INTRODUCTION TO CONSTANT CONTACT Email Marketing Program Technology Learning Centers Bucks County Community College www.bucks.edu/tlc
Step 1: Log In To access Constant Contact, open a browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, and type www.constantcontact.com in the address bar. Click the LOGIN button once the website opens. At the login screen, enter the following User Name and Password. It is case-sensitive. User Name: bucks_edu Password: orangery64 Click the Login button. 1
Step 2: Format and Import a List NOTE: If the email list is an Excel document, you must format it with the guidelines below before importing it. This will ensure that you can add your list quickly and without errors. If you are requesting a list from ITS, be sure to indicate that the file must be in.csv or.xls format. Open your spreadsheet. Row 1 must contain labels for each type of contact information you want to upload. The email address must be in the first column (Column A). This is the first place Constant Contact looks for email addresses. Use these labels (or column headings): email address, first name, last name, middle name, job title, company name, home phone, address line 1, address line 2, address line 3, city, state, country, and postal code. *Note that the email address information is the only required information. Save your changes and name your spreadsheet. You must save it as a.csv (Comma Separated Value) file or..xls file (Excel 2003 or older). You cannot use a 2007 Excel spreadsheet (.XLSX) Click on the Import Your Contact List button. 2
Click on Create a New List. Go to the New List Name The name must include either delete by [date] if you plan on using it again or never delete if you are only using it once (example: TLC Email List- delete Nov. 30, 2010) Click the Save button. Your new list will appear with a check mark next to it. Click the Next button. 3
Click the radio button next to Import my list from a file on my computer. Click the Next button. 4
Go to the File to Upload text box and click the Browse button. The Choose file dialog box opens. Click on the file you wish to upload and click the Open button. The File to Upload box will now show the file that will be uploaded. Click the Submit Data button. 5
At the Permission Confirmation Checklist screen, put a check mark in all boxes. Click the Submit button. The message Congratulations! Your import has begun. will appear. The larger the list the longer it may take to import. Click on the Contacts tab to see your list. 6
Step 3: Create an Email Using the BCCC Template Click on the Home tab to return to Constant Contact s home page. NOTE: Do not click on Create an Email. You will be using an email template that has already been created by the College. Click on View all my emails. 7
Click on Email Name to sort alphabetically. Locate 0-Bucks Letter Template. Click on copy icon to the left of the 0-Bucks Letter Template. Go to the Email Name: text box and enter a name for your email message. Click the Next button. 8
At the Email Message Settings screen, enter the appropriate information for the Subject:, From Name:, From Email Address:, and the Reply Email Address: text boxes. Click the Next button. NOTE: If your name is not in the From or Reply Email Address list, you will need to click on Verify more email addresses and enter your Bucks email address. You will be sent an email message to your email account saying that you must open and confirm to be added to the list. Step 4: Edit the Template The Bucks email template opens. The template is broken down into blocks. To edit each block click the Edit Block Icon. Type and edit your information just as you would in Microsoft Word. Click the Save button. When finished, click the Save & Continue button. *Note: All emails to students must include the Do Not Unsubscribe Below text box. 9
Step 5: Select an Email List On the list page, scroll and look for your email list. For this tutorial we will select TLC Email List. Click the check box to select it. Click Next. Step 6: Schedule Email Delivery Date If you are not ready to schedule your email yet. Click Draft. If you are ready to schedule a delivery date and time for your email, click Scheduled for and enter the date and time that the email is to be sent. When finished, click the Finish button. 10
The Emails: Details page appears with the following message: Your email has been successfully scheduled. Review details of your email here including which list of people will receive the email and when. To preview the email message before sending, click the Preview button. If you need to change the delivery date, click the Edit Date link. Tips when using Constant Contact: 1. You can send a test email message to yourself or others before you schedule it. Just open your email, click the preview button, and in the email address box type in the email address and click send. You can send a test email to up to 5 people. Separate each address by using a coma (, ). 2. You can edit your email as long as it is in DRAFT mode. 3. You can check who has opened your email and when as well as any email bounces by clicking on the Reports link under the Emails tab. 11
4. If you include links in the body of your email, such as www.bucks.edu/tlc, (the Technology Learning Center s website) you can also check how many click-throughs occurred. In other words, the report will tell how many people clicked on the link to visit the TLC s website. This is important in the case of emails to students who may have forwarded their student email account to another (hotmail, yahoo, etc.) email account. Constant Contact can only count the emails opened if they are opened in the account to which they were first sent (BucksMail), but can t count opens after forwarding. However, it CAN count the click-throughs on links regardless of whether or not the email was forwarded. Example of Email with Link: 12