E-Commerce Link : E-mail Strategies for Corporate Governance
How to manage your e-mail programs across your company
January 2008 By Regina BradyThe first step you should take is to centralize the governance of your e-mail programs. Groups within your company can use e-mail, but you should establish rules and standards. Even if your company’s use of e-mail is limited, it still is advisable to develop a strategy for oversight of the e-mail channel. Here are some thoughts for an integrated approach.
Create a Road Map
Develop a grid that outlines every group that uses e-mail and the primary purpose of its communications. It might look something like this (see chart) in a typical company.
The goal is to map out all the major e-mail touchpoints. Once you’ve done this, identify a contact in each group who has primary responsibility for e-mail efforts. This is the beginning of your governance committee.
Name one person or department in your organization to be responsible for the overall administration of your company’s various e-mail efforts. This individual or business unit should have a keen understanding of the e-mail landscape, keep abreast of industry issues and trends, and have the power to make policy and decisions on the company’s use of e-mail.
Educate Groups on Can Spam and Permission Practices
You must establish standards for legal compliance with the Can Spam Act and any other laws (many of which are industry-specific) that may affect your e-mail programs. Establish levels of permission for the major types of e-mail you send and consider implementing a companywide opt-out policy.
Most of your messages fall under the Can Spam definition of “commercial messages,” and require elements such as your company’s postal address and a way for recipients to opt out of future e-mails. Is your sales department aware of this? It should be, since individual salespersons act as agents of the company and are subject to compliance with the law. Do your third-party advertising e-mail procedures include suppression of previous opt-outs from advertisers? The law defines the advertiser as the sender because the content is about its product or service; and a main requirement of Can Spam is that prior opt-out requests must be honored. It is likely that some individuals on your list previously have opted out from the advertiser.




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