Marketing Information Systems

A Marketing Information System is basically a way of regularly gathering and giving helpful marketing information to the right people at the right time.

The key element is knowing what kind of information is needed by whom and when.

Information needs, information sources and information costs change over time and so a review, or information audit, is worth doing every few years.

An information audit specifies who needs what and when. The audit can also list where the information can be found – the gold mine of information sources.

There are many different types of information which a marketing manager uses, and many ways of building a marketing information system. Here is one way of thinking about it.

Consider these components: Internal Information; External Information; Position Information; Decision Information and Forecast Information.

Examples of internal information are sales reports, sales analyses, cost per sale and cost per enquiry. Most of the raw data is already available within the organisation. It just needs to be processed or analysed so that it becomes helpful information. This is relatively easy to do if there is an information system. Customer database systems for example, automatically convert customer data into marketing opportunities like identifying which customers are ready to buy this month, next month or next year.

External information covers the market out there – its size, structure, trends, opportunities, threats, competitors and customers both new and old – the constantly changing market place. All kinds of employees, customers and distributors can contribute to this pool of marketing intelligence.

Position information puts internal and external information together, like the organisation’s sales and the overall sales in the market to calculate market share.

Similarly, internal strengths & weaknesses can be compared to competitors to find competitive advantage, USP’s (Unique Selling Points), and most importantly whether any competitive advantage is sustainable.

Decision Information comes from mathematical models which carry out various analyses such as regression, correlation, factor, and cluster analyses.

Forecast information obviously looks into the future and includes sales forecasts – the backbone of the marketing plan.

Some of this information is free, some is expensive, some takes time to gather and analyse, some is just not worth the effort in the first place.

There is, therefore, a trade-off between the importance, or value, of information and its cost in terms of time and money. Experienced managers know which information affects which decisions. They know which information is vital.

Benefits of IMC

Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort it delivers many benefits. It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time and stress.

IMC wraps communications around customers and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process. The organisation simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a dialogue and nurtures its relationship with customers.

This ‘Relationship Marketing’ cements a bond of loyalty with customers which can protect them from the inevitable onslaught of competition. The ability to keep a customer for life is a powerful competitive advantage.

IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness. At its most basic level, a unified message has more impact than a disjointed myriad of messages. In a busy world, a consistent, consolidated and crystal clear message has a better chance of cutting through the ‘noise’ of over five hundred commercial messages which bombard customers each and every day.

At another level, initial research suggests that images shared in advertising and direct mail boost both advertising awareness and mail shot responses. So IMC can boost sales by stretching messages across several communications tools to create more avenues for customers to become aware, aroused, and ultimately, to make a purchase

Carefully linked messages also help buyers by giving timely reminders, updated information and special offers which, when presented in a planned sequence, help them move comfortably through the stages of their buying process… and this reduces their ‘misery of choice’ in a complex and busy world.

IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible. This reduces risk in the mind of the buyer which, in turn, shortens the search process and helps to dictate the outcome of brand comparisons.

Un-integrated communications send disjointed messages which dilute the impact of the message. This may also confuse, frustrate and arouse anxiety in customers. On the other hand, integrated communications present a reassuring sense of order.

Consistent images and relevant, useful, messages help nurture long term relationships with customers. Here, customer databases can identify precisely which customers need what information when… and throughout their whole buying life.

Finally, IMC saves money as it eliminates duplication in areas such as graphics and photography since they can be shared and used in say, advertising, exhibitions and sales literature. Agency fees are reduced by using a single agency for all communications and even if there are several agencies, time is saved when meetings bring all the agencies together – for briefings, creative sessions, tactical or strategic planning. This reduces workload and subsequent stress levels – one of the many benefits of IMC.

What is IMC?

Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together.

At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we’ll call it, means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotions has its own mix of communications tools.

All of these communications tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts – providing they speak consistently with one voice all the time, every time.

This is enhanced when integration goes beyond just the basic communications tools. There are other levels of integration such as Horizontal, Vertical, Internal, External and Data integration. Here is how they help to strengthen Integrated Communications.

Horizontal Integration occurs across the marketing mix and across business functions – for example, production, finance, distribution and communications should work together and be conscious that their decisions and actions send messages to customers.

While different departments such as sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other through Data Integration. This requires a marketing information system which collects and shares relevant data across different departments.

Vertical Integration means marketing and communications objectives must support the higher level corporate objectives and corporate missions.

Meanwhile Internal Integration requires internal marketing – keeping all staff informed and motivated about any new developments from new advertisements, to new corporate identities, new service standards, new strategic partners and so on.

External Integration, on the other hand, requires external partners such as advertising and PR agencies to work closely together to deliver a single seamless solution – a cohesive message – an integrated message.

The many benefits of IMC are examined in the section called, ‘Benefits of IMC’.