Define the marketing information system & discuss its parts.

Marketing information system has five steps.They are-


1. Assessing information needs;

2. Internal databases;

3. Marketing intelligence;

4. Marketing research;

5. Analyzing & using information.

 Here, I'll discuss first two steps . First one is-
Assessing Marketing Information Needs:

Marketing information system gives the right direction to the company & its manager . However, it also provide necessary information to external factors like partners, suppliers, resellers or marketing service  agencies.
 For example ,any retail shop can gives key information to it's suppliers  about customer's buying patterns & store inventory they purchased within 24 hours.

A good marketing information helps marketers to bring out for customers what they really need & what is feasible to offer. Sometimes ,managers carelessness affect the company . But it is true that too much information & too little information both are equally harmful.
  If marketers have enough micro & macro environmental information then they can launched a better product. They can easily find out what customers opinion about their brand . Through this, they can better understand customers & make key marketing decisions. Regarding this,marketers take neccessary steps.

Finishing all this,they determine their cost of obtaining, analyzing,storing & delivering information. Then they quickly decide whether this information add value for them or not.


Second one is-
Internal databases:


Internal databases are " electronic collections of consumer & market information obtained from data sources within the company network".
Databases are come from many sources like marketing  department collect information about customer characteristics, buying pattern & ability to pay ; customers care centers keep records about customers satisfaction or service problems;  accounting department provides sales records, costs & cash flows; Operational factors are production, shipments & inventories; sales department report on reseller reactions & competitors activities.


Internal databases can be collected more easily & cheaply than other information  sources. But internal information is use for another purpose ,it may be incompleted or may be wrong for using marketing decisions. That's why keeping information ,companies need highly sophisticated equipment & techniques.