I had the pleasure of speaking with Tracey Johns, the Vice President of Communications for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The museum is located in St. Michaels, Maryland and the organization was a 2017 recipient of the Constant Contact All-Star Award. The All-Star Award is granted to the top 10 percent of Constant Contact users who met a set of criteria for email marketing excellence in the previous year.   Constant Contact: For readers who might not be aware of, what is the mission statement of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum?   Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum: The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and culture of the entire Chesapeake Bay region, and making this resource available to all.    CTCT: How important is marketing for the museum?   CBMM: Marketing is extremely important to CBMM and fulfilling our mission. We are a destination, a history museum, a full shipyard, a wedding venue, a boat donation and sales business, and a retail store, on top of being an educational institution and museum. So we have a lot of goals that must be met. CBMM's earned, owned, and paid media help us to sustain and grow the museum, and its education programs in particular. We have numerous constituents to communicate with.   CTCT: What other channels are important to your marketing efforts?   CBMM: All owned, paid, and earned channels are important, but especially in how we interpret the museum from a photographer, writer, or videographer perspective. Our YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr channels show journalists how we translate into their medium, and goes beyond our forever needs to attracting and retaining members, donors and guests to CBMM. Also, our business listings on Google have seen incredible growth in audience over the past year, and we are dedicating resources to post on these sites and more. Their analytics are awesome also.   CTCT: What is your strategy for email marketing?   CBMM: Email marketing is a critical component of our communications strategy. It's how we launch much of the promotions regarding our programs, festivals, and other important news. Because people can sign up on our website or on their mobile, it's also easy to grow the audience. We send a member newsletter out each Monday through Constant Contact, and monitor our click-thru rates, which are consistently above industry rates, which is another plug for Constant Contact because you help clients benchmark their efforts in this way. We also have several departments with dedicated email communication efforts, specifically for Education, Volunteering, Charity Boat Donation, and Member news. Recently, the most engaging articles in our Navy Point News general newsletter have been earned media stories from major publications that are shared via hyperlinks.   CTCT: How has it benefited your organization?   CBMM: We are able to meet and exceed our earned revenue and donor revenue while growing our education, collections, and Shipyard programs. Also, CC created a template for us that is mobile responsive and matches our website look and feel. A win!   CTCT: What is your advice for someone just starting in email marketing?   CBMM: Make sure you are using a mobile/tablet friendly template, check all your hyperlinks with text and make sure you add descriptions for ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance and monitor your click-thru rates and effectiveness using CC's reporting tools.   CTCT: What does winning a Constant Contact All-Star recognition mean for the museum?   CBMM: We feel this award helps quantify how effectively we are using email marketing and legitimizes excellence in our work in this area. One of our values is Stewardship (see below) , and that means being good stewards of our financial resources, which includes our annual investment in using Constant Contact for communications and making sure we leverage that asset to the best of our capabilities. VALUES   Relevance We provide meaningful and accessible experiences to all of our communities and constituencies. Authenticity We seek to represent genuinely the people and cultures whose stories we preserve and tell. Stewardship We value the priceless assets entrusted to us and accept their preservation and enhancement as our paramount responsibility—our collections, our campus and facilities, our financial resources—and we support the volunteers and staff who perform our Mission and make CBMM the rich enterprise it is. -- A big thank you to Tracey for taking the time to talk with us and share their All-Star experience with their fellow Constant Contact customers! If you’re an All-Star and would be interested in being featured on the Constant Contact Community please learn more on how to do so here . ... View more

It's always best to start planning earlier for the holiday shopping and giving season. We've got the templates and tools to help you build great-looking emails that drive sales and donations. Black Friday Small Business Saturday Cyber Monday Giving Tuesday Though these days are still popular as standalone events, more and more sales and donation campaigns stretch out over a longer period of time, with the weekend acting as a centerpiece. Keep your email campaign traditional, or design your emails to fall outside of the main weekend, depending on your needs and what the competition may be doing.     Learn more about how to stand out this holiday season. Questions? Let us know below! ... View more

Update: November 29, 2018 The sweepstakes is now closed! Thank you so much to everyone who participated!   Please read: Winners will be randomly drawn and we will notify said winners within the next two weeks. Make sure the contact email address on your account is up to date and that you have access to it as we will send the notification there.      Constant Contact Holiday Sweepstakes   The holidays are right around the corner and many people will be scrambling to stores, online retailers, and various events to bask in the holiday cheer. Now is a great time to let your contacts know what is coming down the chimney and promote your brand, organization, and goods!   With that in mind, we’re excited to announce the 2018 Holiday Sweepstakes for Constant Contact! Enter for a chance to win some great prizes, including:   Grand Prize - $1000 American Express Gift Card 1st Prize - $750 American Express Gift Card 2nd Prize - $500 American Express Gift Card (2) 3rd Prizes - Email Strategy Consultation ($399 value!)   The sweepstakes will run from October 29th, 2018 through November 28th, 2018. Once concluded we will pick the winning entries and notify the winners!   Here’s how to enter the Sweepstakes:   Create a new email using our Third Generation editor using Click Segmentation and one of the following features: Personalized Subject Lines or Social Share Bar . Send your campaign to at least one contact (such as yourself). Copy the Short URL and post it here as a reply to this Sweepstakes Post for one entry. Share the campaign via Social Share using the hashtag #CTCTSweepstakes for a second entry. Please read the full Terms & Conditions here.   Questions? Let us know below! ... View more

Hello Constant Contact Community!   I’m excited to announce the Constant Contact Community was a finalist in the 2018 Lithy Awards and I had the pleasure of being present in Austin, Texas when we were awarded a Lithy in the Social Support Champion category!   What are the Lithy Awards? It is an annual recognition by our community platform provider Lithium Technologies to award a select group of their customers for their work in community engagement and management. There are many categories and you can learn more about them on the Lithy Award page .   We appreciate this recognition by Lithium. The Constant Contact Community provides a unique peer-to-peer and one-to-many support engagement opportunity for our customers to find the resources they need and support in the channel of their choice. So this award is really a reflection of the trust our customers put in us to be there for them when they need help and we appreciate all of YOU for coming to the Community and making it such a great space.   ... View more

Coupons are an enticing way to generate sales when business is slow, you have overstock, or when you're trying to attract seasonal customers away from your competitors.   All you have to do is drag a Coupon block into your email to get started. Your contacts receive an email with an offer that they can claim by entering their email address and then redeem at the point of sale (POS).   Interested to learn how you can add a trackable coupon in an email? Learn more in our Knowledge Base. If you have any questions, ask below! ... View more

The summer is almost over but August still had a lot of cool, new things to keep an eye on at Constant Contact. View the full product update here.    What new features or updates stuck out to you? If you have any questions let us know! ... View more

Using Eventbrite to create your events? Drag an Eventbrite block into your email to promote your event to your existing contacts or send targeted emails to your Eventbrite contacts. Once your Eventbrite account is synced,  all you have to do is choose your event and then send your email.   Interested in learning more? Visit our Knowledge Base to add an EventBrite block today! If you have any questions ask us below.           ... View more

Concerned about sending your email with mistakes? Whether you frequently send emails to your contacts or you’re preparing to send your first campaign, you want to make sure your email is error-free and that you represent your business in a professional manner. Take the worry out of sending your email and let us check it for common mistakes, including missing links, placeholder text and images, and past event dates.   Click here to learn more. If you have questions, ask below!     ... View more

When you take the time to segment your contact lists  and send the right message to the right people, you get better open rates and overall engagement with your emails. Segments allow you to create customized groups of contacts by looking at your contacts as a whole, despite how many lists you have, and filtering them into a group by list membership, contact information, and email engagement. Once you've created your segments, they're ready for you when you're ready to schedule an email.   Interested to learn more? Click here to visit our Knowledge Base.    Any questions? Ask below!     ... View more

Tired of your email design?   Looking for a way to make your message pop?   Animated GIFs might hold the answer.   Adding a GIF to your email can help your message stand out and entice your subscribers to take action.   Review some examples of how you can use animated GIFs in your next email!   Pretty cool, right? What GIFs have you found useful to spruce up your email? Any advice for other campaign creators?  ... View more

Was July hot for you? I am not enjoying the humidity here in New England. What I am enjoying are the new features and updates that came out last month.  View the full product update here .   What new feature/update from July do you like? Anything you would like to see? ... View more

You know the feeling.   It’s the day before your  email newsletter   goes out, and once again you’re just sitting there, staring at a blank template wondering where the heck to start.   Sound familiar? We've all been here. We recommend creating a reusable email template to save time and keep your brand consistent.   What tips and tricks do you have for saving time on creating an email template?  ... View more

If you’ve been using   email marketing   for a while, you might have come across the term segmentation.   It’s a marketing term that simply means, dividing people into groups based on information like interests, demographics, or their preferences on products or services.   It's important that the right people get the right content for what they're looking for. Consider these 4 ways to segment your email list.    How do you break up your email lists? What suggestions would you have for someone just getting started? ... View more

The words you choose for your  email subject lines  can have a big impact on whether or not the hard work you’ve put into your email will pay off.   Spending a little extra time on your subject line will help you boost  email open rates , avoid the junk folder, and get your message in front of the right people.   Use these 12  tweaks to write good email subject lines and improve your open rates!   What subject lines have you found most helpful to drive success? ... View more

You know that sticking to a schedule is important for your business.   It helps you get through your never-ending To Do list and keeps everything running smoothly.   The same is true when it comes to your  social media marketing .   Consider creating a social media posting schedule so you can stay on top of your social media marketing.   Has anyone else tried to create a schedule for their social media? What have you find successful?  ... View more

This post on how to improve email open rates , gets into the details of the following five strategies:   Invest in your subject line Fix your “from name” Find the best time to send Get to know your audience Revisit your sign-up process   Have you tried any of the above to get better open rates from your emails? Did it work? What else have you tried? ... View more

We've integrated with Facebook to make it easy for you to create targeted Facebook Lead Ads  that collect sign-ups to a list in your Constant Contact account. When Facebook users click on your ad, they're presented with a sign-up form that's pre-filled with contact information that they've publicly shared on Facebook. The ad and the sign-up form are fully customizable, and you can target the ad both to the demographics that matter the most to your organization, and to a population of users who are interested in the type of goods and services you provide.   Do you want to learn more? Click here to learn more about Facebook Lead Ads in our Knowledge Base.   Have any questions? Please let us know below! ... View more

You know it, you’ve seen it, you’ve used it. But have you ever wondered about the folks who keep Knowledge Base running? As a small team of writers, they normally prefer to operate behind the scenes. But today, they’ve agreed to step into the spotlight so that we can share a typical day in the Knowledge Base Team with you.   Office Life Journal 8:30am — With the jangling of keys, Andrea is the first to arrive. Quickly followed by Rachel W., Alex, Rachel H., and Betsy. They shrug off the morning commute before settling down for the day.     9:15am — Bodies screaming for caffeine, the team makes their collective way to the nearby kitchenette. One at a time, each member selects their preferred beverage. There’s espresso, coffee, iced tea, and hot tea. 10:00am — Working off hours, Melissa arrives a bit later to find the rest of the team full of excited chatter. She’s come prepared. Reaching into her bag, she pulls out some energy of her own: homemade iced coffee!     10:30am — Release meeting. The whole team comes together to discuss what is going live this week. 11:00am — The team meets up with a programmer for a Product Owner (PO) meeting. They talk about what kind of exciting features they have to look forward to down the pipeline. They schedule time to see a demo.     12:00pm — With hunger gnawing, the team goes down to the cafeteria and grabs a table for lunch. They discuss what drafts each person is working on, the World Cup, and the crazy future that technology is blazing towards. 12:45pm — Dessert! Andrea refills the candy dish with a crowd favorite: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Everyone gets their sugar fix. 1:00pm — Hard at work. The team all have their heads down as keyboards clack away.     2:00pm — Content strategy meeting. The team talks about pain points and the different ways they could improve the existing documentation. They shuffle cards around a Kanban board until they have a plan of attack. 3:00pm — Betsy runs into another Product Owner in the hall. Good news! That feature upgrade won’t be delayed after all. Everything will release on schedule. 3:30pm — Rachel W. wants to add an animated GIF to an article, but runs into trouble. She pings Melissa for help.     5:00pm — The team says goodbye and part their separate ways, leaving Melissa alone to finish the day. Melissa puts on headphones and takes out a mic to record audio for a tutorial. 6:00pm — Time flies by. Melissa yawns and packs up her things.   ... View more

Thank you. We really mean it.   pictured left to right: Nick Sermuksnis, Social Media & Content Manager; Kathie Whitaker, Customer Support Team Lead; Dave McCann, Vice President of Customer Success The Community and Social Care team was awarded a Silver Stevie ® Award this year! This recognition would not be possible without the amazing customers we get to work with every day.   What is a Stevie ® Award? It is a recognition presented by the American Business Awards for excellence in customer service.   In the office, we are known as a “small, but mighty” team. We’re a main team of four people assisted by a talented, driven group of interns who are experts in the Constant Contact product and they bring that knowledge and skill to where our customers want to communicate with us, whether it be on Twitter and Facebook or right here on the Community!   And that’s not all! Constant Contact’s Customer Service department was recognized for a second year , this time with a Silver Stevie®  as well, and Dave McCann, our Vice President of Customer Success, was awarded a Bronze!   So, again, thank you. Constant Contact has some of the best customers we could ask for. We’re honored to contribute to your small business journey and if you need us, we will be here.   If you need support please feel free to reach out to us! We're available here on the Community, on social media, and through phone and chat support. ... View more

June is the official start of summer, but Constant Contact isn’t taking a break with the release of new features and product improvements! Check out some of what was released in June 2018 below and then click here for the full report.   Social Share Updates Facebook Personal Pages Removed - Due to changes to Facebook’s policy regarding third-party apps, Social Share posts can no longer be made on personal Facebook pages. However! Facebook Business Pages are unaffected. Learn More .   Third-Generation Editor Updates Recent Emails - We heard you. Now you can see your previously selected templates on the Template Picker! Learn More . ... View more

Nothing is more important than our customers’ success, and Knowledge Base is here to help you achieve just that. As product experts, we dedicate ourselves to understanding exactly how you can get the most out of your Constant Contact tools. We know how crucial it is to have the knowledge you need, when you need it, so our video tutorials and how-to articles are online and always available at knowledgebase.constantcontact.com .   Here to introduce themselves and talk about what goes on behind-the-scenes are the Knowledge Base team.    Andrea has been with Constant Contact since March 2006, and actually had a hand in developing the original Knowledge Base over 12 years ago! After feeding it lots of screenshots and keywords to make it big and strong, she’s made the Knowledge Base what it is today. As the Senior Manager of the team, she loves watching the Knowledge Base evolve as we find new and better ways to serve our customers. But just because we can do something, it doesn’t mean we should. She always keeps our users in mind to ensure each piece of content fits the situation, and makes sense in context with the whole.   "If the user can't find it, the feature doesn't exist."    Betsy joined Constant Contact in August 2012 as a Content Developer. She believes small businesses and nonprofits are the key to a thriving economy, and that passion shows. Whenever a new feature is released, she walks through it all from the customer’s perspective — often more than once! Keeping your success firmly in mind, she troubleshoots each process to make it simpler and more digestible. That means finding creative new ways to present information!   "If I can help a small business owner feel confident in taking an action because my article took the mystery out of the process, then I'm doing my job right."    Melissa began her career at Constant Contact back in January 2013, but that doesn’t mean she’s been standing still. She just recently transitioned from Content Developer to a new role as Instructional Designer! That means a lot more time in the studio recording video tutorials, designing infographics, and creating guides. Her passion really shines when drawing motion paths and other animations. It even follows her home. When not tied down to a mic at work, she’s strapped in to her mic at home as a professional video game streamer.   "I really enjoy being able to create something new when I make tutorial videos. Figuring out how to make something work is just plain fun!"    Alex started at Constant Contact in October 2017. As a Content Developer, he enjoys solving the problem of how words fit together and could spend hours just replacing one word for another. A sucker for a good story, he likes to put on a persona and play through a scenario to get that perfect screenshot. This is especially important for best practice articles, where showing a good example can act like a springboard for inspiration.   “I love the stories we tell with screenshots here at Knowledge Base. They’re the perfect visual guide, like a best practice model you can see in action.”    Rachel recently joined us here at Constant Contact in May 2018. Coming from the publishing industry, her experience with copyediting and project management make her the ideal Content Manager. But she does a whole lot more than just discussing the difference between a comma and a semicolon; she’s always on the lookout for the best format to use in each article. After all, what works as a video tutorial might not work as an infographic. She believes in delivering the best experience, in the best medium, to our small business customers. In fact, her very first job was at a small business.   "I enjoy playing a small part in the success of our customers by working on the resources that help them get the most out of the product."    Rachel is our latest addition to the Constant Contact team. She has worn many hats throughout her career, but joined us in June 2018 as a Content Developer. Coming from the world of marketing, she is familiar with using our email marketing software to solve a nonprofit’s needs. Rachel prioritizes the user experience, believing that you have to know what a customer is looking for — and what pain points they face — in order to provide them with the most beneficial information. The hard part is formatting the message to be both clear and visually appealing!   "I'm excited to help our customers make the most of the product and enhance their email marketing through our efforts!" ... View more

Taking the time to set up a series of automated emails saves you time in the long run and helps you stay engaged with your contacts over time. It may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be! First, take a look at your current email habits. If you find yourself sending the same email (or emails) over and over again to new contacts, an Autoresponder Series can help you.   Interested in automating your emails? Click here to view the full article in our Knowledge Base.   If you have questions, we have answers. Ask below! ... View more

If the usual email formats seem a bit too stiff and formal, you can keep it casual with our  Text Message Template . Conversations are a natural way to share information. By simulating a text message conversation, you can resonate with an up-and-coming digital culture. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all.   Sounds pretty cool, no? Click here to see what it looks like in our Knowledge Base.   Any questions? Ideas for other templates? Reply below! ... View more

Quickly start your email marketing off on the right foot with the Branded Template Builder! By entering the URL for your website or Facebook page, the template builder pulls your logo, brand colors, and social media links into a couple of different template options. Just choose the one you like best and add the rest of your content to further customize it.   I think that's pretty cool! Do you want to learn more? Click here to view the full article on our Knowledge Base.   Any linger questions? Ask below! ... View more

Your click report is a powerful tool that tells you which of your contacts are engaging with your email, but do you know how to use the information when you send an email? When you set up click segmentation in your email, every time a contact clicks a link, a button, or a clickable image in your email, they're automatically added to a list of your choosing. You can either use the list for future emails or take immediate action using an Autoresponder series to interact with your contacts when they engage with you.   Sounds pretty cool, right? Click here to view the full article on our Knowledge Base.   You got questions? We got answers! Ask below.   ... View more

Want to make your subject line stand out in the inbox because it's customized for each contact? Subject line personalization lets you add contact details, like a first or last name, to your subject line. When your contacts read your subject line, they'll see details unique to them.   Do you want to learn more? Click here to view the full article on our Knowledge Base.   Any questions? Ask below! ... View more