Despite digital’s seamless presence in my daily habits, Sunday includes a read of my local paper. It’s a bit of a ritual – one that research suggests will not be picked up by my children.

Regardless, one story in particular stood out: “Data deluge will reboot our brains.”

“Through emails, texting, internet surfing, reading and other media, our brains are being deluged with increasing quantities of information. Although we may not actively read 100,000 words a day, that is the approximate number reaching our eyes and ears. Add images, such as videos and computer games, and we are faced with the equivalent of 34 gigabytes of information each day — enough to overload the typical laptop inside a week.”

34GB of information. According to Apple, that’s the equivalent of 7,000 songs or 40,000 photos or 40 hours of video. And that’s how much information brands must compete with each day to get their message in front of customers?! It’s a jaw-dropping task depending on how you approach the challenge.

Rather than trying to stand out from 34 GB of information, marketers must truly understand their consumers. One way to do this entails less talking TO consumers and more talking WITH consumers.

This level of participation is not second nature to marketers. But it requires us to commit to participating with consumers using new opportunities like social media platforms. The end result is a higher level of consumer engagement than you’ll get simply launching another campaign. It moves your brand to the top of their list — their favorite song, photo or video at the front of a queue that is 34GB deep.