MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM: Definition & Components

Some things in life are very essential, and one of them is information. So, just like you need the information to carry on normal day-to-day activities, business owners and marketers need the information from the marketing information system and its components to optimize their activities. So, let’s dig into this subject.

Concept of Marketing Information System

Basically, the marketing information system is designed to serve as an aid in the marketing activities of a company. It’s a system that’s designed to gather, store, analyze, and send out market information to marketers regularly and continuously. Changes in the marketing environment are dynamic. Hence, marketers need to stay up-to-date with these changes. So, they can make wise and evidence-based decisions.

What Is an Example of Marketing Information Systems?

Have you ever scanned the small card on your vehicle keys or used a customer loyalty card at the supermarket checkout? Businesses add to their MkIS databases every time a customer uses their card.

What Are the Types of Marketing Information System?

Marketers employ internal data, competition intelligence, and marketing research to acquire insights that lead to smart marketing decisions.

Read more: Marketing Management (All you need to know)

Components of Marketing Information System

The components of the marketing information system are an interconnected framework; that interact with one another to continuously feed the marketing information system. So, they are essential for the proper functioning of the marketing information system. And they are as follows.

1. Internal Intelligence System:

   This component of the marketing information system provides information to marketers from the internal records of the company. Every information gathered by a company in its daily operation is handy for the marketers. For example, sales records of sales representatives can tell marketers a lot. And examples of marketing information that can be gathered from such are, periods of highest sales, location with the highest sales, etc.

2. Market Intelligence System:

   This informs marketers about the current sitrep of the market. Hence, using this sitrep they will know the necessary adjustment to make. Examples of the marketing information here are current market trends, competitor’s pricing, new products, and their effect in the market, customer appealing promotion strategies. Sources of these could be by purchasing competitor’s product, interviewing the channel partners like retailers, obtaining relevant government data.

3. Marketing Research:

   This component of marketing information involves more activeness than the aforementioned. So, in an attempt to garner more details about a marketing environment or solve a brand problem in the market. A company conducts market research that can involve primary or secondary data collection. For example, questionnaires, surveys, etc.

4. Marketing Decision Support System:

   These are applications that enable marketers to analyze the big data they have gathered from other components of the marketing information system. So, they automate the statistical calculations and some even predict the direction of the market based on some predictive algorithm.

What Are the Types of Marketing Information System?

Internal data, competition intelligence, and marketing research are the three basic forms of marketing information used by marketers to generate insights that will lead to prudent marketing decisions.

What Is Scope of Marketing Information System?

It facilitates marketing strategy by providing accurate data on the external environment and inside corporate realities. If the information is free of any bias toward a preconceived conclusion, it will be more valuable than if it has any.

What Are the Benefits of Marketing Information System?

Integrating market-monitoring systems with strategy formulation and the strategic execution of policies and procedures that aid in capturing and acting on customer management applications with marketing decision support systems is the primary advantage of Marketing information systems.

Read more: Download 500+ business plans for any business

Marketing Information and Marketing Research

As you already know, marketing research is a component of the marketing information system. And it’s that component that helps gather information about the marketing environment. However, for marketing research to be useful and productive, it should include the following features:

1. Searches for Relevant Data:

   Good marketing research should search for relevant data. For example, if the research is through a questionnaire, the questionnaire should ask the relevant questions. So, a good way to achieve this is by asking yourself what problem will this question help solve while designing the questionnaire.

2. Should be Systematic:

   This entails that every process of marketing research should be orderly planned and orderly executed.

3. Should be Objective:

   Marketing research that has lots of error isn’t just a waste of resources it can also cause a big loss for the company in the future. And lack of objectivity is a cause of this. So, to be high yield; marketing research should be objective.

What Are the Features of Marketing Information System?

• People’s Involvement. The marketing information system is comprised of managers, supervisors, salespeople, and middlemen who provide critical information on the industry and surroundings.
• Equipment Based.
• Constant Process.

What Is the Biggest Advantage of Marketing Information System?

The management information system facilitates the centralization of data. Participants can gather and save data in a single system. Since the majority of MIS software is cloud-based, all data will be kept in a single system.

Conclusion

I hope you have gotten all the information you need to know about marketing information system and its components to optimize their activities.