Marketing is more than just advertising your business. It is about understanding and meeting the wants and needs of your customers. Marketing consists of the whole picture from identifying their needs, creating and achieving goals that meet those needs and continuing to find new and improved ways of reaching your customers.

Back when mobile marketing and Facebook PPC ads first came to light, they were inexpensive and took very little work. Today these marketing opportunities cost more and are considerably more competitive. As new technologies come into play and customer needs change, new marketing opportunities will emerge. These opportunities allow you to make changes to your business so that it continues to grow. It also helps you keep ahead of your competitors, which is important to your business success.

So how do you stay in the know? Here are nine ways to keep track of new marketing opportunities.

1. Make a habit of reading periodicals such as Website Magazine, Visibility and Internet Marketing Magazine that discuss marketing topics.

2. Subscribe to newsletters provided by well-known marketers that are considered experts in their field. Sign up for their RSS feed and follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

3. Read trade magazines related to your niche. TradePub has an extensive list of free trade magazines in print, downloads and ebooks you can sign up for.

4. Use services such as Google alerts that send regular emails to your inbox with information related to keywords that you have chosen.

5. Socialize with other marketers so you have people to compare notes with. If possible, connect with others locally so you can meet up once a month to share ideas.

6. Subscribe to research and trend following websites such as MarketingSherpa.

7. Watch marketing forums for discussions on new techniques and methods of marketing. You can oftentimes find people asking if anyone has tried a new method or knows anything about it.

8. Attend conferences. Most conferences make time for attendees to mingle. Make friends with the movers and shakers in your industry. They will most likely be tracking what’s new.

9. Visit booths. Many conferences will have booths set up where people can promote their services. Take the time to visit the booths and make a connection with each person. Take their business card and make a note of things you discussed or when and why you should follow up with them.

Keeping track of and understanding new marketing opportunities assists you in anticipating changes that can impact your business. Being able to act before your competition is vital to keeping your business in the forefront. While you may not want to be the first to test the water of a new marketing method, following the above suggestions will ensure you know when and how to take advantage of new marketing opportunities.