Internet Decisions:

Where Do They Belong?

By Robert M. Mechlin

If your answer isn't the Marketing Department, you need to read this.

The Internet: What does that word mean to you? Is it some nebulous technology that you are tired of hearing about? Do you not like computers anyway and just tell your MIS department to handle it? Well the Internet (or the World Wide Web the Internet’s more user friendly subset) is not some mythological beast like the unicorn. There is nothing to fear. It is actually quite simple.

The Internet is just a bunch of computers (approximately two and a half million) that are connected together like the network you have in your office. Information available through this new medium is only there if someone (human) has put it there. So it’s not witchcraft. However there is a lot of information available. If you were to get a dedicated phone line and set aside a computer to be accessible to the Internet, you would be part of the Internet. (no smoke, no mirrors).

Think of the Internet as an unlimited resource for anything you need to do with your company. You can do research, find out airline flight schedules, get the latest news or just have some fun. The information available to you through the World Wide Web is only as limited as your imagination and what has been stored in the thousands of Internet servers throughout the world.

I won’t bore you with a long discussion of the Internet and how it works but just understand that it does work and should be figured into your marketing plans. Therein lies the discussion that began this discussion.

Let me give you and example that illustrates the point. Let’s say you wanted to have a company brochure produced (The paper analog of a Web site!). Would you need to become a graphic artist or a printer. I don’t think so. You already have a good career. Why change now? If you wanted to make a radio commercial, you wouldn’t need to know how to produce it and run the editing equipment would you? Of course not! More importantly, you wouldn’t let the technician running the equipment design your marketing campaign.

Why then would you delegate all of your Internet decisions to the MIS Department or other computer experts in your company. Oh I know, they know computers and you don’t. Well you just admitted that you don’t know how to produce a commercial. So what if you don’t understand the Internet yet, you don’t need to.

All of this is to make a point very clear. The Internet is just another medium like radio, television or print. The decisions should be made by the same department that usually deals with the other media. Isn’t that usually the marketing department?

Let's be fair. The MIS department, or any computer experts you have on tap, is probably already swamped keeping up with the latest technology and keeping your network running. They will be invaluable in implimenting the Web site but why burden them with stepping out of their field of expertise and trying to come up with content.

Now that we’ve come this far, let me guide you the rest of the way. With the other media, you usually choose a qualified company to implement your plans. You should treat Internet the same way. The time spent trying to figure out all about the Internet could be better spent interviewing prospective Web production and marketing companies. That way you can develop a relationship that will give you the quality results that you expect in all of your other marketing efforts.

So the bottom line is that the marketing department is the place that you can tap the creative resources that usually bring in the new business. And isn’t that what it’s all about anyway.

Oh, and by the way. Take the image you portray on the Internet seriously. Where else are you going to have a potential audience of over 60 million people that’s growing all of the time.

Good luck with your Internet venture. Don’t forget, make those marketing people earn the money you’re paying them. If we can help, just call us at (202) 342-SURF (7873) or email us at info@webdesigns.net

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