At one time, a marketer needed only consider a few communications channels: Print, TV, Packaging, and the speaking points within a salesperson’s sales pitch.

Today, all bets are off: Traditional channels still exist, but have been eclipsed by the website, marketing automation emails, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and 100s of other Social Media sites. These newer channels have one other key difference: target audiences are influenced by third-party blogs, likes, shares, and comments — not just by the organizational message.