Top 7 Alternatives to Constant Contact

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Constant Contact, it is one of the leaders in e-mail marketing services. They allow small businesses to create and manage e-mail lists and professional looking newsletters. The site boasts to have serviced over 130,000 customers (Update: As of June 2009, they've almost doubled to 250,000 customers). The company went public earlier this month and nearly doubled its offering price on the first day.

We use the service ourselves at Team and a Dream and are extremely satisfied with it (Click on the banner above for a free 60-day trail). However, I wondered what other companies offered the same service after I heard about the IPO. After talking to some of our clients and browsing through the web, I’ve compiled a list of seven alternatives to Constant Contact (in no particular order).

1. iContact – In addition to creating, sending and tracking e-mail newsletters, you can also create and send surveys, blogs, and RSS feeds. Prices start at $9.95 a month. This service charges you on the number of contacts you have - not the number of e-mails sent or a flat fee basis. They also offer a 20% discount to non-profits. The service recently won the Web 2.0 Award for "Best Marketing Application."
2. Zookoda – This site is exclusively for bloggers that want to e-mail posts to readers on a periodic basis. They offer template customization and scheduled recurring e-mails. In addition, they also offer deep reporting features to see what’s being read, clicked on, etc. The service is free and the company was recently acquired by PayPerPost.
3. Newsberry – Another e-mail campaign service that allows you to create your e-mail, send it to your list, and track the results. The difference is that they offer a pay as you go model based on the number of e-mails – not a monthly subscription like Constant Contact.
4. ReachMail – The company services small businesses in addition to large enterprises. They also offer XML integration to keep your e-mails frequent and streamlined.
5. ennectMail – Also has a pay as you go model, charging five cents per e-mail. A unique feature I noticed here is what they call “HotPlots.” This shows you who your hottest prospects are, how well your e-mails are working, as well as your contacts participation over time.
6. MailerMailer – Offer a range of packages from free - where you can send 200 e-mail messages a month - to platinum for $349.95, where you can send up to 500,000 e-mails.
7. Emma – This company is praised for their customer service as well as their intuitive features. Their service includes custom designs, which are available for a fee. It is also the only site I’ve seen that charges a one-time setup fee of $250. Update: Emma is offering special startup pricing. Click here for more details.

If you’ve encountered or use a service we haven’t mentioned, please share your experiences with us by adding a comment below.

By: Yasmine

Comments

[Dave Delaney]

Hi Skip:
Thanks very much for the link love. If you'd like to learn more about Emma please shoot me an email. Feel free to drop by our nifty blog if you like, we'd love to have ya. www.myemma.com/blog

Cheers,
Dave

[Sam Freedom]

The one thing that would REALLY help any business owner who wanted to SWITCH services is knowing what is each company's "first time import" policy.

There's just no way in heck I'm transferring over to any company no matter what their deliverability rate if it's going to crush my business with a RESUBSCRIBE policy.

I understand THEIR concerns but they don't trump mine as a marketer who knows ALL TOO WELL the reading habits of most people. Sure, each one has their DIE-HARD fans who read every last email that comes their way.

But there are way more who subscribe to a newsletter just to stay IN THE LOOP and sometimes they check out ever 4th or 5th email. And they might never get that new FIRST email.

I had one company tell me to keep steady dripping the old list with mentions of the new list. Well, the problem with that is what if the reason one is leaving the OLD company is because their delivery rates were dismal?

So the only choices, it seems, are between staying with a DISMAL deliverability rate AND moving to a new company whose resubscribe policy will have you losing a LOT of hard-earned readers.

That's why I suggest to each company reading this to consider SOME kind of process by which a prospective client can be individually evaluated if requested. I have many good referrals and have been in a large family owned business for 30 years but I, along with everyone else, am regarded in the same light as a SPAMMER when I want to transfer my readership to a new service.

Something about that doesn't seem right.

Regards,
Sam Freedom

[Steven]

Hi,

Just thought you'd like to know about Contactology. We get a lot of folks who are looking for an alternative to Constant Contact signing up with us. We offer personalized service and a unique feature called EasyCast which lets users send their emails using Outlook. Thanks!

[Amanda Fier]

Another good thing to know about these programs is if it matters at all whether you're a PC or Mac user... All in all, however, this is a very helpful little write-up. Thank you.

[Jeff Paul Scam]

since I became a big IT freak. I started internet marketing for the last four months and still looking for material that can help my marketing.

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great article... thanks!

[chris]

Great post on alternatives for email marketing

[nino]

My gratitude as well ;)

[Accounting Tutor]

Any feedback from other users on the quality/value of the alternatives. About ready to sign up with Constant Contact but want to make sure that I am making the right decision.

[Translation Company]

We are also looking at Constant contact. Any other advice from users of the software?

[Yasmine]

I'm most familiar with Constant Contact and iContact. Constant Contact is a bit clunky and the interface could be nicer but it works pretty well depending on the features you need. iContact is a bit more user-friendly but it's hard to guage if it's right for you without knowing what features you need. Both offer a free trial if you want to give them a test run though.

Hope that helps!

Yasmine

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I'm most familiar with Constant Contact and iContact. Constant Contact is a bit clunky and the interface could be nicer but it works pretty well depending on the features you need.

[Heather]

Thanks for the great review points on email marketing providers. We just submitted the company I work with,RatePoint, for you to review. RatePoint’s easy-to-use, Web-based communication services include feedback tools, email marketing, survey and dispute resolution capabilities to provide businesses with the ability to collect, manage and promote customer feedback directly. Would love to hear your feedback.

[Smirnof]

Here's a service used by a client of mine, with good features, pricing, and track record:

www.mailermailer.com

Hope that helps,
Matt

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Nice post guys keep em coming