Constant Contact alternatives for service businesses: one app for customers and campaigns
Short answer: Constant Contact is an email marketing tool that many small businesses and nonprofits use for newsletters, events and promotions. If you are looking at Constant Contact alternatives because you keep copying customers from your field service or CRM tool into a separate newsletter tool, Alori is the all-in-one app for service businesses. Campaigns go out from the same app that holds your customers, quotes, jobs and invoices, so the list is always the one your team works from.
Who Constant Contact fits well
Constant Contact has served small businesses for a long time. It fits well when:
- Email newsletters are your main way to stay in touch, and you want a dedicated tool for them.
- You run events and registrations and want them next to your emails.
- Your customer records already live in a tool that syncs well with Constant Contact.
Why service owners look at Constant Contact alternatives
A heating, plumbing or cleaning company needs a few good campaigns a year, sent to the right customers. What gets in the way:
- Two customer lists. The one in your job software is current. The one in your newsletter tool is whatever you last imported.
- Segments by hand. "Customers with a maintenance plan" or "French-speaking customers" has to be rebuilt in the email tool every season.
- No link to the work. A promo goes out, people call to book, and nothing ties the call or the job back to the campaign.
Constant Contact vs Alori, side by side
| Constant Contact | Alori | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Email marketing for small businesses | The all-in-one app for a service business |
| Your list | Contacts you import or sync | Your customers in Alori; lists by tags, fields, kind or language update themselves |
| Writing the email | Templates and an editor | Trade templates, Write it with Alori, your own HTML, personal fields, a French or English version |
| Subject line test | Yes | A second subject; the one more people open goes to everyone else |
| Results | Opens, clicks and reports | Delivered, opened, clicked, unsubscribed, per person; resend to people who didn't open |
| Event registration | Yes | Not in Alori |
| Quotes, jobs, invoices, phone | Through integrations | In the same app |
What Alori replaces, and what it does not
With email campaigns, Alori replaces the newsletter tool for most service businesses:
- Campaigns from your real customer list. Send to everyone, a list, or people you pick or paste. People without an email, or who unsubscribed, are always left out.
- Lists that keep up. Make a list by tags, custom fields, active, past or prospect customers, or language. It updates itself as customers change, so next season's list is ready.
- Seasonal templates. Spring AC tune-up, Fall furnace check, Maintenance plan offer, Ask for a review and Holiday hours, or type a few words and let Alori write it.
- Send when it suits you. Send yourself a test, schedule it, or send now. Replies go to your email, or to the people you list.
- Follow up on results. See who opened and clicked, make a list of them for the next campaign, or resend to people who didn't open with a new subject.
- Your own domain. Campaigns can come from an address on your domain once you add a few records.
- Consent handled. Every email has your business name, mailing address and an Unsubscribe link, as CASL and CAN-SPAM require. The customer record shows if they are subscribed.
Alori also keeps the rest of the business in one place: customers, quotes, jobs and the phone.
What Alori does not replace: event registration, automated email series that send on their own, and social media posting from the email tool. If events are central to what you do, Constant Contact is built for that.
How to switch from Constant Contact
- Describe your business. Alori builds your app with Customers and Campaigns.
- Bring your contacts. Export your contacts from Constant Contact and paste the list into Ask Alori with "Add these customers:". Leave out anyone who unsubscribed, and only add people who agreed to get your emails.
- Tag and make lists. Tag customers by plan, service or area, then make lists by tags in Lists.
- Send your first campaign. Pick a template, add your mailing address the first time, send yourself a test, then send.
Start on the free plan, no card needed. Each campaign email uses credits; see pricing. Comparing other email tools? See the Mailchimp alternative.
FAQ
Is Alori a good Constant Contact alternative? Yes, for service businesses that want to email their own customers a few times a season, from the same app that runs quotes, jobs and invoices. If you run events through your email tool, Constant Contact is a better fit.
Can I send in English and French? Yes. Add a second language to a campaign, and make a list by language if you want to send each group its own version.
Will people who unsubscribed get my campaigns? No. People who unsubscribe, whose email is not delivered, or who mark a campaign as spam are left out of every campaign after.
Can I see who opened my email? Yes. Open the campaign to see who it was delivered to, who opened, who clicked and who unsubscribed. Some email apps hide opens, but clicks are always counted.