In a world of increasing technological innovation and where once far-flung dreams are becoming realities, many are returning to analog activities for escape.
Fishing is not just one of the largest and oldest industries and trades, but also one of the most pervasive hobbies or passions across the world. According to ASAfishing.com, there are over 60 million anglers in America and there are large clubs in every state. Interestingly, many young people are becoming interested in fishing.
Since the first time at sea, Marty Jacobs loved fishing and the intense feelings of freedom breaking waves in the salty air. As only a teenager, he started his first business Fish Free, a fishing lifestyle brand based on the feelings of freedom and self-empowerment. Like many young entrepreneurs, Jacobs “scratched his own itch” and created the brand he wanted and felt was missing in the angling world.
With his expert knowledge of social media, he started by creating an Instagram account for Fish Free and focused on posting shoots of products. He believed that his target audience wanted this kind of catalog-like content and this was the best way to sell. Unfortunately, it wasn’t popular. Jacobs didn’t know why his following has become tepid and interactions with his posts were on the decline. After a few weeks of stagnation, he decided to switch things up and go back to scratching his itch and posting pictures, videos, and graphics of incredible fishing trips, amazing catches, and spectacularly deck-out boats.
Jacobs couldn’t believe the response. Engagement went up 1000% and he soared to 27,000 followers in a few days. All over the world, people were connecting to Fish Free and believing in the idea of a fishing lifestyle brand that focused on the freedom of fishing. Not only was he gaining a following, but he was starting a movement as thousands of people were now posting their own lifestyle pictures under Jacobs hashtag #wefishfree.
After learning valuable skills from social media marketing, search engine optimization, and digital engagement, Jacobs founded Columbia Marketing and Management agency to provide small businesses the digital media solutions they desperately needed. Jacobs saw that small businesses needed new digital solutions to keep up in a vastly changing marketplace.
With almost any kind of business, it’s always better to have more pathways to reach and gain new customers and demographics. Old styles of “Mad Men” marketing and customer management like print-outs and flyers no longer work. Consumers are looking for businesses on social media more and more, especially Millennials and Gen-Z which will be the largest consumer demographics by 2020 according to the Pew Research Center. The overwhelming advantage of allowing consumers to find businesses and answer questions in real-time while being one click away from engaging, even more, can’t be understated.
Marty Jacobs understands this and how to help small businesses achieve their goals through digital media solutions and that is what he did for hundreds of business owners during his time with Columbia. Looking for a change of pace, Jacobs joined Astra Media, a disruptive and quickly growing media agency, to help them dominate the digital media agency market.