Answered by guest expert, Kim MacPherson, President of Inbox Interactive

Question:
I'm a print production professional that works closely with my marketing associates to develop and deliver printed marketing materials. Our company is exploring using e-mail marketing. I normally do all the sourcing with outside suppliers and we are trying to decide who will source our e-mail marketing efforts. In other companies, who normally handles this job?

Answer:
Most companies will ask their marketing department to handle this. They should be well versed in managing the brand and defining all the necessary components of a campaign. In addition, the marketing department will ensure that their e-mail marketing efforts integrate well with any offline efforts (such as direct mail, print ads, billboards, etc.) If the marketing department has no experience in e-mail marketing, they should definitely begin by educating themselves on the subject. They can check out my book, "Permission-Based E-Mail Marketing That Works!" or Hans Peter Brondmo's book, "The Engaged Customer: The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing."

We are also finding that many companies employ their IT department to handle the e-mail marketing efforts. The reasoning is the belief that the electronic space and all things related are really part of IT territory. We've heard that sometimes when the marketing department does get involved when IT is at the helm, there can be some internal strife as their participation can be perceived as a threat. And in some cases, the folks in the IT department are incredibly busy and it's sometimes difficult to get them to put the company's e-mail efforts as a priority.

About Kim MacPherson and Inbox Interactive:
Kim MacPherson is President of Inbox Interactive (www.inboxinteractive.com), a full-service e-mail marketing agency located in Bethesda, Maryland.

Kim MacPherson
Inbox Interactive, Inc.

phone: 301 654 7977
e-mail: kim@inboxinteractive.com