Marketing information system: what it is, components and examples
How to bring together your company and market data to make better campaign decisions
A marketing information system (MIS, or SIM in Spanish) is an organized structure of people, tools and processes that collects, analyzes, stores and distributes up-to-date information for making marketing decisions.
In Latin America it is also called sistema de información de mercadotecnia. It combines internal and external data so the team decides based on data, not intuition.
What is a marketing information system?
The idea was proposed by Philip Kotler in 1966. He described it as the “nerve center” of a company’s marketing: the place where information arrives and from which it goes out to the decision-makers.
An MIS is not a specific piece of software. It can be a spreadsheet, a CRM and Google Analytics, properly connected. Or an analytics platform with dashboards for the whole team.
What makes it a system is the method. You know what information you need, where it comes from, who reviews it and how often it arrives.
What are the components of a marketing information system?
According to Kotler’s classic model, it has four parts. Each one answers a different question.
| Component | What it answers | Common sources |
|---|---|---|
| Internal records | What is happening inside my company? | Sales, orders, costs, CRM, email statistics |
| Marketing intelligence | What is happening outside, day to day? | Competitors, social media, press, trade fairs, sales reps |
| Market research | What answer do I need to a specific question? | Surveys, focus groups, market research studies |
| Decision support system | What do I do with all this data? | Reports, KPIs, forecasting models |
Internal records are the data you already have: sales, customers and the results of each campaign. It is the cheapest part and the one that delivers results soonest.
Marketing intelligence is the continuous monitoring of the environment. Competitors’ prices, trends, complaints on social media or what your sales reps tell you.
Market research is done on demand. If you want to know why repeat purchases are falling, you ask your customers in a survey.
The decision support system combines everything above. With analytics tools, and increasingly with artificial intelligence, it turns data into a recommendation.
How does a marketing information system work?
It works as a repeating cycle. These are the five steps to set it up:
- Define what you need to know. Start from the decisions you make every month: which product to promote, to whom or with what budget.
- Choose the sources and tools. Decide which internal and external data answer those questions and where you will store them.
- Collect quality data. No duplicates, in the same format and with the consent required by the GDPR.
- Analyze and summarize. Turn the figures into a few indicators that can be understood at a glance.
- Distribute and decide. Each person gets what they need, on time, in a report or a dashboard.
Then you measure the results of what you decided and start again. That way the system improves with every cycle.
What is a marketing information system for?
Its value lies in reducing uncertainty. These are its main advantages:
- Data-driven decisions. You back every strategy with figures, not opinions.
- Opportunities ahead of the competition. You spot trends and niches while there is still room to act.
- Less wasted spending. You invest in the channels and segments that work.
- Continuous monitoring. You adjust campaigns on the fly, without waiting for the end of the quarter.
It also has its challenges. Integrating data from different sources is hard, and the quality of the data determines the quality of the conclusions. And don’t forget privacy: processing customer data requires complying with the LOPD and the GDPR.
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Marketing information system examples
You don’t need to be a big company. These examples show what data each business gathers and what decision it makes with it.
| Business | Data it gathers | Decision it makes |
|---|---|---|
| Online store | Sales by category, abandoned carts, newsletter opens and clicks | Which products to feature in the next send |
| Supermarket with a loyalty card | Each customer’s purchases, store and date | Personalized offers by customer and by store |
| Training academy | Information requests, contact source, enrollments | Which channel to invest in before each intake |
| B2B software company | CRM data, lead scoring, webinar attendees | Which contacts the sales team calls |
| Hotel | Bookings, season, competitors’ prices | Rates and campaigns for each season |
A small business can start with the basics. A CRM, Google Analytics and the statistics from its email tool already make up a simple MIS.
What is the difference between an MIS, a CRM and market research?
They are often confused because they work together. But they are not the same:
| Concept | What it is | Relationship with the MIS |
|---|---|---|
| CRM | Software that stores each customer’s history | It is a source of internal records |
| Market research | A one-off study to answer a question | It is one of the four components |
| Big data | Volumes of data too large for traditional tools | A raw material the MIS can use |
| Marketing data integration | The process of combining data from several sources | The technical work that makes the MIS possible |
In short, the marketing information system is the overall framework. Everything else is a piece within it.
How is a marketing information system used in email marketing?
Email is one of the best sources of first-party data. Every send tells you who opens, which links interest them and who unsubscribes.
With that data, the MIS helps you on four fronts. You segment according to each contact’s behavior and preferences. You automate messages at the right moment. You analyze performance with email marketing metrics. And you optimize your content based on what works.
It also works the other way around. What you learn in the MIS, such as your buyer persona profile, improves the subject lines and offers of your campaigns.
How Mailrelay helps you
Mailrelay is an organized data source for your marketing information system. You store each contact’s data in custom fields and organize them into subscriber groups.
The statistics for each send show opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes. And with the API you connect Mailrelay to your CRM or online store so the data flows automatically.
The free account includes up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts, with human support by chat, ticket and phone.
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Frequently Asked Questions
These are the most common questions about marketing information systems.
What is a sistema de información de mercadotecnia?
It is the same as a marketing information system. “Mercadotecnia” is the Spanish term most used in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
What does MIS mean in marketing?
MIS stands for marketing information system. In Spanish, SIM is more common, from “sistema de información de marketing”.
What are the 4 components of an MIS?
Internal records, marketing intelligence, market research and the decision support system. It is the model popularized by Philip Kotler.
What is a market information system?
In marketing it is used as a synonym for MIS. In agriculture, however, it usually refers to public services that publish product prices in each market.
Does a small business need a marketing information system?
Yes, even a simple one. Just decide which data you review each month, bring it together in one place and use it to plan your campaigns.