Constant Contact Review: Features vs. Price. Is It Worth It?

ConstantContact Review Shows It Has Many Fans, But It Is Be Falling Behind The Competition In Innovation, Automation, Features & Definitely Price

This Constant Contact review shows midrange features, solid automation, forms, and landing pages, including Facebook lead acquisition. But with a median price point, it might not be worth it.

Constant Contact Review Summary

This Constant Contact review finds that it excels in email deliverability and most of the core email features you need as a small business. But those core features require the Email Plus plan, and at this price point, it is missing time zone & smart deliverability.

Do not expect any meaningful CRM functions or payment gateways, but they do have a large set of “pay-for” integrations.

Constant Contact Rating 3.9/5.0
💸 Pricing ★★★✩✩
⚡ Features ★★★✩✩
📧 Email Deliverability ★★★★✩
🖱 Ease of Use ★★★★✩
👩‍❤️‍👩 Client Satisfaction ★★★★★
☎ Customer Support ★★★★✩

ConstantContact’s email deliverability and simple marketing automation wrapped up in a  slick interface make it a solid service offering with many happy customers.  But with a significantly higher price point and fewer features than other competitors, are they a good choice for you?

ConstantContact Review: Features

⚡ Features Marketing Automation
🏆 Unique Features None
🎯 Best for Marketers
♲ Subscription Monthly
💰 Price $17-$191/mo
✂ Discount None Available
🌎 Region Global

ConstantContact Pros

★ Polling & Surveys
★ Segmentation, Tagging & Broadcasts
★ Facebook & Instagram Lead Integration
★ Landing Pages Included
★ Auto Resend to No-Openers

ConstantContact Cons

✘ Pricing
✘ Standard Features with Premium Pricing
✘ Too Many Pay For Integrations

Visit ConstantContact

The Review Process

I have compared 30 of the most popular email marketing software vendors out of a list of over 100.  We have compared over 80 key features and benefits to be able to make a solid and fair comparison. In total, over 2,400 data points have been compared over our months of testing.  Also, I run multiple businesses, which means collecting customer contact information and providing them with the right information at the right time is a core part of the service.  For further details on what we tested, jump to How We Rated the Service.

Constant Contact Pricing

When it comes to pricing, ConstantContact is in 6th place of the 11 vendors in the table below. So they are definitely nowhere near the best price points, but their service is targeted at start-ups and small businesses.  For me targeting new businesses should mean you offer a lower price point, especially at the under 10,000 subscribers range.  ConstantContact charges 0.81c per contact every month (on a yearly contract), compare that to SendX, which charges 0.39 cents per contact.

There are two types of pricing models in the email marketing industry.

  1. Per Contact Pricing means you are charged for storing a number of contacts; this model usually includes unlimited email sends.
  2. Per Email Pricing – this model usually means that you can have an unlimited number of contacts, but you pay per thousand email sends.

All email marketing vendors also offer multiple tiers of service, a basic tier providing email messaging, autoresponders, and segmentation.  More advanced tiers usually provide more in-depth services such as email marketing automation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Funnels, Payment Gateways, and landing pages.

Competitor Pricing Table – All Email Marketing Services

Value RatingsSendX Email ServiceGet Response Email Marketing ServiceAWeber Email Marketing ServiceBenchmark EmailConstant Contact Email ServicesConvertKit Email & Sales ServicesMailchimp Email ServiceActive Campaign Email ServicesiContact Email Marketing ServiceOntraport Email & CRM ServicesMailJet Email ServiceSendinBlue Email Service
Value☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
ModelContactContactContactContactContactContactContactContactContactContactEmailEmail
Free-TierNoNoNoYesNoNoYesNoNoNo6K/m - $09K/m - $0
#Contacts
500$7.49$15$19$13$17$25$15$9$30$7930K/m - $9.6540K/m - $25
2,500$15$25$29$30$38$49$50$39$50$14760K/m - $18.9560K/m - $39
10,000$39$65$69$76$81$119$99$111$110$297150K/m - $69120K/m - $67
25,000$112$145$149$144$191$166$219$179$199$497450K/m - $230350K/m - $173
50,0000$172$250$392$237$295$316$299$239$379$599=< 125K
Unlimited$2,999$99 per extra 100K
Cost per Contact (cents)0.390.650.690.740.81111.110.672.97NANA
Visit SendX ServicesVisit GetResponseVisit AWeber ServicesVisit BenchmarkVisit ConstantContactVisit ConvertKitVisit MailchimpVisit ActiveCampaignVisit iContact ServicesVisit OntraportVisit MailJet ServicesVisit SendinBlue

ConstantContact offers two tiers of pricing, EMAIL & EMAIL PLUS.  The prices above are for the basic EMAIL package.  The BASIC package is very limited compared to that of the price leaders GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, and SendX.

Important features missing from the ConstantContact basic package.

  • Multiple Popup Forms
  • Automated Welcome Email Series
  • Segmentation, Tagging, Autoresponders
  • A/B Testing
  • Automation & Personalizable Content

Some Key Missing Innovations In The EMAIL Plus Package

  • Geo-location Timezone Delivery
  • Smart Delivery Based On User Open Patterns
  • CRM Services
  • Payment Gateways

Constant Contact Email Marketing & Automation Features

Like all of the services reviewed, ConstantContact offers a selection of predesigned email templates and a good selection of high-quality images for use in your email campaigns.  The email design process is also fully drag-and-drop, making crafting your message a breeze.

In fact, ConstantContact has a nice collection of newsletter templates and impressive licensed images.  This will ensure your emails will look professional and unique.

Email automation functionality is only available in the EMAIL Plus service tier and is very similar in functionality to AWeber’s, using time delays, triggers, and tagging.

Constant Contact Email Capture Landing Pages

ConstantContact also a solid collection of predesigned email capture forms that are fully customizable using a drag and drop interface. They also have a plugin for WordPress. They are available again in the EMAIL Plus Tier.

Popup Email Capture Forms

I created a popup form in just a few minutes using the intuitive wizard, guiding you through the process.  Beware, if you opt for the basic EMAIL service, you will only get a simple popup with a fixed 5-second delay that will also show the Constant Contact branding logo.  For anything more advanced, you will need EMAIL Plus.

Visual Automations In Constant Contact

Most software providers offer Autoresponders, Email Sequencing, Drip Campaigns, Customer Tagging, and Segmentation.  ConstantContact provides all of these services included in the price.

But what truly separates ConstantContact from the crown is the visual automation application, which makes it easy to implement a customer journey through your processes.   Because automation triggers actions, tagging, and segmentation can get complex very quickly, the best approach is via visual representation of the processes.

Automated Resend To Non-Openers

This nice feature is also included in the basic package and allows you to resend an email with a tweaked subject heading to people who did not open the original email.  Not all service providers offer this functionality.

Constant Contact Reporting & Analytics

ConstantContact has a basic approach to reporting and analytics.  You will have the ability to analyze and improve your campaigns with reporting that allows you to compare open rates, undeliverable, unsubscribes clicks over time, and more.  Use can also seamlessly segment your list based on the responses or actions against your email.

Reporting List Growth & Clicks Over Time With ConstantContact -Video

[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]

Of course, you can also see list growth, unsubscribes, and even social shares.  Finally and importantly, A/B Testing, the ability to test the email performance with different subject lines and content, is included in the service.

Visit ConstantContact for a Free 60 Day Trial

 

Advanced Email Features

Is Constant Contact Falling Behind On Machine Learning?

We see a powerful trend in the industry towards machine learning to improve email services.  Take, for example, the excellent innovations by GetResponse, which enables you to target each individual contact with an email delivered at the usual time they open emails, so if your contact reads their emails at 6:30 am weekdays, the email will be delivered then, so it is at the top of the inbox.  You can also deliver the email at, for example, 9 am in every timezone; it is called “Time Travel” by GetResponse. ActiveCampaign and SendX also have similar functionality.

So the answer is yes; at this price point, I would expect ConstantContact to offer right time email deliverability & timezone-specific deliverability.

Surprisingly, not all email newsletter providers offer this service.  To view the other vendors offering this service, check out our Email Service Master Comparison Table.

Constant Contact RSS to Email

Email to RSS is a simple yet effective way to streamline the communication process with your audience.  You can set it up so that when you publish a new article on your website in a specific category, the email service will be notified and can build a customized email and send it to your audience without you having to do anything.  This is a huge timesaver.

Surprisingly, not all email newsletter providers offer this service.  To view the other vendors offering this service, check out our Email Service Master Comparison Table.

Constant Contact Email to Facebook

As with the RSS function, you can quickly and effectively integrate the Constant Contact mailing engine into Facebook.  Any broadcast email you set up can, with a single click, also send an update to a Facebook page.

Constant Contact Email to Twitter

A nice addition is the ability to send an automatic update to your Twitter profile from a broadcast message.  It is these little process improvement that saves time and effort.

Special Constant Contact Features – EMAIL Plus Tier

Constant Contact Special Features
Constant Contact Special Features

What I do like about the special feature set in Email Plus is that you have included:

  • Survey & Polls – are integrated natively and easy to use
  • You can easily set up and collect donations
  • Eventbrite Webinar Integration

However, these features are hardly unique and are available with GetResponse, or Ontraport.

ConstantContact’s Features for Enterprise & Ecommerce

ConstantContact is clearly not aiming at enterprise customers or replacing a fully-fledged Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Most email marketers do not really need this level of functionality. So if you are part of a larger team that needs CRM, you will want to consider GetResponse or OntraportGetResponse has a great price point and a complete set of features.

Multiple User Accounts & Collaboration

ConstantContact does allow you to host multiple accounts to enable better workflow and collaboration in the marketing department.  You can add different accounts with different permissions.

ConstantContact Integrations

ConstantContact does not have native payment processors or eCommerce functionality like GetResponse, but it does have a huge set of powerful integrations that enable this functionality.

ConstantContact’s strategy is not to build a completely integrated solution themselves but to build integrations to a select group of 3rd parties.  They have also created a marketplace for 3rd parties to develop integrations and sell them.  There are 460+ integrations, but many of them will cost extra, unlike almost all other marketing software services, which do not charge.

Security & Certifications

At this stage in the development of the internet, cybersecurity is of utmost importance.  High-profile data leaks and hacks result in large fines to businesses that do not adequately protect their customer’s data.

Email Service Provider Security Compliance Table

GDPR Compliant
SSL TLS Encryption
EU-US Privacy Shield

Ease of Use & Customer Ratings

Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.

Our rating on ease of use and design ☆☆☆☆
Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. ☆☆☆☆
Customer Twitter Sentiment Index ☆☆☆☆☆
Support (Chat, Email, Phone) Phone, Chat, Email
Support Times 14/5
Response Time Immediate
Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility ☆☆☆☆

 

Constant Contact does have a band of loyal followers, with great ratings on Trustpilot and Twitter.  Support times and response times are solid, with a very helpful support team.  Their selection of tutorial videos in the help center is excellent and will help you achieve most of what you want.  In our How to Choose The Best Marketing Software article, many small business owners liked constant contact.

ConstantContact Review Summary

ConstantContact excels in email deliverability and has many of the core email marketing services you will need as a small business. But those core features require the Email Plus service tier, and at this price point, it is missing some key features like time zone & smart deliverability based on user open times. Do not expect any meaningful CRM functions or payment gateways, but they do have a large set of “pay-for” integrations.

[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]

ConstantContact Email Marketing – Full Features Data Sheet

Email Service ProviderConstant Contact Email Services
Value for Money☆☆☆
Features☆☆☆
Deliverability☆☆☆☆
Ease of Use☆☆☆☆
Client Satisfaction☆☆☆☆☆
Support☆☆☆☆
Total Stars23
Price ModelContact
Free OptionNo
500 Contacts$17
2,500 Contacts$38
10,000 Contacts$81
25,000 Contacts$191
50,0000 Contacts$295
Unlimited Contacts
Cost per Contact (cents)0.82
Primary Features eMail
eMail Templates
eMail Images
Email Form Templates
Drag & Drop Email Design
Autoresponders
Marketing Automation
Individual Customer Automation
Customer Tagging & Segmentation
Intelligent Timing Delivery
Time Travel (Global 9am Delivery)
Basic Email Analytics
Powerful Email Analytics
A/B Testing
SPAM Scoring
Advanced Features
Webinar Integration
Hosting Webinar & Recording
Email from RSS Feeds
SMS Marketing
Postcard Mailing
Automatic Product Recommendations
Site Chat CRM Integration
Membership Site Service
Team / Enterprise Functions
Multiple User Accounts
Sales Team Lead Distribution
Salesforce Service Integration✔ (i)
Primary Features Funnels
Surveys/Polls
Sales/Lead Funnels
Landing Pages
Exit Popups
Primary Features Sales & Payments
eCommerce Integrations
Full Payment Gateways
Abandoned Cart Integration
Win Back / Bounce Back
Payment Mgt
Discount Coupons
Referral Program Mgt
CRM & Remarketing
CRM & Deal Management
Facebook Integration
Cross Platform Journey Tracking
Activity Scoring
Integrations
3rd Party Integrations456
Zapier App Integration
Deliverability☆☆☆☆
Security & Certifications
GDPR Compliant
SSL TLS Encryption
EU-US Privacy Shield
Ease of Use☆☆☆☆
Customer Satisfaction☆☆☆☆
Customer Twitter Sentiment☆☆☆☆☆
Support (Chat, Email, Phone)Phone, Chat, Email
Support Times14/6
Response TimeImmediate
Customer Support☆☆☆☆
Visit the VendorVisit ConstantContact
Constant Contact Email Marketing Services Data Sheet

How We Rated the Service

Email Service Provider Ratings Price Monthly (15-20% Discounts on Yearly Payments)
Value for Money Price Rating. Price Per 10,000 contacts
Features How Complete is the Toolset
Deliverability Email Deliverability ☆☆☆60% ☆☆☆☆80% ☆☆☆☆☆90% Deliverability Results from multiple sources.
Ease of Use Our rating on ease of use and design
Client Satisfaction Using Twitter Customer Sentiment: https://www.csc2.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/tweet_viz/tweet_app/ we rated the tweets about the service.
Support Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility
Price Model Entry Level/ Basic Package Prices – Per Contact Model = $ per ‘000 Contacts “unlimited Sends” or “Per Email Model per ‘000 email sends – Unlimited Contacts
Primary Features eMail
Email Templates Is there a broad selection of predesigned email templates?
Email Images Are images for emails available for free?
Email Form Templates Predesigned website ready templates for capturing new subscribers
Drag & Drop Email Design Easily design great looking emails without HTML code
Autoresponders Are timed and action-driven autoresponders available?
Marketing Automation Ability to automate sequences of emails to customers
Individual Customer Automation Automation to tailor and personalize email content
Customer Tagging & Segmentation Ability to Tag, Segment & retarget customers by their actions, locations, time zones
Intelligent Timing Delivery Service optimizes send times based on when the customer previously opened emails.
Time Travel (Global 9 am Delivery) The ability to target a specific time globally, e.g., delivery occurs at 9 am according to contacts time zone.
Basic Email Analytics Reporting to allow reporting on list size, growth, open rates, bounce rates, etc.
Powerful Email Analytics Ability to see globally and individually the customer journey, actions, onsite and in email
A/B Testing Multiple sends with different content to test success rate
SPAM Scoring Does the service check your content to make sure your messages are not flagged as SPAM?
Advanced Features
Webinar Integration Integrations Available for 3rd Party Webinar Services
Hosting Webinar & Recording Full Webinar Hosting, Recording & Storage Service
Email from RSS Feeds Can you generate automatic emails from your website RSS feed?
SMS Marketing Can you send SMS messages and sequence and auto-respond?
Automatic Product Recommendations Ability to insert product recommendations into emails – great for eCommerce businesses
Facebook Retargeting The ability to retarget potential customer on Facebook after they visit your website or signup to your list
Site Chat CRM Integration Integrated site chat which enables your contacts’ activities or requests to be added into your CRM or Marketing Automation for further sequencing
Membership Site Service Does the provider offer site membership user management services
Team / Enterprise Functions
Multiple User Accounts Adding multiple user or sub-user accounts so that you can collaborate with your team
Sales Team Lead Distribution Sales team workflow to distribute contact and sales lead capture.
Salesforce Service Integration
Primary Features Funnels
Surveys/Polls Is there an integrated survey & customer polling service included in the price?
Sales/Lead Funnels Ability to visualize sales funnels and the customer journey through the pipeline
Landing Pages Hosted pending pages integrated into your marketing automation
Exit Popups Advanced exit popup for your website available
Primary Features Sales & Payments
eCommerce Integrations Native full suite eCommerce integrations available
Full Payment Gateways Does the provider offer full turnkey payment gateways integrated into the service?
Abandoned Cart Integration Ability to follow up with customers who did not complete a purchase
Win Back / Bounce Back An effective solution for launching customer win-back campaigns
Payment Mgt
Discount Coupons Integrated discount or promotional coupon service-connected to payment gateways
Referral Program Mgt Can you manage your own referral/affiliate program through the service – normally an expensive 3rd party service?
CRM & Remarketing
CRM & Deal Management Is there an effective customer contact and relationship management system available?
Cross-Platform Journey Tracking The ability to track customers activities across different platforms, Website, Facebook, Email, SMS
Activity Scoring Functionality to allow the grading of contacts/prospects by their activities, e.g., Points Scoring
Integrations
3rd Party Integrations How many are 3rd party integrations available through the platform?
Zapier App Integration Zapier provides over 1500 integrations. Is Zapier available with this provider?
Deliverability Email Deliverability ☆☆☆60% ☆☆☆☆80% ☆☆☆☆☆90% Deliverability Results from multiple sources.
Security & Certifications
GDPR Compliant Compliant to the EU General Data Protection Regulations
SSL TLS Encryption The site uses strong encryption
EU-US Privacy Shield Certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Ease of Use Our rating on ease of use and design
Customer Satisfaction Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. Blank means no ratings were available.
Customer Twitter Sentiment Using https://www.csc2.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/tweet_viz/tweet_app/, we rated the tweets about the service.
Customer Support Support (Chat, Email, Phone)
Support Times
Response Time
Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility

 

Barry D. Moore
Barry's 25 years of experience with Silicon Valley Corporations such as IBM, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Hewlett Packard Enterprise & DXC Technology enables him to share his knowledge of succeeding in today's professional corporate environments and develop a great work life for yourself.