As the era of social media continues to set the bar for new marketing strategies, it’s time we reflect and update the way we, as marketers, respond to new trends, generational preferences, and consumer behaviors.

One of the first things we learn in marketing are the 4 Ps—product, place, price, and promotion—and the importance of utilizing them to market efficiently and effectively. However, as times change we have had to adapt to the digital age of marketing and the innovations it has brought along the way.

While marketers continue to focus on the 4 Ps, they also need to recognize the 3 Es of marketing—equip, engage, empower—as Kimberly Whitler of Forbes points out. Not only are the 3 Es applicable to digital marketing, but they can also be applied to other common marketing strategies, such as inbound, outbound, SEO, copywriting, and more.

What is marketing without engagement? Unsuccessful.

It’s important to engage and connect with your clients and their customers to create and solidify a relationship. Especially now as we navigate through a pandemic, everything is dependent upon how strong of a relationship you have with clients and customers. For marketers, it’s important we create trust and provide clients with the highest quality of work and communication. For our clients, it’s all about creating relationships with customers (both returning and new) to build a foundation of trust and keep them interested in said product or service.

Simply put by Whitler, “Give your fans the gift of you.”

It’s also our job to equip our clients with the information and resources needed to generate strong relationships and ultimately produce loyal, returning customers. We need to provide a legitimate reason to rave about our clients’ products or services. Whether it’s revolutionizing an industry, solving a problem, or innovating an existing market, it’s our job to create that excitement.

Finally, we must empower our clients’ customers. Customers today want to be involved in your brand and feel like they are a part of something bigger. By empowering customers, it encourages them to become a brand ambassador for your client’s products or services. This can be done in many ways—through social media polls, reviews, blogs, ambassador programs, and paid partnerships to name a few. In reality, it’s best to employ several of these strategies to create a larger impact on your customers.

The 4 Ps of marketing are still important to this day, but many marketers are failing to recognize the 3 Es of marketing and their relevance to the digital era. Be sure you’re doing everything you can to support your clients and help them empower their customers to create a lasting relationship that benefits all parties.