Constant Contact

Last updated
Constant Contact, Inc.
Type Private
Industry Online marketing
Founded1995;28 years ago (1995) (as Roving Software)
Massachusetts, U.S.
Headquarters Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$331.7 million (2014)
Increase2.svgUS$19.8 million (2014)
Increase2.svgUS$14.3 million (2014)
Number of employees
1,235
Website www.constantcontact.com
Footnotes /references
As of January 2015. [1] [2] [3]

Constant Contact, Inc. is an online marketing company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with additional offices in Loveland, Colorado; and New York, New York.

Contents

The company was founded in 1995 by Randy Parker [4] and was later sold to Endurance International in 2015. As of 2021 it had been acquired by ClearLake Investments. [5]

History

The company was founded as Roving Software in 1995, taking its present name in 2004. [6]

In May 2008, Constant Contact's first acquisition was e2M Systems, an Event Management System for workshops, seminars and conferences of all sizes.

In May 2010, Constant Contact acquired NutshellMail, [7] a free tool that lets users monitor their social media accounts from their email. As reported by Mashable.com, [8] Constant Contact recently released other social media features, such as Social Stats, which lets users see how often their emails or events have been shared on social media platforms.[ citation needed ]

On February 16, 2011, Constant Contact acquired social CRM start-up Bantam Live. [9]

In 2012, Constant Contact acquired two companies. On January 19, they announced the acquisition of CardStar, a mobile loyalty application. [10] On June 13, they also acquired digital storefront provider SinglePlatform for approximately $65 million. [11]

In April 2014, Constant Contact announced the launch of Toolkit, an all-in-one online marketing platform that integrates multi-channel marketing options - including email, social, mobile, and Web – to drive customer campaigns of all types. The toolkit offers 15 different campaign types along with real-time reporting metrics. [12] 2014 also saw the launch of Constant Contact's Small Business Innovation Program, an accelerator designed to help entrepreneurs and startups create products and services for small businesses. The program is hosted in the company's 30,000 square foot InnoLoft office space, located in the Waltham, MA headquarters. [13]

In November 2015, Constant Contact was acquired for $1.1 billion by Endurance International. [14]

In February 2021, Clearlake Capital (who acquired Endurance International) announced an investment of $400 million as a joint venture with Siris Capital, and the spin-out of Constant Contact as a standalone business [15]

In August 2021, Constant Contact acquired the marketing automation and CRM system SharpSpring. [16]

Services

Self-promotion

In 2007, the company was criticized by blogger Darren Barefoot on the grounds that its current and former employees responded deceptively to negative reviews of its products, services, and business practices. They posted positive comments about the company while concealing their affiliation with Constant Contact. [17] [18]

The company spokesperson Kevin Mullins reportedly acknowledged that Constant Contact employees had posted the comments on Barefoot's site, but said "They acted outside our corporate policy. They were disciplined, absolutely. And obviously, we educated them about the proper way to blog and to fully disclose who you are. We believe in being honest and up front about who you are." [19]

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References

  1. ↑ "Constant Contact Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Financial Results". Constant Contact. 2015-01-29. Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
  2. ↑ "Yahoo Finance Key Statistics". Finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  3. ↑ "Yahoo Finance News-Business". Finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  4. ↑ Barry, Colin (2 March 2018). "The Colossal Spider Web of Constant Contact Alumni". VentureFizz. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  5. ↑ Team, Trefis. "Endurance Finalizes Constant Contact Acquisition, Lays Off 15% Of The Staff". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  6. ↑ "Roving Software Changes Company Name to Constant Contact; Aligns Company and Product in a Single Recognized Brand Name". Business Wire. 2004-05-18. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  7. ↑ Rao, Leena (May 24, 2010). "Constant Contact Acquires Social Media Inbox Startup Nutshell Mail". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  8. ↑ Van, Jennifer (2010-09-16). "Constant Contact to Help E-mail Marketers Track Social Behaviors [EXCLUSIVE]". Mashable.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  9. ↑ "Constant Contact Buys Social CRM Startup Bantam Live For $15 Million In Cash". TechCrunch. 2011-02-16. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  10. ↑ "Constant Contact, Inc. - Constant Contact Acquires CardStar, Inc.; Adds Mobile Loyalty Technology to its Suite of Online Marketing Tools to Help Small Businesses Grow". Investor.constantcontact.com. 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  11. ↑ "Constant Contact Acquires Digital Storefront™ Provider SinglePlatform | Constant Contact Media Newsroom". News.constantcontact.com. 2012-06-13. Archived from the original on 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  12. ↑ "Survey: Multi-Channel Marketing Leads to Customer Engagement". Small Business Trends. 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  13. ↑ "Constant Contact invites four startups to its new InnoLoft workspace in Waltham". BetaBoston/The Boston Globe. 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
  14. ↑ "Email marketing giant Constant Contact acquired for $1 billion". VentureBeat. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  15. ↑ Group, Clearlake Capital Group; Siris Capital. "Clearlake And Siris Affiliates Re-Establish Digital Marketing Industry Pioneer Constant Contact As Standalone Company". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2021-11-25.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Jepma, William (2021-09-02). "Constant Contact Completes its Acquisition of SharpSpring". Top CRM and Customer Relationship Management, Vendors, Companies, & Solutions. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  17. ↑ Zacks, Rebecca (2007-09-13). "Constant Contact Updates IPO Filings, Acknowledges Employees' Bad Blog Behavior". Xconomy Boston. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  18. ↑ Barefoot, Darren (2007-05-10). "Constant Contact, If You're Going to Post Fake Comments, Leave the Office". DarrenBarefoot.com. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  19. ↑ "Constant Contact Updates IPO Filings, Acknowledges Employees' Bad Blog Behavior". xconomy. 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
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