@MarissaM7 I really like this email! You have tons of great images, which is really critical in today's digital marketing game. Your branding is solid and on point. The email is easy to see and read. If I'm nitpicking then I might consider taking your featured images from your articles down in the middle and making them full size. For example the photo of the books to win really grabs me so having that be full size would be lovely.   Regarding one rates... question for you: What was your subject line? Feel free to share your past handful of subject lines from past campaigns if you'd like! That really is one of the keys to getting the opens higher, and of course once they open they need to be delighted so that they are ready to open your next one!  ... View more

@LukeS602 in addition to the great advice @DavidFischerSolutionsForGrowth is set to provide, I want to mention one of my favorite features in Constant Contact.   It's a setting on your send screen called Automatic Resend to Non-Openers. You can check the box to activate it, then pick the future date and time to re-send the email to anyone who didn't open it the first time. You can even change the subject line or have it reflected that it's a re-send .. ie: "In case you missed it:...."   This alone has bolstered open rates drastically for so many users. Many times subscribers do want to hear from a brand but their inbox is so busy they miss it the first time. Since the feature doesn't ever bother those who opened it already, it's the best of both worlds. ... View more

@PatT330 Welcome to the Community! I couldn't think of a cooler thing to wake up to than seeing your post. It just so happens that I have an intense love of Scotland, studied there during college in the summers, and have traveled there many times. My sister actually did something similar by researching history in Scotland as a young student and ended up moving to the UK and attending Oxford.   I love that you are thinking about promoting the book through an email list *before* it is published. This is a fantastic idea and one that I've coached many businesses, authors, and product-launchers to do. You can even use incentives like get Chapter 1 early, etc. You get to take them on the ride of the writing and publishing process, and people absolutely love that type of experience online. So, great idea!   As for your tactical questions you are correct that you don't want to put stone-cold strangers in and start marketing to them, but there are things you can do to initiate list growth. There are intermediary steps you can do to get the list started. Here are some ideas: - you can email the associations and their members directly, (meaning, a normal email platform) talking about your book and asking for permission to share more with them, which is an opt-in. You can do this manually (add them to your system after) or streamline and include a link in that email that opens to your Constant Contact opt-in page for them to subscribe. The former may get you more quick "yeses" while the later may give you less but a more conscientious subscriber since they have to make the small effort of typing in their email and submitting it. - to make a bigger move, you could contact the clans and organizations and talk about your project and your book and ask them if they are ok to hear more from you (that's an opt-in) but more importantly what would it take for them to be open to softly promoting or spreading the word about your project. You could even dress up the ask by indicating you are trying to broaden your sources for the research and their orgs and/or their members could be helpful. Example: they say "yes this sound interesting, our members would likely be curious" so your ask would be for them to include a blurb or announcement about it in their own marketing, and in *that* blurb/announcement is an option for their member readers to opt-in to your list directly.   I'll stop there so I don't write a book of my own ; ) however please let me know if this makes sense and feel free to DM me here in the community to discuss further nuanced ideas that I have for you.   ... View more

@user133424 In addition to the great comments @Chris-S shared above, I have to strongly disagree that email is less relevant than it used to be. Of course the landscape of digital marketing has shifted and changed over the past 10 years, and direct messaging, text marketing, and apps like WhatsApp (which is really just text marketing when you break it down) are all very powerful and have their own shine, but email still continues to be not only relevant, but the actual all-star.   -Websites and apps are critical - but we need context for what caused that traffic to qualify it   -Social Media is amazing for awareness and engagement - but the algorithm is out of our control and many small businesses and nonprofits find it incredibly frustrating when they try to "hang their hat" on social.   -Text Marketing (including WhatsApp) has the instant gratification and the high visibility in it's corner, but to market legally you need to have them opt-in to text marketing and message apps. We find that most consumer are actually not as open to subscribing to text or DM apps as it can feel invasive to have messages popping to Lock Screen from a brand they may like, but are not ready to get texts from regularly.   -Email is the "direct connect" all-star - most consumer do have email, do check it early in the day and often throughout (mostly on mobile devices). A trusted platform like Constant Contact provides 95%+ deliverability rate. With a great subject line you are positioned perfectly to be seen on the day the email is sent and engaged immediately. And with great content you build rapport and that sets apart your future emails and increases the chance they get opened and engaged. With amazing automation options like "Automatic Resend to Non-openers" Constant Contact can even send the email a second time on a pre-set schedule later to anyone who didn't open it the first time. This has popped client open rates up big time with no extra effort.   The above is based on 10+ years of experience not only executing and managing marketing for clients, but also hundreds of consults to small businesses and nonprofits of all shapes and sizes.           ... View more

@TrinaW1 welcome to the Constant Contact community! So glad to have you and guess what, my wife loves horses as well and has been riding them since she was young. We were just out at the barn yesterday watching her get a lesson. She's 49 and still going! What type of business or nonoprofit are you looking to market, Trina? We will help however we can here in the community.  ... View more

@user3896800 Michael so glad to have you here in the community - your business, or shall I say "mission" feels really powerful. Social Media is truly irreplaceable for what it does, but the email list is the core asset that let's you stay in front of and connect with your followers on a deeper level, so a big virtual high five for taking the step to get started with Constant Contact's amazingly easy system to use - your list will love you for it. Enjoy the community here, all the resources, and keep in touch with any questions or needs. Onward and upward! ... View more

these updates are awesome - I love them all but the video upload to social is extra special ... View more

@CoachDeitraW love it! Keep rocking and drop me a note for any help you need!🙌 ... View more

@ElizaR7 So glad you are with us, NTMU you, too! And I love your fun store - gnome themed - amazing! My sister has been challenged with MS for 20 years now, so I have a senses of what you may be challenged with. So happy to have you and your interesting and fun business as part of our community here. I bet if you get in front of the right audience... you will start selling a lot to others! ... View more

@DeborahN529 Awesome! You nailed it in your explanation - Constant Contact is the best, easiest, most affordable platform available for small businesses and nonprofits. And one more tip: be sure to let support know that the account is for a nonprofit and it qualifies for a permanent discount of a whopping 30% off! Way to go helping out others and enjoy the journey of your art and digital media practice! ... View more

@khaledg97 welcome to the community! sounds like a neat business and an email marketing list is critical to growth, so you made the right choice. Inside your account you'll also see other awesome tools like a social media post dashboard, landing page builder, event builder and more - all with AI assistant built right in. Looking forward to seeing you here in the community discussions! ... View more

@CoachDeitraW What an amazing introduction - so glad to have you with us here in the community! Your nonprofit sounds so special and I love that it provides a multi-faceted approach to helping others, not only with their situation but with developing themselves from the inside out. NOVA/MD also happens to be my old stomping ground for many years, so virtual high five on that! Maryland crabs are so good... ... View more

@user099851 Joaquin, welcome to the Constant Contact community! That is a truly interesting business. How long have you been using Constant Contact for it, and what types of content do you send out? I can imagine some pretty amazing photos and videos are at your fingertips with your business being centered around the prime skiing season in the Andes. ... View more

@WalterH443 Treva, welcome! Wow what a wonderful place you live in, and tons of fun and beauty intertwined in it. I can relate somewhat in that I left the rat race of DC to run for the hills of Asheville, North Carolina. I ended up about an hour away in a small town focused largely on tourism and outdoor recreation with Smoky Mountain National Park. I come across lots of KOA's in my seminars and webinars, and it's wonderful to have you with use here in the community. Looking forward to seeing and hearing how you use the great platform of Constant Contact in your KOA business! ... View more

@RobertB2279 What in intro!  I work with, know, and love lots of New Yorkers! So glad to have you with us. ... View more

@user156249 Paul, we are so glad you are here in the Constant Contact community and thank you for introducing yourself! I have worked with VFW's indirectly and a number of Vet nonprofits directly and I come from a military family, so I am applaud the hard work you put into supporting your post. I also understand that you want to do more with your marketing and reach others in your post. We are happy to help you and guide however we can. I'll start with a question: when you say "my issue has been reaching only about 30% of the 350 members in our post" do you mean that you only have 30% of their email addresses in your system or do you mean you have them all in your system but your open rate on the emails you send out shows 30% open rate?  ... View more

@DenaM89 agree more info would be helpful - if you are trying to import by spreadsheet "all at once" be sure to map the columns OR choose "skip this column" if it's problematic or contains irrelevant data or data that doesn't need to be in your marketing system - sometimes that import gets stuck but the notice above about skipping gets missed. ... View more

@user7791609 I second @William_A 's comments and suggestions ... View more

@ShawnL251 first of all big kudos to you for even starting your own business. You are one of the elite who have decided to take their skills (30 years, wow) and leverage them for your own future opportunities. You are welcome here and we do aim to guide and help however we can. Remember that everyone starts in the same place when they open their business, so don't be too hard on yourself. I'm sure you make endless wonderful meals because that is your gift and expertise, so why would it be logical that you should know how to market? It's not. That being said, Constant Contact has been the leading online digital marketing platforms for small businesses and entrepreneurs for decades for a reason: they set out not to just build a set of marketing tools, but to make it as easy as possible for those who are not inclined. The other special part about Constant Contact is what we are doing right here: live support, community, and a team effort. So in addition to the community here, you can always get help from a real live support team member and marketing success manager.   As far as being overwhelmed, I'd say take a step back and organize things in a simple fashion. Website - do you have one, even a one-pager that represents your business? Email list - Constant contact is the central hub to build your contacts database - prospects, clients, past connections, colleagues, friends, family - everyone. Social Media - at least one or two channels that you post on and engage with folks regularly.    If you have those three lined up and you are committed to taking a few minutes to learn the Constant Contact system (again, easiest out there for sure!) with a drag and drop email builder as well as the social media posting tool, you can accomplish most of what you need to do with simple and focused effort!    The template builder and brand kit feature will also give you massive shortcuts to auto-branding your marketing so that it's the right colors and style without you having to spend time doing it manually.   Feel free to contact support agents at any time or direct message me here in my community inbox, I have your back!  ... View more

I like the BOGO campaign - get a cool gift and another one free, to give away (or keep for yourself!) I also like social contests - put on your ugly Christmas sweater and post on social and tag us, or tag us with a pic of your favorite product of ours and get a VIP discount on your holiday shopping with us. ... View more

@ScottR0223 Nice job! Branding is solid and it clearly communicates what your company does. Some tips: -Consider using the white space at the top for more than just your logo. Not that it doesn't look nice, it's just a lot of "real estate" (pun intended haha) in case you want to feature anything else up there. Maybe a contact button or something? -Your images are great and your explanation of the point of the email is great, but maybe add an official Call to Action and a matching button "Click to See Your Options" or "Click to Reach Out..." and then a button that opens to a link or that opens a new email to you. -Nice work on your footer!  ... View more

@tjstrauss still a great job and glad you are open to exploring all the options! Looks like social media column is your best bet and you only have two small tasks to knock out BINGO there! ... View more

@tjstrauss you've done a nice job on this! Branding is solid and consistent, your featured image is attractive and fun and sets the tone for the email content. I would add some clear call to actions that have matching buttons. Shop now is a good action but maybe use some language and then add buttons. You can also decide to trim the length down on this by having less products OR stacking them together into a grid and having the click open to the product(s) that way.  I like the footer with the squares representing what you offer, the branding below and the social buttons along with a final call to action. Add in some details about your company, location, contact info and you will be rocking and rolling. Great work! ... View more

@user208121 Got it - very nice visually attractive, photo-centric email. I can't see the subject line but as long as it's clever or enticing good to go. Your featured image is great and the point of your email is clear. Your button matches your call to action but perhaps add some more text to this - explanation about what the course is, and then written instructions to "register now below!" then the button. Your footer isn't visible but make sure you have the best contact info and social buttons and you are on the right path!  ... View more

@AmyC32 amazing - love that breakdown of your experience within the Ready Set Send Challenge, it's so great to hear all that...  as well as your description of your favorite feature with Event Build. You get tons of credit for being so open and enthusiastic to learn! Way to go and please hang with us in the community here regularly - we are here to keep helping and guiding and giving feedback to support you in your success. ... View more

@MelicaG That is so impressive! Not only what you are doing for them in the two LLCs you are CEO for, but your vision for retirement and how you can keep doing what you love. It's extra cool that you spend your spare time reading and working on art and taking classes and doing things you love, which then further support and help those with these needs. Really awesome, glad you are here! Feel free to reach out with any marketing questions! ... View more

@JeannicotcelestinL welcome to the community! would love to hear about your business  ... View more

@JeannineE8 Some great things to like about this email! I don't know your subject line or pre-header text, so make sure they are eye catching and irresistible. Your branding seems great and solid and your featured image is great and communicates the right message with your headline. I like that you have the class options listed so clearly and each with their own button, but I might suggest having a few less of them and instead having a "view more" option which opens to the whole list of class dates. I see you have that at the bottom, so I'm nitpicking here, but maybe just move it up to reduce the scrolling. You also may consider an actual over-arching call to action like "Click Below to Register for the right class for you!" etc. Your footer is strong with a nice company description and some quick links (I can't quite read the actual content easily since the thumbnail is small but I get the gist of it). Don't forget to add your social media buttons with a note for them to follow/stay connected to your brand online. Happy Halloween 🎃 and High Five!  ... View more