The fundamental rules of effective marketing are being rewritten. The rapid evolution of social networking technologies is making it easier for customers to get more precise information. It’s making it easier for them to consult one another, and it’s fundamentally impacting the way they make purchase decisions.

Customer experiences have never been more important. Word of mouth has been put on steroids.

So what does it mean to marketers? It’s the arrival of a new era, where engagement is the new currency that drives customer loyalty. But engagement must be defined as a true exchange of value and not just the act of pushing information. Getting someone to visit your web site is not engagement.

An engaged enterprise respects the fact innovation can come from anywhere. It understands that listening, learning and ongoing value-exchange must be embedded in the DNA of the organization.

With this in mind, here are five new questions marketers should be asking themselves as they adapt to this new age of engagement.

1. What are our client’s/customer’s most trusted sources of information?

2. In the age of search, have we put ourselves at the mouse of our client/customer?

3. Are we talking at our clients/customers or with them? Do we make it easy for them to provide feedback? Are they directly involved in the innovation around our products and services?

4. What are we doing to make every interaction with the client/customer an “engagement” and not just an exchange of information?

5. Would our clients/customers positively refer us to others? How are we engaging our happy customers to make them brand ambassadors?