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As a blogger, you’ll need a way to grow, communicate, and market to your audience. That’s where an email marketing platform comes into play. There are literally hundreds to choose from and, as a new blogger, it can be somewhat confusing.

For example, in my video tutorials I use MailChimp, on my personal blog I use AWeber (affiliate link), and for this post, I’m reviewing Constant Contact (affiliate link). So, why the diversity? Well, I feel that it’s important to try and test multiple products so that you can decide which one is best for you and your blog.

I should also point out that I’m an affiliate for all three of those email providers and have personal experience with each one. They’re all great products and, in the end, you should pick the platform that fits your budget and meets your needs.

Constant Contact Features

Alright, with that being said, let’s dive into Constant Contact and take a closer look at what this email marketing platform offers.

Customized Email Templates

When I first started blogging and building my email list, one of the biggest hurdles I faced was creating professional looking emails. Thankfully, most email platforms now offer pre-made email templates.

Constant Contact offers responsive and professionally designed email templates (affiliate link) that automatically adjust in size depending on if it’s being viewed on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This is huge because having a responsive experience is pretty much mandatory nowadays.

Additionally, the responsive email editor delivers an intuitive, drag-and-drop experience and super easy-to-use editing tools:

• Powerful undo/redo that remembers ALL edits.
• Smart columns that automatically adjust to new images, text, and buttons.
• Seamless functionality that makes it easy to resize columns.
• Image library that enables you to access and store images.
• A wide range of colors, fonts, dividers, borders, backgrounds, and more.

Having the ability to create professional looking emails with premade templates not only serves your email marketing strategy, but it also helps with brand recognition. Constant Contact makes it easy to customize the email templates so that they look like the blog and brand your visitors know.

Autoresponder

The Constant Contact autoresponder (affiliate link) is another key feature that lets you send the right emails at the right time. Autoresponder is an easy-to-use marketing automation tool that lets you target and send a series of personalized emails to your subscribers.

For example, with the autoresponder, you can send a welcome email to new subscribers, set up an email series for similar subscribers, and even segment contacts based on the content they click to create more targeted lists and send more relevant emails.

The autoresponder feature really gives you the ability to target your subscribers and create email campaigns based off of their needs, wants, and desires. This is just another way to help you build a relationship with your subscribers and expand on the level of trust they have for you and your blog.

The only downside to this feature is that it isn’t included in the entry plan, but all in all the Constant Contact autoresponder is an awesome element of the platform.

Tracking Tools

Another key component to email marketing is tracking and reporting on your efforts and results. Doing so allows you to fine-tune your marketing strategy so that your email campaigns are effective.

The tracking tools (affiliate link) report on who's opening, clicking, and sharing your emails and social posts, so you can plan your next steps. Here’s a quick look at what’s included in Constant Contact’s tracking tools:

• Engagement report
• Compare campaigns
• Click-tracking heat map (so cool)
• Click segmentation
• Mobile open rate
• Constant Contact app (track on the go)

Pricing

So what does this cost? Well, the good news is that Constant Contact offers very competitive pricing as well as a 60-day free trial and a 30-day money back guarantee. So, you can test drive the platform and get your money back if you decide it isn’t for you.

The price of each plan is based on your email list size. Additionally, there are two types of plans. There’s the Email plan and the Email Plus plan. Each plan varies in features, but they both offer some great tools for email marketing. Here’s a quick breakdown of the prices:

• Free 60-day trial
• Two types of plans (Email and Email Plus)
• Price is based on list size
• Email Plan starts at $20/month (0-500 subscribers)
• Email Plus Plan starts at $45/month (0-500 subscribers)
• 30-day money back guarantee

The only downside to the pricing plans (affiliate link), in my opinion, is that the autoresponder feature isn’t included in the Email plan. You have to purchase the Email Plus plan to access the autoresponder (but it’s worth it). Other than that, the pricing is relatively similar to other email platforms in the market.

Professional Services

One thing that sets Constant Contact apart from other email marketing platforms is the professional services (affiliate link) they offer. Their marketing consultants work with you to plan and execute an effective email marketing strategy and can either help you get started or work with you on a recurring basis.

These are paid features, but if you have the budget for it I highly recommend looking into it. In addition to the strategy and planning, Constant Contact also offers some additional services to help your email marketing strategy deliver results:

• Animated Template Pack
• Professional Design
• Branded Footer
• Campaign Copy
• List Growth

The fact that Constant Contact even offers professional services should be an immense comfort to anyone who is just starting out with email marketing. Yes, it is a paid service, but based off of their experience in the industry and services offered, I think it’s well worth it.

Wrapping Up

In my opinion, Constant Contact is an exceptional email marketing platform that offers a ton of value at a competitive price. The email templates, list migration, tracking tools, and autoresponder are all professional tools that can help you grow your list and drive results. I honestly think new bloggers could gain a ton of value from using this platform.

In the end, your email marketing strategy should match your budget and your blog. Hopefully, this post shed some light on what Constant Contact can do for you and your blog’s growth. I recommend trying it out for 60 days to see if it’s a good fit. Give it a spin and leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what you think!