Finding Holiday Templates Constant Contact has over 200 holiday-themed email templates, including both major holidays like “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” themed emails, and smaller observances like “Teacher’s Day” and “Friendship Day” themed emails.    Be prepared this season. Read our November Holidays and Newsletter Ideas – 2024 blog post for a list of upcoming holidays and occasions. That way, you won’t miss an opportunity to engage and delight your customers!   When you’re ready, use the search bar to find the perfect template.         If you can’t find a template, submit your idea and we might create it!    Edit and Customize Your Template Remember, our templates are fully customizable so if something is not completely the way you want it to be, select that template and use the editor to modify the buttons, text, or images as you see fit. Constant Contact offers AI tools too, so if you’re dealing with writer’s block, the AI writing tools (available when you click on a text block) can give you a hand.        Alternatively, build your own templates by clicking on the Create Theme button. Our swanky template generator can scan your website for logos, icons, images, and colors, helping you to instantly build a themed email template that fits your brand to a T.      Have you built a template that you’re proud of? Show it off by sharing it with our active and welcoming community of marketers, business owners, and creatives! Visit https://community.constantcontact.com/t5/Campaign-Feedback/bd-p/Campaign-feedback and post your template. Get feedback on your template and share your feedback about others’ templates as well.    Sending Your Holiday-Themed Emails For smaller holidays or observances, it’s totally okay to send an email the day of. For major holidays, schedule your email sends well in advance of the special day, especially if you plan to share any promotional offers. Remember to send follow-up emails as the holiday approaches.    As for the best day to send out an email and yield the highest open rates, that’s entirely dependent on your audience's past engagement history. Different industries see the best outcomes on different days of the week and different times of the day works best for different audiences.    Look back at past campaigns that have been sent out and, focusing on the higher open rates, compare all of those send times to each other and see if there is any consistency with them. Our Find the best time to send campaign emails article can help you get started optimizing your email sends schedule.    ... View more

Growing your list from scratch may seem like a daunting task, but it can also be an exciting fresh start! Take just a few simple steps to start growing your list. First, get eyes on your business. Then, turn those visitors into contacts, and finally manage, grow, and clean your lists. Maintaining your contact list is an ongoing task.    Getting visitors to your site is the most important part of the entire process. That’s why we have an easy, step-by-step guide for you to follow on how to Find the Right Audience with Paid Media.   Beyond paid media, posting relevant social media content on your own social pages is another effective way of increasing traffic. And don’t worry! Once again, we have a guide to help you out. Take a look at our Engage Your Customers on Social Media article for tips.        Implement one of the strategies laid out in the guides to start increasing traffic to your website. When your visitors arrive, make it easy for them to become one of your contacts with sign-up forms that are prominent and visually appealing. By adding a prominent sign-up form to your website, you create a seamless experience for your audience. The type of sign-up form you choose depends on the layout of your website and what makes sense for your audience.   We have a few types to choose from: Inline - Embeds wherever you can put it, across multiple webpages. Pop-up - Pops into view after a specific amount of time. Fly-out - Slides into view while people are browsing. Banner - Stretches across the top or bottom of the page.   Read our Add a Sign-Up Form to Your Website article for an in-depth look at sign-up forms from Constant Contact.   Want to supercharge your lead capture capabilities? Take advantage of the many tools and integrations available to sign up new contacts. Like Neat, whose scanning software eliminates manual data entry for those old business cards you keep in your wallet, digitizing them in minutes.       As you build your list, you'll need to maintain it. That means, keeping your list clean, monitoring unsubscribes, and segmenting your list(s) based on your audience's interests and needs. Read Evaluate and Clean Up Your Email Lists to manage your list as it grows.    Did I miss anything? What are some of the most effective strategies you've used to grow your lists?  ... View more

A good newsletter inspires customers to trust your company and aims to keep your customers engaged. Your newsletter can include educational content, news about the industry your company operates within, updates about your company, and any other fun or informative topics that position you as a leader in your field. Our Use Email Newsletters to Engage with Your Audience post goes over the building blocks of a successful newsletter, in great detail.    Try to avoid making products and sales the focus, and instead try to provide value. That said, it’s totally okay to briefly mention solutions your company offers where it applies, or reference your website to encourage customers to visit.   Here are some examples of topics you could include.    Industry News: New technological advancements that might affect your industry Major acquisitions or mergers of companies within the industry New laws or regulations that affect your industry, your products, or your customers Educational Content: A tutorial on how to use one of your most complex products Insightful comments from a thought leader relevant to your business Content that brings awareness to a cause that's important to you or your company's mission  Company Updates: The launch of a new product line Discontinuing a product line A fun event that your company is throwing or sponsoring To learn more about creating your first newsletter, read our Fill a newsletter-style email with engaging content help center article.    Constant Contact offers a variety of newsletter templates to help jumpstart your project. Some templates use a two-column layout with multiple short paragraphs in each column. These templates are perfect for newsletters with lots of different topics to discuss.        Some templates allow you to focus on one major topic to really drive home your point.        Whatever your goals are, Constant Contact has a newsletter template that works for you! ... View more

If you're looking to build landing pages that work, there are some simple guidelines you can follow.  A landing page is used to gather information from a specific audience and works to introduce that audience to a business, product, or idea. Landing pages typically have a single, targeted goal.   Constant Contact offers many conversion-focused, pre-built landing page templates that you can use, available within your Constant Contact account. See our tutorial on Sign Up landing pages or read our article to learn more about creating custom landing page templates.  To build successful landing pages that lead to conversions, make sure they include these three elements:   Strong visual appeal Persuasive information A clear call-to-action   Most landing pages use a single, full-width background image. This minimal approach helps to cut down on the number of elements the customer can focus on. Because the image(s) on your landing pages are such an important part of the experience, be sure to use high-quality, high-definition images that are exciting or pleasant to look at. The visual appeal of your image is incredibly important.    To encourage conversion, persuasive information -- like your business's mission statement or your product's unique value add -- should be included. Customers' purchasing decisions are driven by price, product value, and trust in your brand. Use short paragraphs throughout the landing page to explain or reinforce these points.        Finally, make sure to guide your customers through to the next step. Whether you want them to share their contact information, take a survey, or complete a purchase, include clear call-to-action buttons or a form that makes it easy for your customer to take action.  ... View more

Email marketing has the power to supercharge your company's growth strategy and jumpstart user engagement. Finding the right email template for your business and your specific use case is important.    Welcome Emails: For businesses with a straightforward product offering, keep welcome emails simple and rely on full-width, visually appealing images to catch the customer’s eye. Include a message that's short, simple, and warm.      For more complicated products, use layout blocks to section off paragraphs that explain the different pieces of your product experience. Are there any special steps customers must take to set up their product? Include a paragraph and a link for that. Is there a specific page they should visit to manage their subscription? Include a paragraph and a link for that. For more complicated products, the Welcome Email can serve as a "Getting Started" resource that makes them feel empowered.   Re-Engagement Emails: Winback emails are designed to re-engage your customers and get them buying from you again. The goal is to win them back and get them interested in your business again. Remind your customers why they love your business, by including some of your top-selling products in your emails, encourage users to connect by social media, or share your business’ personal story.       Seasonal Emails Constant Contact recognizes how effective seasonal messages can be, and couples designer email templates with automation to make these campaigns easy to manage and send. Holidays, Birthdays, and Anniversaries can all be acknowledged with an email.   Pre-built Constant Contact holiday-themed emails use big banners that make it clear which event the email is celebrating and often include a space for a discount code. Discount codes are almost expected from today’s email campaigns during big holidays and some sort of credit or special offer is typical for birthdays and anniversaries.        Customize your template to reflect your unique brand identity. In the world of email marketing, branding is essential. Constant Contact has a variety of designer templates -- from minimalist templates that focus on the content, to asset-rich templates that rely on high-quality images to sell your message, and everything in between.    Don't forget to incorporate an eye-catching subject line and optimize your pre-header text. Read our Best Practices to Captivate Your Audience with Email Marketing article for more best practices.  ... View more

Every successful campaign starts with a strategic, forward-thinking marketing plan. Specifically for events, what are some of the first steps to take when creating a marketing plan? ... View more

Email management software is an important tool for almost every modern business. What are the most important features to look for when choosing an email management software platform? ... View more

Customers who are just getting started with their marketing campaigns are likely looking for easy-to-use landing page builders and will want to know if there are any that offer high-quality templates.  ... View more

A beautiful image can take your landing pages from so-so to spectacular! Graphics increase email open rates by 42%, and social media posts are much more engaging with images and videos.    We make it easy to connect your Canva and Vimeo accounts to Constant Contact, with our easy-to-use integrations, so you can start incorporating images and videos into your campaigns.   Using Canva     You can either create a new graphic and insert it, or insert an existing graphic from your Canva folders. There are two places you can connect your Canva account and create images to use in your campaigns: Within a campaign draft, or From your Library   Click the “Create With Canva” button to jump into the Canva editor. Your creations will automatically be added to your Constant Contact library.      Any graphics you create or upload to your Canva account will always be available to you in Constant Contact, when you use the Create With Canva button.   Using Vimeo     Drag and drop videos right into your emails, pages, campaigns, or posts using the Video Block element. This feature is perfect for tutorials, marketing reels, or short videos – the most engaging form of social media content in the world right now!     Ready to Integrate?   To connect your Canva or Vimeo accounts with Constant Contact, go to Tools and select Apps and Integrations. Choose Canva and/or the Vimeo integration and follow the steps on the screen.      Integrations with Constant Contact increase your creative capabilities, giving you more flexibility, and making it easier to build effective campaigns. To learn more about our Connected Integrations, read this article! ... View more

Non-profit customers looking to grow their social media platforms want to know which posts will help them achieve their goals? What kind of posts get the most attention for nonprofits on social media? ... View more

Are there any best practices I should observe when creating survey questions? What guidelines should I follow for maximum engagement? ... View more

The content generator is a feature from Constant Contact that helps eliminate writer's block and lets you create effective content easily. Have you had a chance to use this amazing feature? Here are some scenarios where the Content Generator can help you out:   Struggling to create an About Us page? Enter your company’s core values and other important company details. Then, let our Content Generator handle the rest. Want to announce a new product in a persuasive or approachable tone? You can list a product’s features, select the tone, and generate a well-written product listing in minutes. Not sure how to start a social media announcement? Include the important details for the announcement and select your tone. The Content Generator will even generate hashtags for your post! Read our AI Best Practices Guide to get the most out of the Content Generator.       Have you used it yet? What has been your experience with the Content Generator? ... View more

Which email has been the most successful for you and how can some of those elements be replicated in campaigns going forward?   We’ve seen the following elements really help drive the success of a send, defined by higher open rates and stronger clickthrough rates.   A simple and direct subject line. When customers know what’s in it for them right from the start, they’re more likely to open an email. Captivating preheader text. Entice subscribers to click by giving them a short but hearty preview of what the email contains. Great Branding! When recipients open an email and they instantly recognize the brand they love, they’re more likely to engage.   Did your most successful email include any of these elements? Are there other elements that helped to drive success that you’d like to share? ... View more