I recently ran across some of my old text books from college while decorating my home office. Yes, I AM “that girl” who keeps her college textbooks—but only the ones from my marketing and advertising classes, I promise!

While reminiscing about the four “Ps,” the product life cycle, the consumer decision making process and other lessons I learned—I realized that while most of the marketing principles I learned in school remain true today—the world of marketing is evolving quickly before our eyes.

For one thing, consumers primarily use the Web to research products and services rather than relying on sales representatives for information. SEO and marketing automation software are invisible tools that help marketers track and predict behaviors of their customers and prospects. Brands are given faces and personalities with social media tools like Facebook and Twitter—I predict that in the next three years, having a company Facebook or Twitter page is going to be as expected as having a Web site.

As marketing professionals, it’s in our best interest to keep up with industry trends and continue our education. There are plenty of Webinars, luncheons and online tutorials happening everyday that are just as valuable as our dusty old textbooks.

What is the biggest marketing change you’ve seen during your career?