How To Cancel Constant Contact: A Step by Step Guide

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Businesses must be able to communicate with their audiences. Whether through email, social media, and marketing campaigns, a consistent stream keeps the lines of communication open.

There’s a variety of platforms available to businesses to reach out to their customers via email marketing. One of the most visible ones is Constant Contact. But like all platforms, it’s not for everyone.

If you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur who has a Constant Contact account and is considering canceling it, we’ve got your back. This article will cover common problems with Constant Contact, whether you should suspend or cancel your account, clear actionable steps on how to cancel Constant Contact, and some popular email marketing platform alternatives.

What Is Constant Contact?

Constant Contact is a bulk email tool that automates emails to your customer base. It’s most useful for businesses that don’t create a lot of customer-facing content, and want to send out occasional emails.

It provides services like tips and hints, templates, a search for errors feature, and contact database organization. If you’re interested in looking in a little more depth at the services, have a look at our Constant Contact review!

Cons to Constant Contact

Though there are some positive things about Constant Contact, it might not provide the level of service that you need, particularly if you have full-time marketing efforts across multiple online platforms.

There are several cons to Constant Contact. They include:

  • It’s not very user friendly – In our testing of email marketing software, it ranked last for ease of use. Though it looks simple, it lacks an intuitive, user-friendly pathway.
  • It lacks a variety of marketing tools – Businesses that use email to communicate with their audiences need to be able to create campaigns using email marketing best practices and promote them. You won’t find a lot of help for that here.
  • It looks and acts outdated – It’s hard to have confidence in software that looks outdated. Customers complain the templates look old-fashioned, and several email templates are not reformatted for cell phones.
  • It doesn’t allow full customization of email templates – When you use templates, you can’t move around text boxes, graphics, or photos – rather, you have to start with a blank template each time.
  • Reports of spam emails – It’s ironic, but customers of Constant Contact have complained about being spammed by the company, despite their wishes to be unsubscribed from lists.
Our users found Constant Contact’s templates outdated and uninspiring.

Suspending Your Constant Contact Account

Not everyone likes to cancel a contract or service straight away. Some like to adopt a wait-and-see approach. In that case, suspension might be a good first option.

It’s a temporary action that gives you space from what might be stressing you out. It provides time to re-evaluate what’s going on and seek advice from others. It also gives you time to find an alternative if that’s what you need.

If you’ve got some uncertainty because emails and newsletters are overwhelming you, or your business needs to take a break, or you don’t use your account every month, suspension is a good option.

Constant Contact has provided a helpful list of what features you will and won’t have access to with a suspended account. This can help you decide if suspension is the best option for you.

What you keep and lose when you suspend your Constant Contact account.

Some features are more important to keep, like:

  • The ability to create emails
  • Access your contact lists
  • Create events and event invitations

But consider the things you won’t be able to do, such as:

  • Scheduling emails and live event invitations
  • Sending automated emails like birthday emails
  • Opening registration on already-published events.

How to Cancel Constant Contact Step by Step

Sometimes it’s clear that cancellation is the way to go. If the service isn’t meeting your needs, there’s not much point in suspending the account. Canceling frees you to find an alternative.

Here are the steps on how to cancel Constant Contact, according to its website:

Option 1: Log In to Constant Contact

If you want to find out how to cancel Constant Contact online, then follow these steps:

  • First, log in to your Constant Contact account in the regular way.
  • Then click on your profile name, and select “My Account” from the drop-down menu.
  • Click on the “Billing” tab which is the second from the left.
  • Scroll down to the “Cancel Account” box – it should be on the left under the “Payment Method” box.
  • Click on the “Cancel My Account” button to continue.
  • Select the reason you are canceling your account, then click on “continue to cancel account” on the bottom right.
  • Then click the “Cancel account” button again on the “We’d like another chance to make it work” box.

Option 2: Contact the Billing Team

You may want to contact the billing team directly, either because you have questions, or prefer to do things over the phone.

Before you call them, have your account username and the reason for your cancelation ready because they will ask for it. The phone numbers provided on Constant Contact’s website are:

  • US & Canada (toll free): 855-229-5506
  • UK (toll free): 0808-234-0945
  • Outside US & Canada: +1 781-472-8120

Though they won’t pressure you to stay, expect to be asked for feedback about the service.

Request an Account Closure

If you’d like to cancel via phone, here’s what to do to make the process as easy and streamlined as possible for you:

  • Ensure your automatic payment renewal option is turned off on your account
  • Export your contact list, past campaigns, and anything else you might need before you call them
  • Prepare your email address or login details (not your password!)
  • Make sure you call them during business hours EST
  • If you have to first communicate with an automated assistant, be clear about your wish to cancel and the reason why you are canceling
  • You will then be put through to a member of the billing team who will also ask these questions
  • If you are entitled to a refund (you’re canceling within 30 days of starting Constant Contact), clearly request a refund
  • If you definitely want to cancel your account, reject the special offer they give you to stay on as a customer
  • Double check when your account will close, whether immediately or until the next billing cycle
  • They should then confirm your account is canceled

Receive Email Confirmation

When you cancel your Constant Contact account, you should receive an email within 24 hours that confirms the cancelation date.

If you’ve canceled within Constant Contact’s 30-day money-back guarantee period, your account will be closed immediately. If you’ve canceled after 30 days, then the account will run until the cancellation date stated in your confirmation email, which is usually your next billing date.

Alternatives to Constant Contact

Once you cancel Constant Contact, what can you do next?

There are many alternatives depending on your needs. We spent over 160 hours researching and comparing the best email marketing platforms. Here are a few of the most popular we looked at in a nutshell and how they compare with each other:

GetResponse ($15/month) has the best template designs (and there are 220 of them!), is beginner-friendly, allows you to send unlimited emails, provides great value starter plans, and has a free trial and free stock images. It won’t be suitable for you if you need good social media integration, or want automation on a cheap plan.

ActiveCampaign (from $15/month) is best if you’re a social media marketing maven. It gives useful tool tips for campaigns, great in-house contact tools, and fantastic value for money. But if you don’t like a steep learning curve, don’t have a lot of time, are a beginner, or need a huge range of designs, give it a miss.

Mailchimp (from $9.99/month) has a free option, has excellent features, is great for ecommerce, analytics that give valuable insight, and help and support. If you need to send more than 5,000 emails a month, or don’t have time to learn how it works, it isn’t such a good option.

MailerLite (from $10/month) is another one for professionals who have campaigns – it provides an intuitive email editor, streamlines integrated social media, and unlimited email sends. It’s not a good choice if you want an easy platform, have little spare time, or hate a clunky sign-up process.

GetResponse is our best-rated email marketing software, and is also the easiest to use.

In our research, GetResponse comes out as the best email marketing software overall, as well as being the easiest to use. So if you’re frustrated by Constant Contact’s outdated interface and poor ease of use, we recommend trying GetResponse’s free trial! Small business? We’ve got you covered with our list of the best email marketing services for small businesses.

Summary

It’s always a shame to have to cancel something you were once curious or excited about. But business is business. Yes, it’s a cliche, but it’s up to you to prioritize your needs and keep looking until those needs are met. And that might include canceling Constant Contact.

Even though Constant Collect didn’t work out for you, give it time. You’ll find an alternative that will be a perfect fit.

FAQs

A: Why not ask around and see what people think of the platforms you have your eye on? Search in forums, ask on your Facebook, or post on LinkedIn or Twitter.
A: Make sure you aren’t relying on old automated emails (like anniversary emails or offers you promised). And retrieve your data and contact list from the account – Constant Contact will only store your account and the data for 120 days before it is deleted. 
Written by:
Smiling headshot of Amanda Graham
I started writing for Website Builder Guide in 2022. I love copywriting for ecommerce, website, automation, and website brands and I’ve ghostwritten and content strategised for some of the largest multinational brands in the world. I have years of writing experience for the BBC, including documentaries, scripts, and Twitter campaigns. With such a wealth of experience to draw on, some of my best work on Website Builder Guide focuses on topics such as ecommerce strategies, marketing tips, and small business advice. I hope you enjoy my articles!

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