Abstract
Units across the university use email to market to external audiences, including prospective students and parents, alumni, donors, corporate or foundation partners, and the like. Even where it might be convenient for university units or stakeholders to see our unit activities as separate, other stakeholders and the government see our activities as stemming from a singular source. Today, marketing email data is housed in many formats across the communications landscape at the university, and inconsistent approaches to data management presents challenges regarding list maintenance and the security of private user information. Further, without a centralized repository for user information there is not a reliable record of when our stakeholders have been contacted, why they have been contacted, in what format, by whom, and what their response to that contact has been including opt-out/unsubscribe.
The current decentralized approach to managing marketing email:
- Jeopardizes email reputation and goodwill
- Threatens significant legal risk
- Creates redundant spend on email marketing tools
- Lacks data management and governance
A new initiative is exploring a centralized approach to address these issues and coordinate marketing email for the university. The central approach focuses on support for the technical administration and shared best practices while allowing units to maintain their autonomy and focus on their marketing activities. Learn more about the recommendations and how your unit can be involved as this initiative develops.