TechBirmingham thrives through its immensely talented and diverse group of member companies. Meet our Member Companies is an ongoing Q&A series highlighting this group of movers, shakers and makers in Bham’s tech industry.

Meet Shannon Johnston, CIO at Mspark,  a 20+ year-old direct marketing company with the proven ability to engage 22 million households every month. Read on to get to know more about Mspark and the great things they are doing in Birmingham and beyond.

Hi Shannon! Let’s get started — Tell us more about Mspark.

Our programs deliver measurable results and positive ROI for businesses by connecting them with the consumers most likely to buy their products and services. We’re a young, vibrant company with lots of creative talent and smart analytical minds. We spend our time solving the needs of a complex and evolving consumer and advertiser population.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about your field?

That engagement levels are lower than they really are. We have amazing products that really work! They drive business to our customers and help them to be more successful. We have incredible targeting and market segmentation techniques that give our advertisers a leg up on the competition.

What exciting news or product/service announcements does your company have on the horizon?

We have a fantastic line of digital products that we are working with our customers on.

How do you feel about Bham’s tech scene?

The strengths are that it’s a tight community. There’s a willingness to work together across organizations for knowledge sharing. Weaknesses are that it’s not drawing young talent. There’s not enough talent for the roles. Biggest challenge is to highlight the positives that exist today in Birmingham, and become more current as a city (Uber, etc) to help draw young talent to feed the talent pool for years to come.

Anything else about you or your company you want us to share? 

We’re hiring! Come work with us and enjoy our great company culture, creative and fun coworkers and exciting work!

Very cool! Thanks so much for sharing, Shannon! 

Connect with Shannon and Mspark on the social media links below!

Shannon on Linkedin, Shannon on Twitter: @shannjohnston

Mspark on Linkedin, Mspark on Facebook, Mspark on Twitter: @msparkignites

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