How to Use Constant Contact to Run and Fill a Paid Event

The short answer: create the event under Channels, Events, fill in the basics, set up tickets, add-ons and promo codes, build the registration form with the marketing opt-in box ticked on and a list chosen, connect Stripe or PayPal and decide who pays the platform fee, activate the event, send the invitation from the event's Emails card, and send follow-ups to registrants only, having priced tickets net of the processor fee and the 3.5% platform fee (event payments article).

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An event is one of the few marketing jobs with a hard deadline and a number everyone understands: seats filled. Constant Contact's event tool keeps the registration page, the ticket sales and the emails in one dashboard, so the invitation already knows the date, the venue and the link. For the plans and how billing works, see the Constant Contact glossary entry.

Work these out first:

1. The net ticket price. For example, a $50 workshop ticket paid through Stripe costs 2.9% x $50 + $0.30 = $1.75 in Stripe fees and 3.5% x $50 = $1.75 in Constant Contact's platform fee for events created from 1 August, so $50 - $3.50 = $46.50 reaches you if you absorb both (event payments article, read on 24 October 2026). Through PayPal the processor fee is 3.49% plus $0.49.
2. The lists you already have. Past attendees, customers and newsletter subscribers are the invitation audience. Check which of them opted in to marketing before you pick lists in step 7.
3. The target. Write down seats available and registrations you need by which date, so the event dashboard's numbers mean something when you look at them.

Step 1: Create the event

Click Channels, then Events, then Create an event. The event saves as a draft at any time, and nothing is public until you activate it, per the event creation guide. If you step away, click Go to dashboard and Save changes.

Step 2: Fill in the basics

Rename the internal file name in the upper left (registrants never see it), then add the title and description, location, date and time, and a contact for questions. An in-person or a virtual event both use the same flow. Click Continue.

Step 3: Set tickets, add-ons and promo codes

On the Tickets, add-ons, and codes tab, click Create, Ticket, and set name, price, quantity and a per-order limit. You can set a sale date range, show remaining quantity, make one ticket required, generate printable tickets, or hide a ticket until a code is entered, which is a clean way to run an early-bird or partner price. Add-ons sell extras at registration; promo codes discount the order or selected tickets, by amount or percentage, within dates you choose (event creation guide).

Step 4: Build the registration form, with the opt-in

On Form Setup, block duplicate registrations from the same address, and tick "Allow registrants to opt in to marketing communications", choosing the list that opted-in registrants join. Constant Contact recommends it, and it matters legally: the GDPR defines consent as a freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication by statement or clear affirmative action (Article 4(11), EUR-Lex). A registration is consent to the event, not to your newsletter; the separate box is what lets you mail people afterwards. Add form fields per ticket where only some ticket types need them.

Step 5: Connect payments and choose who pays the fee

On the Payments tab, choose whether Constant Contact's platform fee is added to the registrant's total or deducted from your revenue; the processor's own fee is always yours. Pick the currency, then Connect a Stripe or PayPal account. Stripe takes cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Link; PayPal can add Venmo and Pay Later where PayPal deems you eligible (event payments article). A free event needs no processor.

Step 6: Activate

Click Activate from the event page, the event dashboard or the campaign list. If anything required is missing, a checklist appears and each item opens the field to fix. After launch, the "Accepting new registrations" toggle pauses sign-ups without taking the page down.

Step 7: Send the invitation

On the event dashboard, open Event Tools, click the Emails card, choose Invitation and the Event Invitation Basic template. The invitation guide explains that synced blocks pull the title, image and description from the event, so you edit them in the event editor, not in the email. Click Continue to choose lists and schedule, and send a test to up to 5 addresses first. Reporting on opens, clicks, accepts and declines appears on the event dashboard.

Step 8: Follow up with registrants only

For parking details, a reminder or a thank-you with a survey, use the Emails card again and choose Follow-up message; it goes only to people who registered (registrant email guide). It reaches primary registrants only, and the guide is explicit that collecting a guest's email address does not give you permission to mail them; if you need every attendee, make each register individually.

Step 9: Let the Campaign Builder draft the promotion

On Standard and Premium, the Campaign Builder turns a goal into a plan. Click Create, Build a campaign, pick the goal, describe the event in a sentence or two, choose four weeks or a custom span between one day and 12 weeks, and select the activities: emails, social posts, SMS. It generates drafts with suggested send dates. Treat them as drafts: check every date against the event, every claim against the event page, then customise and schedule from the Multi-channel tab yourself.

What the knowledge base warns about

• Guests are not subscribers. Guest addresses collected at registration carry no permission to email.
• Synced blocks are read-only in the email. Edit details in the event, and every connected email updates.
• The fee date. Events created before 1 August carry a 2.9% platform fee, those created on or after it 3.5%, per the event payments article.
• Missing fields block activation. The checklist lists them; nothing goes live until it is clear.

The Campaign Builder is built to produce more campaign activities, and every extra email is one more send against your allowance. The generated plan is the vendor's idea of enough; your seat count is the real one. Stop the sequence once the event is full.

FAQ

Can I charge different prices to different groups?

Yes. Create several tickets, and hide the special-price ticket until a promo code is entered, which reveals it, per the event creation guide.

Can I stop registrations without deleting the event?

Yes. Switch off "Accepting new registrations" at the top of the dashboard; visitors see that registration is not open.

Who receives a follow-up message?

Only primary registrants of that event. People who were invited but did not register, and guests they brought, are not included.