Agile Software Development allows responding to changing requirements to develop software with the highest on-demand features in the shortest amount of time. Agile Marketing is derived from agile software development.

It consists of practices that not only simplify the process of planning strategies and executing goals in short iterations but also enhances the quality of work and an opportunity to learn from mistakes to further improve.

To obtain the full benefits of being agile in marketing, you have to be completely agile. It helps marketing team to inspect their strategy after short iteration thus adapting a change and tweaking the strategy within few weeks is still possible. An Agile Marketing team needs to follow agile rules and principles to become fully agile. Just as Agile Software Development, Agile Marketing has its own values.

The Formation of Agile Teams

Agile Teams are cross-functional which means it consists of team members which belong to diverse professional backgrounds. For example, a team may consist of content writers, HR, analysis, operations or IT. These teams range from 8-12 people.

An ideal candidate for a cross-functional team usually possess knowledge from different fields such as HTML/CSS, analytical or business intelligence, marketing operations, graphic design, or content management system.

It is not necessary for a senior individual to start a marketing campaign. It may seem overwhelming at first but with Agile, any member of a team can initiate the process.

The teams need to realize and define a solid vision and goals that have to be achieved. They need to establish open and transparent modes of communication amongst each other. They need to utilize the appropriate technology that is suitable and matches their potential. This includes having the right marketing technology infrastructure and automating processes of delivery of campaigns or customer tracking and carrying out data analysis.

The teams need to work in rapid iterations. They need to work with external agencies and have to be curious to experiment frequently in order to learn and improve.

Trust among teams is paramount. The team members need to feel comfortable and confident enough to voice their concern. By empathizing, understanding and being compassionate about the team members will help boost team morale. It is pertinent in better understanding why something is not being done.

Values of Agile Marketing

The essence of Agile is responding to changing requirements

Instead of making large business plans that span for months, make a small plan with clear goals and vision that last for two to four weeks. And after that, change your priorities to make a new plan.

Working iteratively for rapid iterations in Big Bang campaigns

Have a meeting to plan a small strategy that lasts for an hour maximum. Test it and measure the results. Now document your learning in order to learn what not to do or you can do it better.

Instead of following the opinion of the highly paid individual, use the results from testing to support your work

Use the data calculated from the metrics you have chosen.

Following the 70:20:10 rule

Spend 70% of your budget and 50% of the time on things that you are certain will work. Then spend 20% budget and 25% time on things that you know work but how they can be improved. Lastly, spend 10% budget and 25% time on new creative ideas.

Value people’s work

Be open to different opinions presented by team members.

Collaborate

There is no hierarchy amongst teams. Everything is transparent and all the teams know what is happening. The teams and the higher management are aware of all the developmental processes.

Things to Remember Before Embracing Agility

Before transitioning to Agile, it is important to remember:

Clearly state your goals and your vision.

Know what you want to achieve.

Working iteratively and incrementally is key for agile.

Using the right metrics and the right combination of teams to produce the best results.

Teams are rewarded for their work rather than a single individual effort.

Continuously and relentlessly improve.

Benefits of Agile Marketing

Customer is satisfied.

Organisation shifts and maintains focus to the right things that need to be done.

Multiple tasks can be done in the shortest sustainable time.

Regular reviewing and discussions aligns teams to obtaining business objectives.

Problems are identified sooner and worked on.

Better visibility into the project.

Quality of work is improved in terms of value to customer.

Releases are done quicker.

Ample room for improvement and creativity.

Extensive Testing by the real user by using real analytical tools.

Rework amount is reduced by changing direction as soon need arises.

30% to 40% more work done than earlier marketing campaigns.

Communications within and outside marketing teams improve.

All the teams know what is happening? and where? thus all the processes and activities are transparent.

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