Marketing Information System (MIS)

• A marketing information system (MIS) aids businesses in analyzing marketing data for informed decisions using software, processes, and systems.
• MIS gathers, stores, and interprets data about: customers, competitors and the market

Components of a Marketing Information System

• Internal Records

  • This data originates within the company, examples include: sales reports, customer databases, inventory levels, financial records, and order histories
  • They assist in evaluating business performance, tracking sales, and understanding customer buying patterns

• Marketing Research

  • Focuses on data from marketing research like surveys, focus groups, interviews, and market studies, providing insights into customer preferences, market trends, and competitor behavior
  • Detailed, primary data is crucial for understanding consumer needs and the state of the market

• Marketing Intelligence Systems

  • Involves collecting data from external sources, such as competitor actions, industry trends, regulatory changes, and technological advancements
  • It helps to understand market dynamics and predict future changes
  • Can use news outlets, social media, competitor websites, and trade publications

• Analytical Tools and Software

  • Tools like customer relationship management (CRM) systems, data analytics platforms, and business intelligence (BI) software help in analyzing and interpreting collected data
  • Segmentation, trend analysis, forecasting, and decision modeling are supported, enabling businesses to gain significant insights from large datasets

• Decision-Making System

  • The goal is to support decision-making by turning data into actionable insights that help marketing managers and executives plan campaigns, allocate budgets, and develop strategies
  • Ensures the information is relevant, timely, and accurate for guiding business in its marketing efforts

How MIS Works

• Collects data from internal and external sources, including sales data, customer feedback, and social media
• Data is stored within databases
• Data is interpreted through data analysis and modeling
• Data is distributed to marketing professionals, to help make decisions

Benefits to Businesses

• Improves marketing campaigns, making them more effective
• Enables pricing policies management
• Helps create relevant offers at the right time and place.
• Enhances understanding of customers' preferences and behaviors
• Assists in keeping pace with market changes and increasing profits

Marketing Intelligence

• It is routine data relevant to an organization's marketing efforts
• This data is analyzed and used for decisions on competitor behavior, products, consumer trends, and market opportunities

Marketing Research

• It gathers information about the ideal customer and larger market to inform the organization's market strategy
• This includes data from current/former customers, consumers in the target market, and competitor marketing
• Qualitative marketing research uses a descriptive or conceptual lens, focusing on exploring a topic with participants describing their perspective, rather than using numbers
• Quantitative marketing research uses a numbers-driven approach, gathering countable or quantifiable data
• Ethnographic marketing attempts to measure a marketing initiative/product in a natural setting, often using anthropology

Common Research Instruments

• Surveys/Questionnaires
  • Collect data from many respondents.
  • Administered in person, by phone, email, or online.
  • Use multiple-choice, Likert scales, and open-ended questions.
  • Efficient, scalable, and quantifiable data collection.
• Interviews
  • Collect insights from a smaller group.
  • One-on-one or in groups, structured/unstructured.
  • In-depth interviews explore opinions, attitudes, experiences.
  • Provides deep insights.
  • Time/resource-intensive, not easily scalable.
• Focus Groups
  • Gather data from group discussions on a topic.
  • A moderator guides the discussion.
  • Reveals a new product idea or brand perception.
  • Rich data, observes group dynamics.
  • Limited sample size
• Observation
  • Collect data by observing consumer behavior.
  • Structured (record behaviors) or unstructured.
  • Observes how customers navigate/use a product.
  • Provides real-world insights.
  • Observer bias, inferring motives is difficult.
• Experiments
  • Test hypotheses by manipulating variables to observe effects.
  • Controlled with test and control groups.
  • A/B testing to determine best product features, prices, or marketing.
  • Can establish causal relationships.
  • May lack real-world applicability if it is too controlled.
• Projective Techniques
  • Uncover hidden emotions by projecting ideas on ambiguous stimuli.
  • Includes word association, sentence completion, or picture interpretation.
  • Example: Describe a brand as a person, interpret an image.
  • Reveals less accessible insights.
  • Interpretation is subjective and hard to generalize.
• Social Media Analytics
  • Analyze behavior, engagement, and sentiment on social media platforms.
  • Data analysis of posts, comments, likes, shares, and hashtags.
  • Sentiment analysis of brand mentions on platforms.
  • Real-time data, broad audience, low cost.
  • Data noise, privacy concerns, may not represent the general population.
• Market Segmentation
  • Group consumers by shared characteristics, behaviors, or needs.
  • Data analysis to categorize consumers into segments.
  • Demographic, geographic, psychographic, or behavioral segmentation.
  • Helps tailor marketing
  • Requires many data, and advanced analytics.
• Diaries/Logbooks
  • Track behavior over a period.
  • Records experiences, behaviors, or product usage.
  • examples include food diary, media log, or tracking purchases.
  • Provides real-life insights.
  • Participant burden and inaccuracies can be a limitation

Conclusion

• The appropriate research instrument is determined by the specific marketing objectives, the type of data needed, the target audience, and the available resources
• Combining these tools offers a market overview for informed decisions

A marketing information system (MIS) helps businesses make informed decisions by analyzing marketing data. It gathers, stores, and interprets data about customers, competitors, and the market using internal records, marketing research, and marketing intelligence systems. This provides insights into customer preferences and market trends.