Be A Marketer with Dave Charest

Wondering how to keep your marketing content fresh without constantly exhausting your brain for new ideas?💡

In episode 66 of the Be a Marketer podcast, Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, the team’s brand production coordinator, explore how AI can help you create fresh content for recurring emails and other repetitive marketing campaigns. 

Tune in to hear more about how: 

• AI can save you time and allow you to prioritize other important tasks.
• AI can help you brainstorm new ideas and even reduce procrastination. 
• Understanding trends can lead to better engagement.

👉 Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode.

Resources:

• Check out the New Customer Hub 
• Use the ​​Constant Contact Content Assistant to write email, landing page, social, and SMS content for you 
• AI in Marketing Your Business

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

It doesn’t get more authentic than the great outdoors. Matthew Polstein and Tallie Martin of the New England Outdoor Center (NEOC) like to preserve that authenticity in their marketing. 

Matthew founded NEOC over 40 years ago, offering guests in scenic Maine rafting and snowmobiling, plus lodging and an event center with scenic views of Mount Katahdin. Marketing Manager Tallie says it’s not always about making the hard sell in email communications, but connecting with the customer. 

“I'm seeing a higher click rate, and a higher opening rate for what I write in a newsletter. I'm like, Hey, this is what's up, here's what we're doing, here's what's relevant, here's what happened last weekend, here's what we're looking towards,” she says. “People are opening that rather than buy this, do this, come see that.”

On this episode of the Be a Marketer podcast, Tallie, Matthew, host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator at Constant Contact, talk about seasonality, timing communications to purchases, and using AI in email composition.

👉 From Rapids to Resorts: New England Outdoor Center Connects Customers to Nature

Additional Resources:

• Automatically generate a marketing campaign based on your goals
• Use Constant Contact’s Content Assistant to write email, landing page, social, and SMS content for you
• Visit the Constant Contact Community

Meet Today’s Guests: Tallie Martin and Matthew Polstein of New England Outdoor Center

☕ What Tallie does: Tallie is New England Outdoor Center’s Marketing Manager. In addition to managing social media and other marketing initiatives, she guides and teaches canoeing and kayaking at the center. 

💡 Key quote: “It's all authentic marketing. It’s not pushing people in an inauthentic way. It's organic.”

☕ What Matthew does: Matthew is the President of New England Outdoor Center. Operating for over 40 years, NEOC offers rafting, snowmobiling, lodging, and a world-class business center and wedding venue. 

💡 Key quote: “None of us stand alone. To small business people we often feel like we do, but we really need to make sure we take care of them, build a network of staff and supporters around us. It’s so important to have a community that incubates and grows your business.”

👋 Where to find Matthew: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find New England Outdoor Center: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Looking for ways to increase personalization and segmentation for your organization? In episode 64, Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, the team’s brand production coordinator, talk you through it. Kelsi also provides a long-awaited update on her ducks!

Tune in to hear more about: 

• How personalization and segmentation are about getting timely and relevant information to the right people. 
• Utilizing the data you do have.
• Different ways you can utilize your data.

👉 Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode.

Resources:

• Check out the New Customer Hub 
• Let contacts update their information and list preferences with the Update Profile Form
• View and edit the contact record for an individual contact in ​​Constant Contact 
• Import a list of contacts from a file or spreadsheet in ​​​​Constant Contact 

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

KiDsGyM USA focuses on gymnastics, but kids take away so much more than how to tumble. Even if students don’t go on to compete in gymnastics, it teaches them the fundamentals of any sport, and they gain confidence and self-esteem along the way, 

Since 2004, KiDsGyM USA has been giving youth an inexpensive way to build skills necessary for school and life. And one part of that is taking “can’t” out of their vocabulary. 

That attitude has served Stephanie Campbell, co-founder, CEO and Executive Director of the gym, well in the time she’s been with Constant Contact. 

With Constant Contact’s SMS capabilities, she reaches parents quickly in a way that won’t get lost in the email shuffle. She’s also found the generative AI functions helpful, fixing any verbiage that isn’t quite sitting right. 

To further her communication efficiency, Stephanie uses segmentation and tags to divide her audience between parents and different donor types. 

On this episode of the Constant Contact podcast, Be a Marketer, Stephanie, host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator at Constant Contact, tumble through the ways KiDsGyM uses Constant Contact to get donations and inform its community. 

👉 Understanding contact segmentation in Constant Contact

Additional Resources:

• Create and manage tags in Constant Contact
• Use the AI Content Generator to write email, landing page, social, and SMS content for you
• Get Started with SMS Marketing
  
  

Meet Today’s Guest: Stephanie Campbell of KiDsGyM USA

☕ What she does: Stephanie is co-founder, CEO, and Executive Director of KiDsGyM USA in College Park, GA. The non-profit puts fitness principles into practice through gymnastics and education programs that build healthy mental and physical lifestyles for children and youth. 

💡 Key quote: “If you're limited in what you even know exists, then how far can you go? How far can you explore life? There's so much available, but you've got to be willing to put in the time. You've got to be willing to learn and be educated.” 

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find KiDsGyM USA: Website | Instagram | YouTube

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

This episode is a little different! Kelsi Carter, the team’s brand production coordinator, puts our very own Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, in the hot seat for a change! Tune in to hear Dave share his unique journey, from his experiences with theater (and a short-lived but not forgotten time as a bass player) to marketing and his passion for helping small businesses succeed. 

👉 Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode.

Resources:

• Constant Contact New Customer Hub
• Small Business Hub
• Constant Contact Blog
• New Marketer
• Experienced Marketer

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

How can you amplify your marketing plan? Start by looking at what’s worked in the past.

Rich Cruz consults for Greater Chicago Consulting, Inc., a prominent management consulting firm in the Midwest. He helps his clients improve their performance by conducting job analysis, training, and development.

“It's a people-first approach. Get to know the person that you're going after and create those personas based on that,” Rich says. “What would your ideal customer look like? What's their communication style? Where are they hanging out? What do they like?”

For Rich’s clients, he ensures their email list has integrity, meaning customers have really opted in. From there, it’s all a matter of analyzing what works and replicating those results. 

On this episode of the Constant Contact podcast, Be a Marketer, Rich and hosts Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator at Constant Contact, share the marketing strategies that have worked well for him over the years.

👉 Need a Constant Contact Certified Partner to help you out? Check out this directory to find a partner near you.

👉 Are you with an agency that frequently provides Constant Contact as a solution? Learn how to become a Certified Partner here and unlock exclusive benefits. 

Additional Resources:

• Constant Contact Professional Services, including template design services
• The Ultimate Guide to Constant Contact Integrations
• Using Constant Contact SEO tools
• Create and activate an event in ​​Constant Contact

Meet Today’s Guest: Rich Cruz with Greater Chicago Consulting

☕ What he does: Rich is a consultant helping companies improve their marketing strategy. He looks at historical data, Google Analytics, and customer demographics to figure out how to best promote products. He uses Constant Contact for email marketing and SMS campaigns. 

💡 Key quote: “The [email] list is critical. That’s what drives a lot of our commerce. We just get a lot of direct hits from the email. People look forward to it, and boom, they go right into it. We've also segmented out to like some of our best customers, and some people who haven't bought it for a while and try to regenerate sales from them.”

👋 Where to find him: Website | LinkedIn

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Marketing is the machine that never stops running, even for a seasonal business. Mark Chinsky, co-owner of Enjou Chocolat in Morristown, New Jersey, experiences drastic seasonal fluctuations that revolve around holidays. 

During the quieter seasons, Mark focuses on making technology work for him. His prior experience in the direct mail industry showed him the value of marketing — and when to do it. 

“A lot of people cut marketing when things get tight. [But] that’s the last thing you cut,” he advises.  “If you cut marketing, then you might as well close your doors. That’s where your future revenue is going to come from.” Mark goes on to explain that the slow season is one of the best times to market — when the cash is flowing and you’re incredibly busy, you won’t have as much time to focus on marketing.

On this episode of Constant Contact’s Be a Marketer podcast, Mark and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, talk about how automating tasks lets your marketing tools do the heavy lifting for you. 

👉 Check out Constant Contact’s professional marketing services to take design off your plate. 

Additional Resources:

• Getting started with the Automation Path Builder
• Using Constant Contact SEO tools
• How to Set Up an Effective Automated Welcome Email Series (with Examples)
• Set up to automatically resend to contacts who don’t open their email feature in Constant Contact

Meet Today’s Guest: Mark Chinsky of Enjou Chocolat

☕ What he does: Rather than retiring from the software development industry, Mark and his co-owner Rose chose to buy a chocolate company. They recently bought Enjou Chocolat, a beloved 40-year staple in Morristown, New Jersey, that does retail, wholesale, and corporate chocolate production.   

💡 Key quote: “A lot of people cut marketing first when things get tight. That’s the last thing you cut. [If] you cut marketing then you might as well close your doors because that’s where your future revenue is going to come from. And the best time to market is when times are slow.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Enjoy Chocolat: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Are you part of a nonprofit and want to use SMS but aren’t sure how or even if it would be beneficial for your organization? On this episode, Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, the team’s brand production coordinator, talk you through it.

Listen in to hear how to: 

• Maximize Event Attendance: Learn how you can boost event attendance through SMS reminders, like Nicholas at the Parsippany Library.
• Provide Timely Updates for All Audiences:  Delivering timely and relevant information via SMS to various stakeholders such as volunteers, donors, the community, vendors, etc. is a powerful tool.
• Engage with SMS: Delve into the different strategies for using SMS marketing, from recruiting volunteers, coordinating volunteer activities, engaging members, and sending renewal reminders to educational outreach. 

Resources:

• How to Use SMS for Nonprofits
• Get Started with SMS
• Add the SMS marketing add-on to your Constant Contact email plan

👉 Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode.

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions

Libraries are often the heartbeat of the communities they serve — and Parsippany Public Library in New Jersey is no exception, offering much more than just reading materials. 

Head of Information Services Nicholas Jackson has been using Constant Contact for several years, both to distribute the library’s newsletter and to text workshop registrants. 

Before Constant Contact, the library had a problem: People would sign up for workshops and then forget to actually attend. So the library enabled attendee text messages to send reminders the night before and the day of the event. While not everyone checks their email constantly, most people check their texts immediately. Attendance problem solved.

Above all else, Nicholas’s top marketing tip is to stay consistent. That consistency applies to the look and feel of your graphics — like fonts and color schemes — as well as to your marketing plan and analysis of what’s working and what’s not. 

On this episode of Constant Contact’s podcast, Be a Marketer, Nicholas and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss all the ways that Constant Contact has helped spread awareness and drive foot traffic into Parsippany’s libraries.  

👉 Get started with SMS marketing in Constant Contact.  

Additional Resources:

• Insert Canva images into your Constant Contact campaigns
• Get started with SMS marketing in Constant Contact
• Creating accessible emails with Constant Contact

Meet Today’s Guest: Nicholas Jackson of Parsippany Public Library

☕ What he does: Nicholas is the Head of Information Services at Parsippany Public Library in New Jersey. Nicholas oversees marketing and PR, plus programming, technology, collections, books, ebooks, and media. He also manages the the Library of Things program where people can borrow items like hotspots, Chromebooks, tabletop games, sewing machines, and more.

💡 Key quote: “Our newsletter is the most powerful advertising-marketing-PR tool. We noticed this when we did an author talk back in 2022. We asked when people signed up, How’d you find out about this? And over 40% said, In the newsletter. We realized that we need to make the newsletter, inviting, helpful, and friendly.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Parsippany Public Library: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Do you want to know when someone signs up for your email list? On this episode, Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, the team’s brand production coordinator, talk you through it.

This week on the Be A Marketer podcast, learn how to be notified when someone subscribes to your email list so you can keep track of your list's growth. Also, Kelsi shares some exciting news about how she’s going to be a duck mom of three. 

Listen in to hear how to: 

• Use the Constant Contact mobile app to create emails, social posts, manage your contacts, and track new subscribers.
• Check your Constant Contact reports to see how well your list is growing and where people are coming from, providing insight as to how you can make improvements moving forward.
• Set up email notifications for new contacts and unsubscribes to focus on your contact list growth. 

Resources:

• Receive email updates when contacts opt-in or unsubscribe in Constant Contact
• An overview of Constant Contact's mobile app
• Creative Ways to Grow Your Email List

Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode. 

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions