Constant Contact Builds Partner, Customer BasesConstant Contact Builds Partner, Customer Bases

Constant Contact, a provider of marketing and survey tools for SMBs, has upped the ante by integrating its product offerings with social media and marketing services from the likes of HootSuite, Yelp, and Foursquare.HootSuite, which makes a social network management tool, has partnered with Constant Contact, allowing users to share Constant Contact e-mail campaigns through HootSuite with a single click. A drop-down "share options" bar lets users share e-mails individually or all at once over multiple social networks. Also, Yola, a website builder and hosting service for small businesses, has teamed up with Constant Contact. Soon, those who use both services will be able to capture customer information via a "Join My Mailing List" widget.

Meanwhile, Constant Contact is integrating NutshellMail, a free service that lets users manage all their social media accounts in one place and at one time, with Yelp, Foursquare, and Citysearch. NutshellMail organizes and compiles data from multiple social networking sites, sending it in a single interactive e-mail "digest." Through e-mail, users can track customer reviews and view and respond to Friend requests, messages, Wall posts, newsfeeds, Twitter lists, and other social site updates.

In September, Constant Contact launched Social Stats, which allows SMBs to gauge the success of their e-mail marketing campaigns from a social networking point of view. After sending an e-mail campaign, users can view social share data--how many people liked an e-mail newsletter, shared it, Tweeted it, etc. A graphical presentation of the info makes it easy to see at a glance how a marketing campaign is faring among users of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites.

Constant Contact has been growing steadily. The Waltham, Mass.-based company now boasts more than 400,000 customers throughout the United States and is opening an office in San Francisco. A spokeswoman for the company says the decision to unveil a new site was fueled by a desire to become a more active participant in the West Coast technology community, where social-media innovation is rife.