Having great products, services, or content are all wonderful things. But, if nobody knows about them, does it matter? Outreach is key for many B2B companies looking to earn brand and product awareness. However, outreach is a broad term that encompasses a range of external communication efforts.

Consumers flocked to stores on Black Friday, retreated to their computers on Cyber Monday and knocked it out of the park on Small Business Saturday - combining their efforts to increase holiday sales by 4.2% over last year’s totals. But it was Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) that stole the show this weekend – and when the dust settled and the virtual shelves restocked – they had millennials to thank.

We live in the information age — aptly named because we have unprecedented access to information through many platforms. Researchers estimate that between television, radio, the internet, email and social media, the average person receives the equivalent of 174 newspapers worth of data every day.

While it’s obvious that the speed of technology affects businesses, allowing for faster product to market, there is another emerging influence that can affect businesses equally much. With social media, the feedback loop between consumers and business works faster, too. Now, responses by consumers are immediate, requiring equally fast responses by businesses. More than ever, it is critical for business owners to constantly keep their finger on the pulse of the market.