Marketing is an ever evolving and rapidly changing industry, specifically in recent years with the advancement of the internet and new web technologies. I was blessed enough to be born during the greatest era of marketing in the history of mankind, and have been able to observe the vast marketing transformation unfold before my eyes.

New devices, new business models, new products, and new services have made it a very exciting and even what some may call ‘overwhelming’ time for professional marketers.

The marketing environment can literally change overnight (Just look at Snapchat for a recent example). The point being: you and your company better be ready and willing to change in a moment’s notice to survive in today’s competitive marketplace. With everything from smartphones, email technology, SMS, Social Media, to Internet Review Sites and everything in between it can be extremely difficult for small and mid-sized companies to align company marketing strategies with company goals.

It is human nature to be skeptical or even resistant to change but in the fierce world of capitalism every company must learn to embrace it, or they will be history.  I am not saying you need to reinvent the wheel or rewrite your entire marketing plan, but you need to make sure your strategy reflects the expectations of the 2014 consumer.  We compiled a checklist of 4 items that may indicate it’s time your marketing department gets together and gets the creative juices going again.

Here are 4  signs that may indicate your company is out of touch with today’s marketing environment:

1)      You are still sending a one way message and expecting the same results as the past

The old days of broadcasting your one way message out to your target market and being done with your campaign is over. Marketing is a two way street now. If you don’t listen to what your consumers are saying, you should start listening or else your competitors will happily do it for you. Surveys, With Social Media, Email, QR Codes, and more tools there’s a plethora of ways to keep the conversation going both ways.

2)      You haven’t claimed your free Yelp listing

Did you see the keyword above? It’s free, and can be a valuable tool for protecting your reputation. If you haven’t done it yet then I suggest you stop reading this post and go to https://biz.yelp.com/signup to claim it. Just be sure to bookmark our page before clicking through. Also be sure to talk to your marketing department about the benefits of claiming other free profiles on sites like Judy’s Book or Insider Pages.

3)      Not allocating a budget for ad buying on Facebook

Every marketer knows the importance and value Facebook can provide for companies. However, if your marketing department isn’t allocating any ad dollars (even a couple bucks a day) you may want to call an emergency meeting…NOW. Remember when Facebook didn’t really care when brands were caught buying Facebook fans circa 2010? Well everything makes sense looking back because according to Facebook organic reach has declined tremendously. Facebook said “We expect organic distribution of an individual page’s posts to gradually decline over time as we continually work to make sure people have a meaningful experience on the site.” Good news for shareholders and bad news for brands. The bottom line is if you want to reach your audience you have to pay to do so.

4)       Under the impression Pinterest is a social site for teens with no buying power

If you are familiar with the demographics of the U.S. internet population you may be surprised to learn that over 65% of Pinterest users are over the age 35. If this demo is in your target market it may be a social channel your marketing team should take another look at.