Introduction
In electronic advertisement, business enterprises take hold of the opportunities presented to them through the Internet and the World Wide Web to promote their respective businesses. Electronic advertisement involves the use of these and suchlike platforms to deliver marketing or promotional messages to potential customers.
Electronic advertisement is performed through search engines, social networking sites, blogs, E-mail and online networks devoted to its promotion. One major benefit presented by electronic advertisement that surpasses traditional advertising methods is the increased ability to customize adverts, thus making investments in this kind of business more efficient.
Another benefit of electronic advertisement over traditional advertising methods is that it has the ability to reach a wider audience comprising people of different ages, ethnic and racial backgrounds. the next advantage of electronic advertisement is that consumers wield more control on an item and, therefore, can choose whether to check the advert or not.
The Internet is the main platform through which electronic marketing is carried out. Its expansion to accommodate more capabilities is an incentive that attracts business enterprises to electronic marketing.
Literature review
Organizations need information systems so that they can manage efficiently and provide security to the information at the procession. In addition, information systems are an effective means to improve integration and work processes in them. An information system basically creates a log of another system that is integrated into the organization.
The system which log is created by an organization’s information system is known as a target system. Owing to the dynamicity and volatility of the electronic marketing environment in which an organization or business enterprise finds itself in, there is a need to mange its marketing information more efficiently and log its marketing systems to ensure optimal performance.
Thus, there is the need for information systems based on the information technology devoted to the electronic marketing. Such information systems are known as Information Technology-based Marketing Information Systems (MkISs).
MkISs can be defined as a collection of procedures and methods formulated for regular planning analysis and presentation of information that is essential in marketing decision-making (Talvinen, 1994, 8).
Managing marketing information through MkISs in an organization facilitates effective online or electronic marketing as it ensures that marketing decision-makers are presented with timely and accurate marketing information, thus enabling them to improve the design, plan and implementation of their electronic marketing strategies (Talvinen, 1994, 8).
MkISs collect, share marketing information and use it to promote the corporate and brand image of an organization. MkISs in organizations improve communication of marketing information between personnel in the sales (or promotion, or product management) and accounting (or corporate planning, or advertising) departments.
An examination of MkISs reveals that a number of models underlie their design and development (Talvinen, 1994, 10). These models present MkISs along two aspects, namely, typical subsystems and general dimensions. There are six classes of these models, thus the classification is done on the basis of the type of primary use of the MkISs.
The first class of these models is data gathering where MkISs that fall in this category are used primarily for gathering marketing data and all the necessary information. The second class of MkISs’ models is data analysis which comprises of MkISs used first for analyzing the collected statistics that is critical in marketing decision-making. The third class of MkISs’ models is marketing planning which captures all the MkISs that facilitate effective design of marketing plans.
The fourth class of MkISs’ models is marketing decision making, which captures MkISs that enable informed and positive decision-making with respect to the marketing strategies. The fifth class of MkISs’ models is the implementation of marketing activities, which capture MkISs that are used in the development and promotion of successful electronic marketing activities.
The sixth class of MkISs’ models is control, which is divided further into two subclasses, namely, external and internal ones. The external control subclass of MkISs captures the MkISs that are used in controlling an organization’s external marketing environment and activities. The internal control subclass of MkISs deals with the MkISs that are used in controlling an organization’s internal marketing environment and activities.
MkISs can be divided into two groups, and this is dependent on two things. The first one is the position of the users of the MkISs in the organization, and the second is the use of a certain type of the MkISs. The first group of MkISs is used by managers, and the second one is that for use in sales and marketing activities.
Typically, in an organization, there is a variation in class of MkISs used by managers and marketing analysts and so on. Similarly, there is a variation in class between the MkISs implemented in operational sales activities and marketing. The users of MkISs, marketing information management and decision-making systems include marketing managers, senior executives, marketing analysts, marketing experts and SBUs (Strategic Business Units) (Talvinen, 1994, 10).
So as to come up with sound electronic marketing decisions, marketing managers heavily rely on marketing analysts and experts because the latter have skills to transform raw marketing information collected by data gathering MkISs into knowledge needed by the marketing managers. In today’s world, MkISs are not only designed and developed to be used strictly in the context of management but in other areas as well.
MkISs are integrated into operational process-oriented systems for sales and marketing that are used in operational daily marketing activities. These daily marketing operational activities include telemarketing, database marketing (or direct mailing) and operational sales management. The users of such kind of MkISs are personnel in an organization’s middle management, operative sales and marketing.
A very important factor to consider when integrating MkISs is the relationship between them and other information systems (Talvinen, 1994, 10). These other information systems include those used in other organizational processes, such as finance, human resource, production, etc.
The movement of data or data flow between the MkISs and the other information systems should be understood and defined well. Another very important aspect to consider in the integration of MkISs is data gathering. The MkISs have to collect information from the marketing environment of an organization and, mainly, from consumers and competitors.
MkISs generally gather marketing statistics of a qualitative nature whereas other information systems working with the MkISs collect quantitative data (Talvinen, 1994, 10). An example of data gathered by MkISs is consumer buying behaviour. MkISs can be tuned to generate management reports, such as sales forecasts.
To complement the statistics and information gathered by MkISs, there is an outstanding need for organizations to collect data on the organization’s external marketing environment. When such data is gathered, it can be again stored in the MkISs. Such statistics is accumulated through queries invoked against commercial databases and data banks. Another aspect to consider in the integration of MkISs is how to transform or convert the data gathered into usable information and knowledge (Talvinen, 1994, 10).
MkISs are a vital tool in the implementation of the sales and marketing strategies as they provide an analysis approach and analysis tools for converting the qualitative data they have gathered into information and knowledge. An area in which the knowledge generated from an MkISs is used is in sales and marketing activities, e.g. telemarketing and database advertising.
Another area which benefits form the knowledge generated from MkISs is management which has to control markets, marketing strategies and activities, analyze target markets and make marketing decisions. Operational MkISs are vital sources of internal information for management MkISs’, which are the main systems that generate information from the data collected (Talvinen, 1994, 10).
Another area in which the knowledge generated from an MkISs is useful is in research and development where new marketing strategies are developed, and/or older ones are improved. Information generated from MkISs is also useful in market forecasting as well as planning. Another very important aspect to consider when integrating MkISs into an organization is analysis and decision-making (Talvinen, 1994, 10).
MkISs are tools for analysing the data they gather. Moreover, these systems are, therefore, essential in successful and effective decision making. Marketing analysts and experts should familiarize themselves with the analysis approach and analysis tools presented by the MkISs. Senior executives are the main decision-makers and should be, therefore, conversant with how the MkISs present their findings.
In the organization, marketing decision making involves close collaboration between the current analysts (experts) and the senior executives with the former ones transforming the raw data gathered by the MkISs into the information and knowledge that can be readily used by the latter
Analysis
One of the underlying strengths of all the MkISs is information technology (IT) boom. The IT boom is a worldwide phenomenon encouraging the automation, storage and digitization of the knoweledge. This inherently encourages the development and use of MkISs. Another underlying advantage of MkISs is their need for digital storage of information.
Traditionally, marketing information would be kept and stored in paper form, which would make it more risky and arduous to manage high volumes of information. With MkISs, information is stored in electronic form in computers reducing the chances of it being lost and, in addition, it makes its management easy.
Another basic benefit of MkISs is their need for an integrated information management for marketing data. The marketing environment in which organizations find themselves in is very dynamic and volatile. Collection and management of marketing data in such an environment can be difficult, thus MkISs make it possible for the statistics to be collected and kept until the time when an organization is ready to transfer it or use it in one or another way.
The next main strength of MkISs is that they need to have a ready access to marketing data. The electronic (digital) storage of marketing data by MkISs allows its users to have a ready access to the marketing data from any geographical location as long as the MkISs are online, It means that they are running on the World Wide Web or through the Internet.
Another underlying strength of MkISs is its compatibility or support for advanced information technology infrastructure. MkISs can be implemented or integrated using advanced information technology infrastructure. This factor allows to have a huge storage of data and fast processing. This ensures that knowledge is generated from the MkISs in real-time and quickly integrated into marketing decision making.
On the contrary, one of the main weaknesses of MkISs is the need for advanced knowledge to operate them. Typically, MkISs’ infrastructure consists of computer hardware such as mainframes, which are less user-friendly to operate and thus may require additional training which can be costly.
Another disadvantage of MkISs is low security. Keeping information online as its risk as the information is vulnerable to online attacks from hackers who can maliciously use it for their own gain. An organization is to ensure that the information in the MkISs is secure, otherwise, lack of information security can be detrimental to the organization. Low security is a weakness as well as a threat of MkISs.
Findings
From the analysis above, low security as been identified is both the weakness and the threat to MkISs. One way to enhance the security of MkISs can be implemented through cryptography where information is hidden from unauthorized individuals due to the use of encryption and decryption algorithms (Coulouris et al, 2005, 275).
In the face of the online attacks, cryptography ensures knowledge security by making sure that information being exchanged between the MkISs and the other systems is encrypted and decrypted by authorized individuals (Coulouris et al, 2005, 276). Another way to maintain the security of MkISs is through firewalls. Firewalls monitor as well as regulate the communication and interaction between a computer and an online resource and, thus, ensure that no malicious attacks can occur.
In addition to these security enhancing measures, it is also important that MkISs undergo continuous quality improvement (CQI). Continuous quality improvement ensures that MkISs do not become obsolete in the face of new challenges, especially those relating to security.
In continuous quality improvement, the potential failures of MkISs are determined beforehand, and action plans (proactive incident response plans) are formulated to eliminate or deal with them. One technique of doing CQI is FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) (Black, 2005, 25).
FMEA reveals the strengths, weakness and potential failures of a system. The main function of FMEA is that it predicts the failures related to the design of a system and, therefore, ensures that the system will be based on the set standards and work according to all the necessary requirements.
Conclusion
As technology advances, the capabilities of the Internet and the World Wide Web are extended in tandem. This results in increased online traffic which marketers want to tap into. electronic advertising. This is, therefore, a positive strategic investment for organizations and business enterprises with long term growth and expansion objectives and endeavors.
To perform effective electronic advertising, it is imperative that such organizations are able to manage their marketing information effectively owing to the dynamicity and volatility of the environment they are to operate in. Thus, it is important that they acquire and implement MkISs, which are information systems dedicated to improving decision-making in the area of electronic marketing.
MkISs, however, have one major shortcoming which is that they cannot guarantee the security of information stored in them. This shortcoming necessitates the need for an organization to invest heavily and regularly in information security.
Reference List
Black, R. (2002). Managing the testing process: practical tools and techniques for managing hardware and software testing. Wiley Publishing, Inc.: Canada
Coulouris, G. Dollimore, J. And Kindberg, T. ( 2005). Distributed systems concepts and design. (4th ed.). Pearson Education Limited: England.
Talvinen, J.M. (1994). Information systems in marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 29(1), 8 -10