Constant Contact is a renowned digital and email marketing platform that helps businesses of all sizes improve their email and digital marketing efforts. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Dave Charest, Constant Contact’s Director of Small Business Success, to learn more about the company’s focus on small businesses.
Dave Charest’s Background
Dave Charest has been at Constant Contact for about 12 years now. Before that, Charest had a few experiences that helped shape his professional journey. Charest said:
“I lived in New York for about 15 years. During that time, I had been working a job that I couldn’t stomach anymore, and that led me to start my own business helping small businesses with their online marketing efforts. I realized at a certain point that I wasn’t meant to run a business, but I loved helping people with theirs. When I started looking for other opportunities, I found Constant Contact, which was the perfect fit. I moved back to the Boston area and could apply my theater background and what I had taught myself about online marketing to my role as a content marketer. Now I can talk with small businesses daily and help them grow.”
“I help small businesses succeed! My role allows me to be an educator and a resource for small businesses, marketing professionals, and nonprofits, so I spend my time talking directly with Constant Contact customers. Whether that’s moderating one of our monthly customer panel discussions or speaking at different marketing events around the country, it keeps me busy. It’s very rewarding because I get to provide them with practical marketing advice that can help them achieve their goals.”
“I also host the Be A Marketer podcast, where I invite small business owners and industry experts on the show to discuss their journeys as entrepreneurs. Through those conversations, I look for trends to help other small business marketers find inspiration and ideas to successfully market and grow their own businesses. It’s a lot of fun.”
Economy Perspective
Upon asking Charest about his perspective on people starting new businesses during the economic downturn, he shared:
“We’re living in a unique time. Every day, we’re all hearing about high inflation and a possible recession, and all that noise can make it seems like now is a bad time to start a business – but that’s not really true. Almost every time there is a significant downturn, small businesses start to skyrocket, and that’s because tough times tend to breed opportunities. We are seeing a similar wave of optimism from future small business leaders this year.”
“For example, we just published a report called Small Business Now, which explored whether a recession is impacting the appetite for starting new businesses. We found that 45 percent of consumers we polled would pursue becoming a small business owner or recommend that path to someone else during a recession. Americans aren’t just thinking about small business ownership as a fallback option – they’re actively looking for opportunities to turn their passions and hobbies into side hustles and full-fledged businesses.”
“It’s also easy to assume that hesitancy to start a business during a recession stems from a lack of capital. But, consumers we polled told us they felt secure jumping into entrepreneurship without a huge nest egg. About half would feel comfortable starting a business with less than $10,000 in savings. When you think about it like that, suddenly, a recession doesn’t feel like as big of a barrier to entry.”
“No matter what happens with the economy, small businesses are resilient. They’ve been around for a long time, and they’ve been through tough times before. There is a lot of doom and gloom in the headlines, but from the conversations I’m having with small businesses across the country, it’s clear that the entrepreneurial spirit is thriving.”
“We’re seeing many Americans getting excited about jumping into small business ownership this year, and they aren’t going to let a downturn stand in their way. The future of small businesses looks very bright.”
Core Products
What are Constant Contact’s core products and features? Charest explained:
“When the company started, we were a pioneer in bringing email marketing technology to the small business space. We’ve added a lot more capabilities over the last 25+ years. Our platform helps small businesses and nonprofits build their business according to their needs.”
“Today, small businesses and nonprofits can still use Constant Contact to engage their audiences with email marketing. However, they can also send text messages, manage their social media accounts, sell products from an online store, automate messages to customers, and even use AI to create high-quality content. Our product also integrates with dozens of the most popular apps that small businesses use daily – from Shopify to Canva and Stripe.”
Customer Success Story
When asking Charest about a customer success story, he cited a few examples:
“One of my favorites is that of Ricky Carruth. He’s a top real estate agent that closes 100 deals a year without prospecting. He’s able to do that because he’s been sending a weekly email newsletter since 2007 that provides value to his subscribers and keep his business top of mind when they’re looking to make a real estate deal.”
“Another would be Gindo’s Spice of Life. This husband and wife team makes fresh and delicious hot sauces and builds deep relationships within the community. They use online marketing to connect with local farmers, work with local charities, and keep in touch with customers through their newsletter. These relationships are keys to their success story.”
“One more for good measure. Mike Bausch, the co-founder of Andolini’s Pizzeria, offers free garlic knots to people who sign up for his email list. This drives additional sales when people come to redeem the coupon. And he uses email regularly to inform customers about giveaways, news, discounts, event info, and more, driving additional sales.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Charest’s future company goals at Constant Contact? Charest concluded:
“We exist to help the small stand tall. That means we are committed to delivering the world-class marketing tools they need to keep up, excel, and grow. Most small businesses are only marketers by necessity, so we want to do everything we can to help make marketing not feel like marketing.”
“We recently launched new AI and automation tools to help our customers save time and send more engaging messages, and I expect we will continue to grow those capabilities going forward. That technology has so much potential to be a game-changer for small businesses and nonprofits, and we’re really excited to see what they will do with it.”
