/per month Free migration | $295/per month Free migration | $335/per month Free migration | $595/per month Free migration |
| 30 days free trial | 30 days free trial | 30 days free trial | 30 days free trial | 30 days free trial |
See all Constant Contact's plans
We try to update the pricing as best we can in this Constant Contact review. However, the pricing as listed on this page might be differtent from the prices listed on the ESPs official site due to changes.
Constant Contact Features (Marketing & Sales)
We've compiled some of the most important marketing and sales features for any email marketing automation software in this Constant Contact review in the table below. This is especially handy if you are a B2B organisation or an organisation with a salesteam, because you might need features like a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system included in your platform. Check it out:
Want to see which Email Marketing Service scores best? Check out our top-to-bottom Best Email service provider ranking overview.
| ActiveCampaign | AWeber | Constant Contact | ConvertKit | Drip | GetResponse | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing Features | |||||||
| Native Conversion tracking | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Web activity tracking | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Splittesting Campaigns | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Splittesting Automations | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Dynamic Personalized Content | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Multichannel Attribution | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Site Messaging | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Facebook Integrations | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| SMS Integrations | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Webinar integrations | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Native Landingpage builder | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Native Shopping Cart | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Sales & CRM Features | |||||||
| Leadscoring | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Native CRM System | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Task Management | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Realtime Sales alerts | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Gmail integration | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Mobile App CRM | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Create quotes & invoices | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
Who is Constant Contact right for? It's great when...
#1 You want to set up events
Constant Contact is one the few tools that allows you to manage invitations, registrations, and also tickets.
#2 You are looking for some cool features
You like to have access to some cool features, such as; web and social media sign-up lists, and a scan-to-join QR code to add to printed materials.
See also: Sales funnels | Book funnels | Challenge funnels | Ecommerce funnels | High ticket sales funnels | Lead funnels
#3 You need to set up emails quickly and easily
If you want a tool with a large selection of templates, accompanied with an editor that let you quickly set up sequences, then Constant Contact is a useful tool.
It's not so great when...
#1 You need detailed information from split-testing
With Constant Contact you can only A/B-test subject lines.
#2 You need advanced automations
Constant Contact is lacking when it comes to setting up automations. It works with 'Autoresponders', which are very simple.
#3 You need advanced form builder
The form builder of Constant Contact is very basic. It offers no options like customization, pop ups, slide ins, etc.
Checkout Constant Contact here.
Constant Contact Alternatives
Constant Contact has been around since 2004. Nowadays, there are many users who claim that Constant Contact has become too outdated. After our Constant Contact review, we can definitely conclude that this is indeed the case in regards to some features. If Constant Contact doesn't offer what you are looking for, we have provided three alternative tools. See below if these tools better serve your marketing needs.
Alternative #1: ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a very effective tool, especially in setting up automations, A/B-testing, and list management. Here are some advantages of using ActiveCampaign over Constant Contact:
- With ActiveCampaign you have the best options when it comes to tagging and segmentation
- With ActiveCampaign setting up automations is easy with their visual workflow builder. ActiveCampaign offers many features.
- Mailchimp offers the best A/B-testing of all tools out there. You can basically splittest everything from titles, to email content, and even complete automations! And you get detailed reportings.
- ActiveCampaign also offers goal tracking, which means you can track conversions within ActiveCampaign.
Read ActiveCampaign vs Constant Contact
Read Full ActiveCampaign Review
Alternative #2: GetResonse
If you are looking for a good alternative for Mailchimp, then GetResponse may be a good option. It is a tool with great tagging and segmentation options. Here are some advantages of using GetResponse over Constant Contact:
- GetResponse has a better segmentation and tagging system
- GetResponse has more detailed results from A/B-testing
- With GetResponse you have better options when it comes to form building.
- With GetResponse you can set up landings pages as well.
- GetResponse has ROI tracking.
- Setting up automations is more advanced with GetResponse.
Read GetResponse vs Constant Contact
Read Full GetResponse Review
Alternative #3: Drip
Drip is a good tool with some outstanding features. We would especially recommend this tool for people working in ecommerce. Here are some advantages of using Drip over Constant Contact:
- Drip is the best tool when it comes to segmentation features.
- When it comes to setting up automations, Drip is more user friendly, easier to use, and works smoother and faster.
- Drip is specialized in ecommerce features.
- With Drip, you can customise the visibility and the behavior associated of your forms
Read Constant Contact vs Drip
Read Full Drip Review
Conclusion
Constant Contact is a fairly decent tool. It is easy to use and serves the basic marketing automation needs. You can set up nice emails, it is great for setting up events, and it contains some cool other features. In terms of automation, form building, and A/B-testing, Constant Contact falls behind other tools. Do you want to know if Constant Contact is right for your business? You can try it out for 30 days!
Constant Contact User Reviews
Please leave your own Constant Contact review below. We are always looking for users to give their two cents on this software.
1) What you like about this software?
2) What you dislike about this software?
3) Who would you recommend it to? Who is it best for?
4) How did this software contribute to your business?
Be the first to leave a review.