If you’re in the business world, then you’re aware that it’s no secret that Marketing has dramatically changed since the simple days of just television, newspapers and radio. With the onslaught of the World Wide Web, Social Media and new mobile technologies, marketing is now available to consumers all day every day. And this changes the way businesses should be approaching their strategy. In fact, in 2016, there was an estimated 3.5 billion internet users, according to research collected by Statista. So what can you do to remain successful in this new environment? Let’s take a look.

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Start a Conversation With Your Audience 

Gone are the days when advertising was a one-way street. These days, marketing is most effective when audiences are given the opportunity to express their feelings, opinions and questions openly to brands and marketers. Not only are these communication channels open to customers but it is almost demanded, with audiences turning to social media, blogs and content streams to express their thoughts with no prompts. To take full advantage of this changing trait, it’s important to embrace it ask customers tons of questions, keep communication flowing with regular online activity and find a way to keep in touch with customers through email and text message. Customers are not just looking to spend money with brands; they want to feel a deeper connection and that is only formed through ongoing and meaningful communication.

2. Expand Your Networks 

Piggy-backing off the idea that we’re in the age of constant communication, finding avenues to build strong networks is key to expanding your audience and popularity. While building these networks offline through events, meetings and socialization is still relevant, the online space brings new opportunity to solidify and build on your networks constantly. With social media profiles like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, you can connect with consumers and brands that share common interests, endeavors and goals. LinkedIn is a great resource for professional evaluation and merging social media to the professional networking scheme, and blogs or emails offer the opportunity to reach a wide audience. With people constantly chatting in today’s environment, keeping your network going and continually expanding it is vital to remaining relevant. If you struggle to effectively nurture your network, reading about the concept can be an effective strategy the book “The Seventh Sense” by Joshua Cooper Ramo is a good place to start.

3. Create Content That Appeals to Your Audience 

Modern technology and the internet means that we now have access to more content and information than every before all at the touch of a few buttons. What does this mean for marketers? The pressure to create memorable and valuable content is vital in order to stand out of the crowd. If you think about it from your audience’s perspective, they have such an onslaught of information coming at them, whether that be on social media, blogs, email, mobile and apps, so they’re only going to stop and look at the items that matter to them. When creating content and marketing initiatives, it’s therefore important to evaluate what matters to your customers, what they’re interested in and what will capture their attention. It’s not always necessary to advertise either by talking about a topic they’re interested in, audiences will appreciate the new information and trust is therefore indirectly initiated.

While the changing marketing landscape can be tricky to navigate, it’s important to take notice of what’s going on and adapt your strategies and marketing activities accordingly. If you follow these pointers and take advantage of the opportunities open to you, you’re sure to thrive.