Gail F. Goodman

Founder of Constant Contact

• Born: 1960
• Place of Birth: place unknown

Primary Company/Organization: Constant Contact

Introduction

Gail F. Goodman was chairperson, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of the e-mail marketing company Constant Contact, Inc., based in Waltham, Massachusetts, and founded in 1998. A small business expert and visionary, Goodman revolutionized the way that small businesses and organizations effectively maintain relationships with their customers, clients, and members through e-mail and other marketing campaigns. Constant Contact provides small businesses with e-mail marketing, event marketing, social media marketing, and online survey tools and became an industry leader in online marketing, used by more than 650,000 small organizations worldwide and earning more than $332 million in revenue in 2015. In 2007, it became a publicly traded company, and in 2016, Goodman shepherded its acquisition.

Early Life

Gail F. Goodman was born in 1960, the youngest of four children. She earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's of business administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 1987.

Life's Work

Goodman launched Constant Contact, Inc. (formerly known as Roving Software) in April 1998. In starting this business, she was aware that small companies were strapped for time and needed an affordable and easy way to maintain a loyal customer base. She devised Constant Contact as an online marketing tool to help small businesses, associations, and nonprofits with their e-mail marketing, particularly with permission-based e-mail and stopping spam. The goal was to help entrepreneurs connect with their customers, clients, and members through the most efficient online marketing tools: e-mail marketing, online surveys, event marketing, social media marketing, and “deal tools” such as coupons. Other tools included personal coaching and support, guidance in creating professional-looking e-mail newsletters, and access to the latest industry information and education for entrepreneurs to learn about e-mail marketing.

Goodman's business philosophy is that entrepreneurs should maintain a useful dialogue with their customers, with a goal of building successful, lasting customer relationships and referrals. Because this strategy is more likely to be used by small businesses, Goodman's geared her software toward these companies; 70 percent of Constant Contact's clients had fewer than ten employees. Goodman broke new ground not only by reinventing ways entrepreneurs and their employees could target customers, but also by providing this means of communication in an affordable program that is easy to learn and well-supported. For example, Goodman provided her Constant Contact clients with live customer support at rates of $15 or $30 per month, a step virtually unheard of in electronic marketing at the time.

Goodman's expertise in electronic marketing is reflected in her product. For example, Constant Contact assures its clients high e-mail deliverability rates due to strong partnerships with Internet service providers (ISPs), a no-tolerance spam policy, and a leadership role in organizations such as the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC). Goodman worked with the ESPC on Project Lumos, a project oriented toward finding an industry-wide spam solution. After going public on the NASDAQ exchange in 2007, Constant Contact expanded into other areas, including social network marketing campaigns.

Constant Contact experienced some shortfalls, with less successful showings in door-to-door sales and radio endorsement. Goodman steered Constant Contact toward coupon-based “deal” marketing in its SaveLocal project, competing with rival companies Groupon and LivingSocial. SaveLocal charged business customers between $1 and $3 per coupon. With such strategies, Constant Contact grew steadily under Goodman, including acquisitions. Companies acquired by Constant Contact in 2012 included CardStar, a mobile customer-loyalty and location-based service platform, for which Constant Contact paid an undisclosed amount, and SinglePlatform, a web designer for which Constant Contact was reported to have paid up to $100 million.

Constant Contact was ranked number 134 on Deloitte's 2010 Technology Fast 500. Goodman remained chair of the board at Constant Contact for many years. Constant Contact was acquired by Endurance International Group for over a billion dollars in 2016; at that time, Goodman left the organization.

In 2017, Goodman became a cofounder and chief product officer at Pepperlane, which helps mothers become and remain entrepreneurs. She has also subsequently served as a board member for Entrepreneurship for All, Lola Travel, Mass Challenge, Mindbody, and Shopify. She was also self-employed as an adviser and mentor to entrepreneurs.

Personal Life

Goodman married C. David "Dave" Swindell and lives in Massachusetts. She served as a member of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council and a member of the board of directors of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

In 2001, Goodman was inducted into the MITX Innovation Hall of Fame and named one of Boston's Top 30 Innovators by the Boston Globe. She was the 2008 New England Regional winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2009, she was named Executive of the Year at the American Business Awards, and Constant Contact was ranked Best Overall Company at the 2009, 2010, and 2011 American Business Awards.

In 2012, Goodman published Engagement Marketing: How Small Business Wins in a Socially Connected World. She speaks frequently at industry events about “engagement marketing,” her formula for developing and tracking effective small business strategies through online tools. However, not all of Goodman's successful strategies are founded in online technology; much of her small business knowledge begins with the visionary expertise she developed in business school. For example, one marketing tool that she emphasizes is teamwork. Goodman theorizes that even a mediocre strategy can win if executed perfectly, whereas a perfect strategy will suffer if executed poorly.

Bibliography

"About Gail." Gail F. Goodman Website, www.gailgoodman.org/about. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024.

"Endurance Finalizes Constant Contact Acquisition, Lays Off 15% of the Staff." Forbes, 19 Feb. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/02/19/endurance-finalizes-constant-contact-acquisition-lays-off-15-of-the-staff/#1dcd19b318ff. Accessed 28 Oct. 2019.

Freedman, David H. “A Groupon Alternative Aims to Offer Small Businesses a Better Deal.” New York Times, 15 Mar. 2012: B5. Print.

Goodman, Gail F. Engagement Marketing: How Small Business Wins in a Socially Connected World. Hoboken: Wiley, 2012. Print.

Goodman, Gail F. “'Tis the Season.” Entrepreneur 34.11 (2006): 22. Print.