In the business of selling, having timely relevant information about your customers is very important. Then creating a marketing information system to store and continuously update the information is vital to the successful marketing of your products.


A marketing information system (MIS) is a dynamic set of processes created to generate, analyze, store and disseminate information necessary to take marketing decisions.

MIS should provide continuous flow of information about your customers and changes in their buying behavior, your competitors, prices, distribution channels, new technologies and government policies.
It should provide all relevant information needed to make informed marketing decisions that boost sales and increase profits. An effective MIS must have this ability.


Other key qualities of an effective MIS are:


1; An effective marketing information (or intelligence) system should provide information that could be accessed by all staff.

The information provided should improve the performance of planning, controlling and forecasting functions. It should also identify trends.


2. An MIS that is relevant must have the ability to identify marketing problems. It’s only a marketing information system with data that reduce uncertainty and increase accuracy that has this ability.


It is important to know that the accuracy of marketing information is increased by defining marketing problems in narrow terms.

For example, “By what percentage would sales increase if the price was discounted by 2%?”. The answer to this question should give a more accurate information than “Would price discount lead to an increase in sales?”


Is marketing information system the same as marketing research?


Although marketing research plays a key role in the generation of marketing information, it’s not the same as marketing information system.

What are the differences between marketing information system and marketing research?

Marketing research is used to generate information (facts and data) when it’s expedient and also on a non-recurring basis. A marketing information system on the other hand, is put in place to generate facts and data on a regular basis,

2. While marketing research is often carried out as part of a remedial action, MIS is expected to prevent a problem from occurring and solve one when it occurs,


3. MIS manages the flow of information generated by marketing research and,


4. Marketing research is within the broader MIS.

What is the scope of marketing research?

Marketing research is an integral part of MIS. It connects the public to the marketer through information. Marketing research could be any of the following;

Market research (or research about customer) that aims to understand market segments and market potentials. Market research also carries out analyses of trends, sales and demands,
2. Product research. This involves comparative analysis of competitive products, market testing, product-line research, packaging and customer satisfaction.


3. Market environment research that supplies information about the effects of technological, economic, political and environmental variables on sales,


4. Marketing communication research that generates information about sales promotion, sales force, advertising and public relations,

5.There is also the pricing research.

What is the marketing research process?

A marketing research that generates accurate and reliable information follows a process. The marketing research process first identifies the problem and then information required to solve the identified problem.


The next step is developing a research design. A good research design is a function of the purpose of the research. It is a control mechanism for data collection, analysis, testing of hypothesis and reaching of conclusions,

After the research design has been developed, data collection and data analysis follow. The last two steps are report of findings and a follow up on suggested recommendations.

Now, what are the benefits of marketing information system?

A good marketing information system reduces or eliminates completely loss or distortion of internal and external information gathered. This is possible because information is routinely stored as it is generated.

Therefore MIS provides a timely and complete information flow that helps management to make reliable decisions quickly.

2. A dependable MIS emboldens management’s anticipatory marketing activities. Management can use information from MIS to know the unspoken needs of customers and set up the process to fill them.

3.MIS gives management the information for continuous product performance.


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