Marketing Information System and its Components

The major responsibility for identifying significant marketplace changes falls to the company’s marketers.  Marketers  have  two  advantages  for  the  task:  disciplined  methods  for  collecting  information  and  time  spent  interacting  with  customers  and  observing  competitors  and  other  outside  groups.  Markets  may  be  assisted  by  companies  such  as  Nielsen  Company,  which  specialise  in  developing  marketing  information  concerning  buyer  behaviour,  market  trends,  brand  and  corporate  image  information  and  so  on  to  business  mangers.  Some  firms  have  themselves  developed  marketing  information  systems  that  provide  rich  detail  about  buyer  wants, preferences, and behaviour.

Marketing  information  system  consists  of  people,  procedure  and  equipment  for  accessing  information needs, developing the needed information and helping decision makers to use the information to generate validate actionable customers and market insights.

Marketing  information  system  begins  and  ends  with  information  users–  marketing  managers,  internal  and  external  partners  and  other  who  need  marketing  information.  First,  it  interacts  with these information users to access information needs. Next, it interacts with the marketing environment  to  develop  needed  information  through  internal  database,  marketing  intelligence  and  marketing  research.  Finally,  the  marketing  information  system  helps  users  to  analyze  and  use  the  information  to  develop  customer  insights,  make  marketing  decision  and  manage  customers relationships. 

Every firm must organize and distribute a continuous flow of information to its marketing managers.   It   relies   on   internal   company   records,   marketing   intelligence   activities,   and   marketing research. 

Internal Records and Damtabase Systes 

To  spot  important  opportunities  and  potential  threats,  marketing  managers  rely  on  internal  reports of orders, sales, prices, costs, inventory levels, receivables, and payables. Internal record system  is  one  of  the  components  of  marketing  information  system.  It  is  considered  as  a  sub  system  of  marketing  information  system.  It  collects  various  information  which  are  scattered  within the organization. Most of the information provided by the internal records are historical in nature. It includes:  

1.   The  order-to-payment  cycle:  

The  heart  of  the  internal  records  system  is  the  order-to-payment  cycle.  Sales  representatives,  dealers,  and  customers  send  orders  to  the  firm.  The  sales  department  prepares  invoices,  transmits  copies  to  various  departments,  and  back-orders out-of-stock items. Shipped items generate shipping and billing documents. Because customers  favour  firms  that  can  promise  timely  delivery,  companies  need  to  perform  these  steps quickly and accurately.

2.   Sales   information   systems:   

Marketing  managers  need  timely  and  accurate  reports  on  current  sales.  Nowadays,  many  companies  operate  a  sales  and  inventory  data  warehouse  that  captures  data  on  all  the  items  purchased  by  every  customer  around  all  the  stores  on  daily  basis.  Marketers  must  carefully  interpret  sales  data,  in  order  to,  to  avoid  drawing  wrong conclusions.

3.   Databases,  data  warehousing,  and  data  mining:  

A  customer  database  is  an  organized  collection  of  comprehensive  information  about  individual  customers  or  prospects  that  is  current, accessible, and actionable for lead generation, lead qualification, sales, or customer relationship  management.  Database  marketing  is  the  process  of  building,  maintaining,  and  using  customer  databases  and  other  databases  such  as  products,  suppliers,  resellers  to  contact, transact with, and build relationships with customers. Information captured by the company  is  organized  into  a  data  warehouse  where  marketers  can  capture,  query,  and  analyze   data   to   draw   inferences   about   individual   customers’   needs   and   responses.   Marketing  analysts  use  data  mining  to  extract  from  the  mass  of  data  useful  insights  about  customer behaviour, trends, and segments.

The  explosion  of  data  brought  by  the  maturation  of  the  Internet  and  mobile  technology  gives  companies unprecedented opportunities to engage customers. It also threatens to over- whelm decision  makers.  On  the  other  hand,  some  customers  may  not  want  a  relationship  with  the  company  and  may  resent  having  personal  data  collected  and  stored.  The  use  of  behavioural  targeting  to  track  customers’  online  behaviour  for  marketing  purposes  allows  advertisers  to  better target online advertisements but some consumers object to the practice. It is also relevant to use database marketing in the context of direct marketing. 

Marketing Intelligence System 

Another   element   of   marketing   information   system   is   marketing   intelligence   system.   A   marketing  intelligence  system  is  a  set  of  procedures  and  sources  that  managers  use  to  obtain  everyday information about developments in the marketing environment. The internal records system  supplies  results  data,  but  the  marketing  intelligence  system  supplies  happenings  data.  Marketing  managers  collect  marketing  intelligence  by  reading  books,  newspapers,  and  trade  publications;  talking  to  customers,  suppliers,  distributors,  and  other  company  managers;  and  monitoring online social media.  

Companies  that  make  good  use  of  “cookies," records  of  Web  site  usage  stored  on  personal  browsers, are smart users of targeted marketing. Many consumers are happy to cooperate: Not only  do  they  not  delete  cookies,  but  they  also  expect  customized  marketing  appeals  and  deals  once  they  accept  them.  Marketers  can  improve  their  marketing  intelligence  by  providing  training and motivation to sales force.

Related Posts

Post a Comment