Constant Contact adds new social sharing functions to online marketing solutions

Published on Monday, August 30, 2010

Integrated one-click Facebook and Twitter features make it simple for small organizations to "go social" -- broadening their awareness & generating bigger ROI

Constant Contact®, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTCT), a leading provider of email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools for small organizations, today announced the addition of new features that integrate with Facebook® and Twitter®, and make it simple to create truly "social" marketing campaigns. Leveraging the combined power of email and social media, small business and nonprofit customers can now share their marketing messages via the world's largest social networks -- expanding the reach of their messages, attracting new customers, and generating more brand buzz.

With one click, users can include a Facebook "Like" button that makes it easy for Friends and Followers to share messages across the web. The new "Tweet and Share" option allows users to automatically post their email campaign to their Twitter feed when it is sent. After sending an email, they can also tweet it again -- or share it on Facebook and other social networks. In addition to leveraging Facebook's "Like" button, Constant Contact is the first and only email service provider to make Twitter's new Tweet button available for email sharing.

“Adding social share features to Constant Contact's already robust offerings gives our customers the ability to effortlessly leverage the network effect of social media,” said Ellen Brezniak, senior vice president, product strategy, Constant Contact. “By enabling their subscribers, event registrants, Friends, and Followers to spread the word and share our customers' content on Facebook, Twitter, and other channels, we're removing barriers and making it simple to get real value from social media marketing.”

Constant Contact's new features work seamlessly with the company's existing social share functions, which have already been used to share more than 40,000 unique emails this month -- significantly broadening the reach of customer campaigns, increasing their ROI, and proving that email marketing and social media is a highly effective combo. According to the results of Constant Contact's 2010 Small Business Attitudes & Outlook survey, nearly 80 percent of small businesses believe Facebook and Twitter to be important tools for marketing their organizations.

The new features are available to customers immediately. Small businesses and nonprofit organizations that want to "test drive" the new features can sign up for a free 60-day trial.

Additional capabilities include:

• Share Buttons — Point-and-click functionality allows users to add social media links to the header of their email newsletters without the hassle of cutting and pasting, making it easy to extend the reach of their email campaigns beyond their subscriber list.
• Facebook "Like" Button — Adds the most popular Facebook sharing feature, the "Like" button, to email campaigns, making it possible for users to gain a network effect, generate more buzz, and increase exposure as people "Like" their campaigns, and by doing so, share it with their social network.
• Tweet Button — This new feature makes it even easier for email campaigns sent through Constant Contact to go viral on Twitter. Users viewing a shared email campaign can retweet the link without leaving the email.
• Share this Email /Survey/Event — With the click of a button, users can promote their emails, surveys, and events on social networks. Our simple one-click posting to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn®, and other social sharing sites allows users to expand the reach of their communications.

As a leading provider of online marketing tools for small organizations, Constant Contact is an expert at delivering the technology, education, and support needed to make email simple, and is continuing its investment to make social simple with these new features – as well as many more enhancements, partnerships, and innovations to come. Together with Constant Contact's third-party integrations and free social media monitoring solution NutshellMail, the company is furthering its commitment to delivering the best suite of online solutions to meet small businesses' needs.

Supporting Resources:

• Read more about how Constant Contact is making social media marketing simple for small businesses and nonprofits on the Constant Commentary blog
• Visit our Social Media Resource page to learn more about social sharing with Constant Contact
• Watch the Constant Contact Social Share & "Like" Buttons tutorial
• Experience the power of Constant Contact Email Marketing with a free "test drive"

About Constant Contact, Inc.
Constant Contact's email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools help small organizations grow their businesses by building stronger customer relationships. More than 350,000 small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and member associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact's easy-to-use; affordable online tools to create and deliver personalized, professional communications that engage casual customers, members, prospects, and passionate customers wherever they congregate online -- from their email inboxes to their social networks. All Constant Contact products come with unmatched education, training and personal coaching services, and award-winning technical support. Founded in 1995, Constant Contact is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CTCT) with offices in Waltham, Mass.; Loveland, Colo.; and Delray, Fla.; and a San Francisco office scheduled to open later this year. Learn more at www.ConstantContact.com or call 781-472-8100.

Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.