We have great pleasure in announcing our newest partner Constant Contact, and as they’re sponsoring their first dinner with us tonight (Propercorn’s co-founder is speaking at a dinner hosted at Tom’s Kitchen, St Katharine Docks), we thought we’d catch up with Minal Patel, their Senior Marketing Manager to find out more about the company and what they do.

What is Constant Contact?
Constant Contact is an online marketing platform for small and medium organisations. Anchored by our world-class email marketing product, our tools help SMEs to generate repeat business and find customers. We also partner with marketing agencies and consultants who help SMEs with their marketing – we provide the tools; our partners provide the services. This partner programme is designed to give agencies and consultants the support they need to grow their client base and sell more services. Our local team is on hand to work closely with our partners to provide help with marketing, business development and insight in to the world of SMEs. We’re a fun bunch to work with and we’re waiting to help your business flourish.

What’s your role?
I’m the senior marketing manager – but I don’t just manage. I roll my sleeves up and get stuck in to projects to support our existing partners and also to find new partners we can help. Working for me is a great guy called Colin Price. He makes sure our partners have the marketing tools they need to find new clients and that they have the training they need to be successful, and in turn, that they can help their SME customers be successful.

What were you doing before you joined Constant Contact?
I worked for a company called SMART Technologies. They make interactive technologies for education and business and I was part of the EMEA marketing team. I had a lot of cool gadgets to play with – I’m a tech geek at heart!

What were the firm’s [or industry’s] biggest developments in 2014? 
In 2014, after extensive testing, Constant Contact introduced the first all-in-one marketing platform specifically for small businesses, integrating together all our tools—things like email, social, event management, and more—to bring SMEs everything they need to drive repeat customers and reach new ones.

What will the rest of 2015 bring?
Constant Contact in the UK is going from strength to strength. We have a strong base of partners who do a great job of helping their clients. We know that we can support more businesses, like those of our partners, to make the lives of SME owners easier. Our focus will be to make this happen.

Convince someone to use your service in under 50 words.
If I had had Constant Contact when I worked at SMART Technologies, I know our marketing ROI would have been much stronger. If you’re not a tech geek, like me, or simply don’t have the time, then having the support of our partners is invaluable. For those who prefer to do it themselves, our tools are built to be easy and affordable, giving anyone the opportunity to be their own marketer. Digital marketing is not an option for SMES, it’s a must.

What’s your favourite London restaurant?
This is a tricky one – there are so many. I think I’ll have to say Benares. I went there with my husband for a birthday treat for him. All of it was delicious. Although, given that I love food, pretty much anywhere in London is great.

If you are interested in becoming a TableCrowd partner to #MeetandEat with our community, then please get in touch at hello@tablecrowd.com. Here’s a full list of our partners.