--- title: What Does a Grand Rapids Marketing Group Know About Economics? description: Marketing and the economy really do go hand-in-hand. And the economic environment we’re in is the perfect time to focus on and invest in modern marketing. image: https://blog.1boldstep.com/hubfs/stephen-dawson-qwtCeJ5cLYs-unsplash.jpg --- (616) 317-5300 [info@1boldstepllc.com](mailto:info@1boldstep.com) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/1BoldStep/) - [Twitter](https://twitter.com/1BoldStepLLC) [![1-bold-step_official-logo](https://blog.1boldstep.com/hs-fs/hubfs/1%20Bold%20Step%20Logos/1-bold-step_official-logo.png?width=222&name=1-bold-step_official-logo.png)](https://1boldstep.com/)   - [Home](https://1boldstep.com) - About - [Meet the Team](https://1boldstep.com/meet-the-team/) - [Our Approach](https://1boldstep.com/meet-the-team/) - Services - [Fractional Marketing Team](https://1boldstep.com/your-fractional-marketing-team/) - [Strategic Marketing Plans](https://1boldstep.com/strategic-marketing-plan-workshop/) - [RevOps](https://1boldstep.com/revops/) - [HubSpot Consulting](https://1boldstep.com/services/certified-hubspot-partner/) - [HubSpot Onboarding](https://1boldstep.com/hubspot-onboarding/) - [Brand Services](https://1boldstep.com/brand-services/) - [Our Clients](https://1boldstep.com/our-clients/) - Resources - [Blog](https://blog.1boldstep.com) - [Resources](https://1boldstep.com/resources/) - [Contact](https://1boldstep.com/contact/) - [Home](https://1boldstep.com/) - [Services](https://1boldstep.com/services/) - [HubSpot Consulting](https://1boldstep.com/certified-hubspot-partner/) - [Our Clients](https://1boldstep.com/our-clients/) - [Contact](https://1boldstep.com/contact/) - [Resources](https://1boldstep.com/resources/) - [Blog](https://blog.1boldstep.com/) # What Does a Grand Rapids Marketing Group Know About Economics? by [Jennifer Jurgens](https://blog.1boldstep.com/author/jennifer-jurgens) | Apr 26, 2021 4:03:39 PM | [Strategy](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/strategy), [Technology](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/technology), [Martech](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/martech) Marketing and economics go together like... - Peanut butter and jelly - Laverne and Shirley - Mac-n-cheese and ketchup  Okay, so maybe not everyone agrees that all of those things go together, but this blog is about how marketing and the economy really do go hand-in-hand. And it’s also about convincing people that the economic environment we’re in right now is the perfect time to focus on and invest in [modern marketing](https://blog.1boldstep.com/are-you-running-a-modern-marketing-department). But first, some background. **The definition of economics:** The branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth1. It is the study of the satisfaction of wants and needs, through the use of (usually constrained or scarce) resources.  **The definition of marketing**: The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large2. The connection between economics and marketing comes down to the fact that resources are constrained. Be it time, money, labor, or raw materials, marketing works at the **intersection of scarce resources and human wants and needs**.  I have had the privilege of attending the [Grand Rapids Economic Club’s](https://econclub.net/) Annual Economic Outlook, presented by [Dr. Alan Beaulieu of ITR](https://www.itreconomics.com/alan-beaulieu), for many years running now. His ability to make economics and statistics interesting and relevant never ceases to amaze me. And he holds himself accountable to his annual predictions reviewing them at the start of each new annual outlook (and he’s eerily accurate with his predictions!).  One of the things he said continues to influence the recommendations we make for our clients. “Capital finds a way… much like life in [Jurassic Park](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/).” I’m not sure everyone in the audience got the reference but I could clearly hear Jeff Goldblum’s voice in my head and picture the scene with the velociraptor eggs perfectly.   ![Life, uh, finds a way. ](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/EfJINX1rN7wIuyREl4jGWyMz7tDZ8qGDOnTlfqGB4oAnyED1Ek-6vC-AmNZvo6vCGL8UgUtrbaLhf4c35M3xAN_Dea6XZy_JariVqyyhJK9i72kWlGPpDhnXSqw1Egea0I1CZC_I) The relevance? Right now, the federal government is investing in infrastructure and the economy through stimulus checks, low-interest rates, start-up and ongoing business funding, and more.  With a shrinking labor force (just look at our overall population forecast to see what I’m talking about) and funding availability, it’s time to address the future labor problems now and invest in the future of your business with automation. Let me give you a few examples to consider:    - Are you in manufacturing and looking for hourly workers to do quality inspection work?  Have you considered artificial intelligence that uses cameras to catch micro-defects faster and more accurately than the human eye3?  - Do you produce a case study for your business and then spend hours trying to share it to your current customers, prospects, sales team, the website, your blog, external media sources, and all of your social media channels? If you’re investing in [modern marketing](https://blog.1boldstep.com/are-you-running-a-modern-marketing-department), one piece of great content can get shared, tracked, and reshared multiple times through one platform (for example, we use [HubSpot](https://1boldstep.com/services/certified-hubspot-partner/) for this). Great content should scale! - Is your sales team cold calling customers and then writing the same prospecting and follow-up emails over and over again? If it’s repeatable, [could it/should it be automated](https://blog.1boldstep.com/marketing-automation-its-already-risen-and-heres-why) so that they can spend their time talking to qualified prospects that are actually interested in your products?  Why start automating now? There are five factors4 that will influence the pace at which your business will adopt automation as well as its overall success: 1. **Technical Feasibility:** Will it actually work for your specific business case?  2. **Cost of Developing and Deploying:** Straight up hardware, software, hosting, maintenance, and training costs. 3. **Labor Market Dynamics:** The supply, demand, and costs of human labor. 4. **Economic Benefits:** What savings or increased revenue are you seeing from the increased throughput and quality along with labor cost savings? 5. **Regulatory and Social Acceptation:** Is everyone really ready and willing to accept automation? Alexander Graham Bell once said, “*Before anything else, preparation is the key to success*.” Or to quote Wayne Gretzky, “*I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.*” We are at the perfect intersection of capital and looming labor scarcity today. What should you be doing right now to position your company to perform when we’ve conquered the pandemic and there’s a boom in business in general? Now could be the perfect time to invest in automation – marketing or general automation too.  Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments section below.   Ready to automate or learn more about modern marketing? [Contact us](https://1boldstep.com/contact/). [![From guess work to growth strategy. Get Started.](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/5321767/interactive-158478468268.png)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJ6epcg9rDuuY962Cu5AeKGIhFDGVXndg9f7%2BG9JikMuZ78ys3JuUN5EO9PUDXeNsieEUwMbWrEKbGc2wu%2FJaSlMmiO%2BldPsCwpxJpbt2Bnnbaa4RGd97%2BFI4TUqf5YzF0FnjNqag5wUuHDD6yMRfYXFiGTZcmxlZImhrraADa%2FAfCYi9SBsU5biwCNKHQ%2FQiXc&webInteractiveContentId=158478468268&portalId=5321767) --- 1 Oxford’s English Dictionary, Via Google search 2021 2 The American Marketing Association, 2017 3 InsITe Business Solutions: “[How to Automatically Detect Product Quality Issues With an Affordable AI Solution](https://blog.trustedinsite.com/blog/how-to-automatically-detect-product-quality-issues-with-an-affordable-ai-solution)” 4 Various sources; McKinsey & Associates [← Previous Post](https://blog.1boldstep.com/content-marketing-demand-generation-3-areas-to-tackle-today) [Next Post →](https://blog.1boldstep.com/what-is-an-sla-and-what-should-be-included) ### You May Also Like… [![The 5 Costly HubSpot Mistakes Businesses Make in 2025 (And How to Avoid Them)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/hs-fs/hubfs/hubspot_worker.jpg?width=700&name=hubspot_worker.jpg)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/the-5-costly-hubspot-mistakes-businesses-make-in-2025-and-how-to-avoid-them) ## [The 5 Costly HubSpot Mistakes Businesses Make in 2025 (And How to Avoid Them)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/the-5-costly-hubspot-mistakes-businesses-make-in-2025-and-how-to-avoid-them) by [Adam Clarke](https://blog.1boldstep.com/author/adam-clarke) | Jun 18, 2025 2:03:17 PM | [Sales and Marketing Alignment](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/sales-and-marketing-alignment), [Strategy](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/strategy), [Technology](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/technology) If you're running a business, you've more than likely invested in a CRM to streamline your sales process and stop losing track of leads. I'm even willing to bet you're using HubSpot (Here's ... [![Why SaaS Companies Can't Afford to Ignore Content Marketing (And How to Build a SaaS Content Strategy That Works)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/hs-fs/hubfs/content-3679757_640%20(1).png?width=700&name=content-3679757_640%20(1).png)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/saas-content-marketing-strategy) ## [Why SaaS Companies Can't Afford to Ignore Content Marketing (And How to Build a SaaS Content Strategy That Works)](https://blog.1boldstep.com/saas-content-marketing-strategy) by [Tom Zelinsky](https://blog.1boldstep.com/author/tom-zelinsky) | Apr 29, 2024 2:36:09 PM | [Strategy](https://blog.1boldstep.com/tag/strategy) If you're running a SaaS company, you've probably already figured out that selling software isn't as simple as showing off a feature list. The sales cycles tend to run long. Your product ... 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Acting as an extension of a client’s marketing department (onsite or virtually), we help create systems, order, and accountability. With a focus on increasing sales and proving return on marketing investment, we’re determined to change marketing from overhead to value add.  ### Subscribe to our blog updates so you don’t miss out on any of our marketing tips! ![Subscribe](https://blog.1boldstep.com/hubfs/1_Bold_Step_December2019/Image/blog-t.jpg) 0 Comments ### Submit a Comment Your email address will not be published. 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