Roving CEO Gail Goodman

Every e-marketing guru this side of Mars knows the importance of good customer communications. But does the e-marketing department have to take up an entire floor with dozens of employees and computer servers, or could it be outsourced to a third party.

Needham based Roving Software is hoping companies choose the latter, and utilize its email marketing management software, Constant Contact. The brainchild of Roving's founder and CTO Randy Parker, Constant Contact enables companies to build permission-based email campaigns, choosing their own database of prospects and customizing the marketing message-all for a low monthly fee.

Roving targets small and medium sized e-businesses, companies that require affordability and user-friendliness. "We understand the self-service model and designed the product with ease-of-use in mind," says Gail Goodman, Roving Software CEO.

While it sells its service directly, Roving has also been able to partner with some big names. In October of 2001, Roving announced an alliance with Staples to deliver marketing solutions to the office supply giant's small business customers. A similar relationship was announced in December of 2001 with Pitney Bowes.

Although some tech-marketing pundits have sneered at the viability of Internet advertising, the Kelsey Group, an analytical/research firm, stated in a recent report that an estimated 11 percent of small businesses were using e-mail marketing last year [2000].

By the end of 2001, Kelsey predicts that some16 percent of small businesses (more than 1.6 million) will use email marketing in one form or another. About 42 percent of small businesses will likely use e-mail for marketing purposes by 2005.

Roving's current product is essentially a newsletter, but CEO Goodman envisions more down the road. "We definitely have been adding new functionality," she says. "Soon customers will be able to add a survey or a coupon in addition to the newsletters they are currently able to distribute."