Marketing is a social and economic process through which individuals and groups meet their needs and desires by creating and exchanging products among themselves. Initially, marketing was practiced by companies in selling sectors of products and services and did not seem to fit the noncommercial side. In recent decades, almost all types of organizations adopted the methods and practices of marketing, including information services. It is necessary to develop a program to properly plan all the actions and resources needed to achieve these objectives, and effectively control the deviations relative to them, allowing correcting the actions that do not get the expected results in order to constantly improve the system implemented. For this, it is necessary to devise a marketing plan that focuses on the planning of all activities and objectives we want to achieve and the means necessary to do so. The marketing plan is a strategic document that will serve to identify the position occupied in the market, set goals and how they will be achieved, and expected results.
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According to Kotler (2001), Marketing is a social and economic process through which individuals and groups meet their needs and desires by creating and exchanging products (and services) among themselves.
We must consider that marketing has to do with the satisfaction of needs and that if several economic, technological and human efforts are made in order to satisfy those needs, ultimately, society as a whole will be the one who benefits the most (Dibb et al., 2006; Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2013; Kerin et al., 2006; Kotler, 2000).
Initially, marketing was practiced by companies in sectors of products and services selling and did not seem to fit the organizations with non commercial side, like information services, with no intention of making a profit. However, in recent decades almost all types of organizations adopted the methods and practices of marketing. Examples of this practice are political parties, religious bodies, social, philanthropic and charitable entities, in a logic which was instituted to be designated as Social Marketing (Dibb et al., 2006; Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2013; Kerin et al., 2006; Kotler, 2000).
The adherence to this practice of management should have in mind the services providing information, essential for the development of collaborative R&D and innovation, although not strictly commercially oriented and intended to make a profit through the products and services they provide (Batchelor, 1997).
Let us not forget that, according to Kotler (2004, p. 9)
The fact that most of these services are ‘free’ does not affect the characterization of the products. A product is something that has value to someone. Charge or not for your consumption is a trait tangential, unessential, the definition of its value. In fact, most of these social goods has its ‘price’, although this is stated not in the usual way.
Thus, by referring to nonprofit suppliers of this type of product and service we cannot talk about companies but organizations, nor speak of customers but publics. Rather than speak of sales we should be promoting behaviors and instead of return we should mention the achievement of objectives.