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We’ve seen some great questions coming in about the Courses tab, so let’s clear things up and make sure you’re getting the most out of it. The Courses Tab is Your Gateway to the Academy The Courses tab is directly connected to our Academy. When you browse courses here, you are accessing the full Academy experience from within the community. Everything is designed to give you easy access to learning in one place. Why You See All Course Levels You may notice you now have access to beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses, even if you are already experienced. This is intentional so everyone has access to all levels, no matter where they are in their journey. You can revisit the fundamentals through beginner courses, use them to train new team members, fill in knowledge gaps, or explore strategies from a different perspective. Think of it as a full learning library rather than content limited to your current level. Sharing Courses with Your Team We’ve also heard that some of you would like to share these resources with customers or team members. The best part? You can do that. All courses live inside the Academy, which means you can share direct links to specific courses, recommend content to your team and use courses as onboarding resources. If you are ever looking for a specific link, you can go directly to the Academy or reach out and we can help. How to Get Started Go to the Courses tab OR the Academy Browse or search for a topic Click into a course and start learning We are excited to bring the Academy into your community experience, and we will continue adding more courses over time. If you have questions or feedback, leave a comment and let us know. 5As small business owners move into 2026, the prevailing strategy is one of forward momentum: confronting economic uncertainty with calculated action, not cautious retreat. While inflation remains a primary concern, recent data shows a dynamic group of entrepreneurs refusing widespread cutbacks. To learn more download our Small Business Now Report. Instead of scaling down, small business leaders are prioritizing a significant resource commitment, especially to marketing. The aim is a strategic shift towards "newer and more efficient" operational methods, seen not as optional but as essential for growth in a competitive market. 4Our development teams have been hard at work incorporating customer feedback to streamline and enhance your Constant Contact experience. Here’s a peek at what’s in the works, as well as a deeper look into recent feature upgrades. 💬 We hear you: A huge thanks to all of our customers who've provided us feedback. We'll continue to prioritize your requests, as it directly guides these enhancements, as well as overall product performance. ✉️ Better email building: You can now customize more email details — like padding, borders, and spacing. We’re also working to make controls more consistent across the email editor. 🎨 A more seamless Canva integration: More easily access Canva while building your emails, so you can do more in just one platform. 🌐 Safari Users — You’re Good to Go We’ve rolled out performance fixes for Safari users to keep things running faster and smoother. What’s new — and improved! Now Available: TikTok TikTok users can now post from Constant Contact, just like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Desktop users of Constant Contact can find out here how to connect their TikTok accounts and get posting. Fresh Email Templates From holiday to industries, new templates are being added all the time. Just navigate to “Emails” in your account and click the + Create an email button. Browse our newest and most popular templates by selecting “Featured.” We’re continually prioritizing industries for updated templates, so keep an eye out for yours. How to select an email template Bot Click Filtering If you're seeing an inflated click rate compared to similar emails, or notice that a contact has clicked on multiple links at the same time, your email may be experiencing bot clicks from email security programs. Read more on these non-human interactions, and find out how you can enable this specific filtering for your emails. Refreshed Reporting Inspired by your feedback, social reporting has a fresh look. We’ve also consolidated metrics and standardized the terminology to minimize confusion and allow you to focus on the metrics that matter most for growth. For email, enjoy new visualzations for better insight into the performance of individual emails. And use the new heatmap to find out what content gets the most traction with your audience. Customize Your Multi-Channel Campaigns For users of multi-channel campaigns, the new “Channel Manager” on the right side of the editor streamlines your ability to switch between the various channels of a campaign — like email, social, and SMS — and add/remove campaigns or channels. And the “Multi-channel” tab under “Campaigns” gives you a convenient place to reorganize your campaigns. If you haven’t yet tried Campaign Builder, to automatically generate a campaign for achieving your specific marketing goal in multiple ways, watch this video on how it works. UTM Tracking If you’re using a website analytics tool, like Google Analytics, you can now add UTM parameters to links in emails or SMS messages, allowing you to take your reporting to the next level. Check out this tutorial for a list of compatible campaign types and steps to enable this feature. More Custom Automations The new date-based option in the Automation Path Builder allows you the flexibility to create triggers from many interactions, like event marketing, service reminders, or contract renewals. There are other new powerful ways you can automate your campaigns, explore them in detail here. 🎁 Visit the Holiday Hub! For marketing that lights up any room, be sure to visit our holiday hub. You’ll get all the tools, tips, and festive templates you’ll need for glowing results this holiday season. We’re also hosting a free session on November 13. Save your spot to find out how to promote your business, save time, and hit your goals during the holiday season and beyond. 4We’re thrilled to announce that our strategic integration with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® is now fully available to all social impact organizations! This collaboration brings Constant Contact’s powerful, AI-driven digital marketing platform directly into your fundraising workflow to help you connect with supporters more effectively than ever. By combining Blackbaud’s leading fundraising insights with our intuitive marketing tools, you can spend less time on manual data entry and more time on your mission. What benefits can you expect? Seamless 2-Way Synchronization: Your constituents automatically sync from Blackbaud to Constant Contact. Updates to gift summaries and communication history appear in real-time, while full list syncs happen daily (overnight). Holistic Donor Insights: Use donor data from Blackbaud to create custom segments in Constant Contact. Target "Lapsed Donors" or "High-Wealth Prospects" with messages tailored to their history. AI-Powered Personalization: Use our AI Content Generator to turn a few prompts into a complete fundraising campaign—including emails, social posts, and SMS alerts—in minutes. Multichannel Impact: Beyond email, you can now reach donors where they are. With SMS for Nonprofits, you can send urgent giving appeals or event reminders directly to a supporter's phone. How to Get Started Setting up the connection is simple and can be initiated directly from your Blackbaud environment: Authorize the App: Log in to your Blackbaud NXT account. From the top-left menu, select Raiser's Edge NXT > Communications > Overview. Under "Related Links," click Connect Constant Contact. Map Your Data: On the "Map your data" screen, you can choose from 55 predefined constituent fields. Standard fields map automatically, but you can use the Add new field dropdown to map specific data points like "Last Gift Amount" or "Constituent Code." Manage Consent: For organizations with complex needs, use Blackbaud Consent Categories to ensure your newsletters, event invites, and appeals each respect the donor's specific opt-in preferences. Track Results in Real-Time: Once your emails are sent, use the Constituent Engagement Add-In inside Blackbaud to see the last 100 engagement activities (opens, clicks) directly on a donor’s record. Level Up Your Impact Once you’re connected, don’t stop at one-off emails. Use the Automation Path Builder to create "Welcome Journeys" for new donors or "Thank You" sequences that trigger automatically after a gift is logged in Raiser's Edge. We’re confident that this partnership will revolutionize your digital engagement strategy. Ready to dive in? Learn more about the connection process here. 5Summer is right around the corner, but while spring lasts a few more days, we're excited to highlight recent product updates. These updates are designed to make managing your contacts, sending personalized messages, and perfecting your email campaigns easier than ever. Check out the fresh, new Contacts Reporting page, enhanced SMS personalization, and much more! Contacts Reporting The new Contacts Reporting page offers a simple and visual way to understand how your customer base is growing. By showing you where new contacts are coming from and why some might leave, it helps you learn what's working and what's not, so you can focus your efforts and make smarter decisions about reaching your audience. Explore reporting with this video SMS Dynamic Contact Variables Users can now personalize SMS messages far beyond just first names, with access to over 40 new data tags pulled directly from contact records. This enhancement allows for deeper, more relevant connections with SMS subscribers who value a personalized experience. Discover more about variable SMS tags Enhanced Contacts Management The new contact experience helps you stay organized and work faster by letting you customize how you see your contacts, edit their information instantly, and quickly preview details without interrupting your workflow. Plus, you can now easily update lists and tags for many contacts at once, making it simpler to group your audience for more personalized marketing. Explore with this video Link in Bio templates Four new, ready-to-use templates are specifically designed to be linked in your social media profiles. These “Link in Bio” templates make it simple for your social media followers to easily find more of your online content and join your email list. Watch this 1-min video walkthrough Improved inbox preview The updated Inbox Preview feature lets you see exactly how your emails will appear in many more apps, like Yahoo and Microsoft Office and across various mobile platforms. Plus, you can now do this check 25 times a month, up from just 5, helping ensure your emails look perfect for everyone. See how Inbox Preview works What new or improved feature are you most excited to try, if you haven't adopted it already? If you have, tell us what you think in the comments! 8Kick off 2025 with some serious marketing muscle! Our latest product updates are designed to make your life easier and your audience bigger. From streamlined tools to a personalized experience, we’ve got you covered. Check out the latest updates! Engage your social audience with video Boost your social posts with short videos Easily upload your videos to social media using Constant Contact and watch the likes, comments, and shares roll in! Share it across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn all at once. No more juggling multiple logins, just pure engagement magic! Gauge your audience sentiments Let your audience speak up and show how they feel With our new visual rating scales, you can easily ask customers how they feel about your product, service, or statement. It’s now part of the feedback block in the email editor, alongside surveys and polls. Get the insights you need in a fun, interactive way. Grow your list Turn social followers into marketable contacts Now in beta and accessible to all users, our latest list growth tool — Lead Magnet — lets you design a fun, interactive survey that draws attention. With the help of AI, you can create a lead magnet in under two minutes and turn casual followers into marketable contacts. You’ll receive a notification the moment a new contact joins your list. Find the tools you need to grow your audience Head over to the new Audience Growth Center to explore new ways to expand your reach, capture new contacts and nurture your new subscribers. Everything you need to know to take your first steps is presented in one place. Manage your contacts with more flexibility No email, no problem Instantly connect with your audience through text messaging with our SMS marketing feature, available for US users. No email? No problem With our latest update, just a contact name and phone number is all you need to create a contact record! Effortless contact management with unlimited fields Quickly add and organize multiple contacts with an intuitive, modern layout. Enjoy unlimited fields, including one for managing SMS marketing subscribers. Save time, reduce errors, and enhance targeting for better results. Quickly review contact activity Enjoy a cleaner, more organized Contact Activity Page with a modernized layout for easier navigation. While functionality stays the same, the new status column lets you quickly spot recent activity. Keep those MS Dynamics leads in sync Customers using Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Sales teams can now integrate to schedule a one-way sync of contacts and leads. Customers can confidently market to their pipeline using Constant Contact knowing that their lead lists are up-to-date. More personalized user experience New dashboard for smarter, easier marketing! Jumpstart your marketing with a sleek, redesigned dashboard tailored to your goals. Get clear next steps with personalized content and enjoy effortless navigation with the new left-side menu. Campaign Builder: Easier, Faster, Done! Campaign Builder just got smarter! Enjoy better prompts to get started, a smoother workflow, and a live preview — all in one place. Need help? Mobile app users can now schedule a call Pick a time that works for you and connect with a Constant Contact rep — right from the app, thanks to our new Calendly integration. Support made easy! Do more with automations Seamlessly import html emails for new automations Easily import HTML email templates from other platforms when creating new automations. With a more compatible workflow, you can keep your branding consistent and simplify onboarding with less hassle! Missing out on automations? Try them free for 30 days! If your plan doesn’t include automations, now you can test them free for 30 days. Build powerful workflows with advanced triggers, custom paths, SMS sends (in US), and more. Love it? Upgrade to Premium within 30 days to keep it going. Manage your accounts more effectively Automation sharing: Build once, use everywhere No more manually recreating automation flows. With Automation Sharing, you can create automation paths once and easily share them across your sub-accounts. Save time, reduce errors, and streamline your workflows! Dynamic images for central send: Personalized at scale Send large-scale communications with local flare. Now, dynamic images and logos let you tailor messages to each sub-account’s unique audience or brand—effortlessly. Solving unique event needs New flexibilities when setting up event registration forms Not every field in your registration form needs to be required. As an event host, you can now choose which fields are mandatory based on ticket type. This allows you to collect the right information—whether from the person completing the form or the actual ticket holder. Simplifying the ticket selection process Ensure registrants select only one ticket type from multiple options. You can also mark a ticket as required to prevent registrants from skipping out on your primary entry ticket. Re-use an existing email as an invitation Need to follow up with those who haven’t responded to your invitation? Now you can copy any previously sent emails within your account, saving time and effort—no need to start from scratch! 5Community Roundup is a monthly roundup of some of the notable articles and user activity in the last month. Welcome to our monthly "What You May Have Missed" roundup! In this post, I’ll highlight some of the top articles and posts that you might have missed on the Constant Contact Community in the last month. Whether you're a small business owner, nonprofit professional, or marketing enthusiast, we've got valuable insights and discussions to share. So, let's dive in and catch up on the latest happenings! Community Blog: Hit the Ground Running with Automation Templates Automate Your Customer Messaging with Automation Path Builder Strategies for Small Businesses to Diversify and Thrive Constant Tips: Constant Tips: How to recover a deleted campaign Constant Tips: Restore a list on a landing page that was deleted On-Demand Webinars: Chart Your Course to Capture Leads and Own Your Contacts Questions & Discussions (Marked Solved) Delete a contact from your account Fully justify (edge to edge) last line of a paragraph I hope you found these articles and posts informative and valuable! Check back next month for more great shenanigans on the Community! Stay tuned for exciting updates, discussions, and valuable insights. Happy reading and happy marketing! 0Community Roundup is a monthly roundup of some of the notable articles and user activity in the last month. Community Blog: How to Create Images of Multi-Page PDFs for Sending In Your Emails The Power of Direct Subscriber Feedback: Measuring Customer Satisfaction How to Navigate Image Folder Overload January Holidays and Newsletter Ideas — 2025 How to Add Bluesky to a Social Block in an Email Constant Tips: Constant Tips: MFA, or How I Learned to Love Account Security Constant Tips: On the go? Don't forget to use the Constant Contact mobile app! On-Demand Webinars: Ask Us Anything: Your Digital Marketing Questions Answered I trust that you have found these articles and posts to be both informative and valuable. Make sure to return next month for even more fantastic content on the Community! Keep an eye out for thrilling updates, engaging discussions, and valuable perspectives. Enjoy your reading and happy marketing! 1Community Roundup is a monthly roundup of some of the notable articles and user activity in the last month. Welcome to our monthly "What You May Have Missed" roundup! In this post, I’ll highlight some of the top articles and posts that you might have missed on the Constant Contact Community in the last month. Whether you're a small business owner, nonprofit professional, or marketing enthusiast, we've got valuable insights and discussions to share. So, let's dive in and catch up on the latest happenings! If you're in the U.S. you just made it through Thanksgiving and presumably for all over the world, survived another Black Friday. And today is Giving Tuesday! So, don't forget to look at one of the causes near and dear and throw some support their way! Campaign Feedback Cookie Swap: Share your marketing recipes to sleigh this holiday season Community Blog: The Unintentional Humor of Spam Emails December Holidays and Newsletter Ideas — 2024 Constant Tips: Constant Tips: Resources for designing and sending amazing emails Constant Tips: Responses Wanted - Help shape the future of Constant Tips! Constant Tips: Make sure your online audience can find you on social media Constant Tips: Get Stuffed with Tips! On-Demand Webinars & Upcoming Webinars: Ask Us Anything: Your Digital Marketing Questions Answered 'Tis the Season for Last-Minute Holiday Marketing Questions & Discussions Email Responses Website sign-up form Update Not Publishing? Error in Scheduling Help Needed: Outgoing Emails Going to Junk Folder I hope you found these articles and posts informative and valuable! Check back next month for more great shenanigans on the Community! Stay tuned for exciting updates, discussions, and valuable insights. Happy reading and happy marketing! 1Community Roundup is a monthly roundup of some of the notable articles and user activity in the last month. Welcome to our monthly "What You May Have Missed" roundup! In this post, I’ll highlight some of the top articles and posts that you might have missed on the Constant Contact Community in the last month. Whether you're a small business owner, nonprofit professional, or marketing enthusiast, we've got valuable insights and discussions to share. So, let's dive in and catch up on the latest happenings! Community Blog: De-Stress and Redirect with These Silver Lining Resources Meet the Community Team: William_A November Holidays and Newsletter Ideas - 2024 Small Business Now: How the Economy is Impacting the Holiday Season Designing for Impact: Email Structures for Retail Captivate Your Audience with Animated Templates Designing for Impact: Email Structures for E-Commerce Constant Tips: Constant Tips: Use Sections to Build Your Email Campaigns Constant Tips: Did you know you can download your email as a PDF? Constant Contact: Use this worksheet to organize your multi-channel marketing plans News and Announcements What's New in Constant Contact: Fall 2024 On-Demand Webinars & Upcoming Webinars: Engage and Convert: The Email and Social Media Power Play Questions & Discussions How to start online marketing for a small business? What are the most effective tools for building an email list from scratch? What to include in an event follow-up email I'm looking for email marketing examples that work well for small businesses. What are some innovative strategies for personalizing content in email campaigns? Provide examples of 'Happy Holidays' email templates I hope you found these articles and posts informative and valuable! Check back next month for more great shenanigans on the Community! Stay tuned for exciting updates, discussions, and valuable insights. Happy reading and happy marketing! 0We know that this year, small businesses like yours are facing challenges like inflation and potential economic instability going into the holiday season. It’s an important time for many businesses, especially in retail and ecommerce, so it’s important to have all the information at hand to navigate these challenges and make the most of the opportunities the holiday season presents. To help with said navigation, we've conducted a study, surveying over 1,600 small businesses and 3,000 consumers across Australia, Canada, the UK, and the U.S. Our Small Business Now report identifies the biggest holiday season challenges and provides practical marketing strategies to connect with customers and mitigate inflation. Inflation Adaptation Inflation impacts businesses and customers alike, making pricing a hot holiday topic. While many businesses are trying to balance raising prices and cutting expenses, they can't afford to lose sight of retaining their customers, as well. Here’s what customers and businesses are saying about inflation and spending: 89% of SMBs are affected by inflation. 52% of consumers have reduced spending at small businesses. 46% of SMBs have cut expenses, and 39% have raised prices. 62% of consumers consider price the deciding factor for holiday shopping. With SMBs and consumers feeling the pinch, it makes it more important than ever to emphasize the quality of what is being presented to consumers. If we expect consumers to loosen their purse strings, you'll have to consider ways to make sure your marketing is not only engaging, but also clearly demonstrates why your product or service is worth it. See how: Re-engage lapsed customers with winback campaigns Insert videos into your campaign that highlight customer testimonials Integrate with Shopify to streamline reporting and automate reminders for shoppers Santa, can I have more time this holiday season? Many SMBs depend on the holiday rush to get their revenue over the goal line, but find the marketing side of things challenging due to resources– both time and money. For example: 65% of SMBs struggle with budget or time management in Q4. 79% are unsure if their 2023 holiday marketing strategy was successful. 20% have no way to measure holiday marketing impact. We understand that your time is incredibly valuable. When you're balancing numerous tasks, it's crucial to ease your workload through automation. Moreover, while there are countless channels to explore, hone in on one or two that resonate most with your business, such as email marketing and social media. By monitoring your campaign analytics (or reporting dashboard), you can more easily see what's working and what's not so you know what to do in the future. See how: Integrate your email marketing with social media Work smarter and save time using marketing automation Interpret your email reporting to inform new strategies Every Little Bit Counts This holiday season, SMBs are prioritizing efficiency and small, strategic changes over complete overhauls. Top plans include: Improving efficiency (35%) Offering special promotions/discounts (28%) Creating a clear marketing strategy (26%) With 78% of consumers planning to shop at new small businesses, customer acquisition is key. SMBs find social media and email marketing most effective (51%). The most impactful strategic shift you can make to save time and achieve results is to embrace AI tools like the AI Content Generator or Campaign Builder to help give your marketing a starting point. Constant Contact takes the reins, analyzing your marketing needs and creating a comprehensive, multi-channel marketing plan. This includes determining the optimal number of emails, social media posts, and events, as well as the best dates to maximize their impact. See how: Use the Content Generator to write email, landing page, social, and SMS content for you Automatically generate a marketing campaign based on your goals Get started with the Automation Path Builder In conclusion The 2024 holidays might bring inflation and economic uncertainty, but small businesses can still prosper. Start your planning early, and take advantage of multiple marketing channels like email, social media and SMS. This can help you to create a strategy that not only engages your loyal base, but also attracts new customers. Leverage automation and AI tools to save time and streamline your efforts, allowing you to focus on what truly matters. 0What’s New in Constant Contact! We know you're juggling a lot, so we're constantly devising new ways to take the stress out of marketing. Check out our list of recent feature updates below! Making email easier Quickly pick the template you need Email templates are now easier to select, with options that match your brand's style or are specific to your industry. You can also view templates you've recently used or that match the season. Quickly glance at the selection curated for you, and choose the perfect template in just a few clicks. Improved drag and drop functionality with sections Sections are full-width structures that allow users to group content in an email. By grouping blocks and layouts in a section, users can apply more styles to multiple blocks at once or, move the section around their template with one click. Enhancing social, SMS and event capabilities Let AI assist you with your next social post Stop staring at the screen wondering what to write when you can use AI to create engaging social content. It’s just a few clicks! Allow our AI tool to summarize the content of your last email and suddenly you have an engaging caption for your social post. Or, type in a few words and create a stand-alone post when you click “Write with AI.” Choose from three captions or tweak what you see to get your message just right. Pick up where left off when registering for SMS Engage your customers instantly with SMS marketing, reaching them directly on their mobile devices. Add SMS to your account, and upon registration you’ll receive a dedicated sending number. As you register, your progress is now saved so that you can pause and come back if you need to. Post your event on your website Hosting an event? Post your event details on your website to reach a bigger audience and boost registration and attendance rates. Just add a "Attend my events" HTML widget to your website and your visitors will see a dynamic list of your upcoming events. Digital Wallet support for events Event registrants can now pay for their tickets using Apple Pay and Google Pay. This convenient payment process allows customers to complete their transactions quickly with just a few clicks. Grow your list with sign-up tools created for you We've built a sign-up landing page and 3-step automated welcome series for all our new Constant Contact customers. Just review what we've built, add your personal touch, and you'll be ready to capture new contacts in no time! Improving the mobile app experience Access your tools faster in the mobile app A new home screen design gets you to where you need to go faster. Build an email, add contacts, or connect a social account with minimal clicks. Scroll down to check the performance of your recent campaigns. Have questions? Quickly connect with a Constant Contact specialists by calling us directly - from the app! More control when editing email in the mobile app Are you a mobile user who's constantly jumping from one task to the next? You'll love our new autosave feature. And, as you fine tune your content, you'll enjoy more flexibility and control with easy undo and redo functions. More ways to advance your skills Uncover proven strategies from your peers Get inspired with our new Community Coaches program. Learn from your peers, as they share actionable strategies and share innovative ways to elevate your marketing with Constant Contact. 1