How Marketing can be a Helping Profession
Credit: @windows
After graduating college, I initially resisted the idea of pursuing a career in marketing. While I was attracted to the opportunity marketing gives one to be creative, I was under the impression that marketing firms were manipulative and dishonest. I did not think that a career spent trying to make people buy products they didn’t need or that presenting products in a dishonest way would ever make for a fulfilling career. However, I have since realized that my perception of marketing is only half-true. Like a lot of things in life, marketing is what you make of it - it is not inherently good or bad - and it is certainly possible to approach with the right attitude.
“But, it is just as possible to use the power of marketing to change lives in a positive way. ”
I have always felt like I wanted a job where I can help people in a tangible way. I believe that humans receive the most by giving and that a life lived in a selfish way is a life wasted. After college, I explored the possibility of pursuing a career in several different “helping” fields, but ultimately did not follow any of those paths.
When you google “helping professions,” you’d think that marketing wouldn’t likely pop up on the search results. However, coming from the perspective of working with small business owners, you can start to see marketing in a different light. These are real people who have real families and real bills to pay. Their livelihood is very much dependent on marketing their businesses well. The cool thing is that most small businesses are offering real value to their local communities through their products and services, so it’s often something you can feel good about promoting.
Small-business owners wear so many hats: accounting, human resources, operations, and marketing, among others. However, when it comes to marketing, many small-business owners lack the time or the training to do it correctly. In today’s digital age, this can be a huge downfall.
According to GlobalWebIndex, 54% of social media users use social media to research products and 71% are more likely to purchase products and services based on social media referrals. Meanwhile, only 71% percent of small businesses utilize social media marketing, and only 52% are active daily. This means that 9.6 million businesses are missing out on at least 54% of the market! An even more alarming stat is that less than 64% of small businesses have a basic website, despite the fact that between 70-80% of people research a company online before buying from them.
During COVID-19, it has become even more imperative that small businesses are marketing effectively online. The changes in consumer behavior brought about by the pandemic has made many businesses realize that they need to step up their game when it comes to digital marketing. The problem is many business owners are now realizing they know little about SEO, Google, Facebook and Instagram ads, analytics, website design, social media, media content, or videography. But don’t worry, we understand that digital marketing is a jungle, and we are here to help you navigate it. We’ve literally had clients in happy tears after a meeting because they were so grateful that someone helped them solve a marketing problem that was stalling their business during this stressful period.
Please don't hesitate to schedule a free consultation with us, especially if there is something we can do to help you tell your story! While you might have been burned by a marketing agency in the past, Media Pulse is different. We’re more than an agency, we’re here to help.
