The benefits of agile marketing

Agile marketing is a high-communication, low documentation, rapid iteration process designed to provide more

frequent, more relevant and highly measurable marketing programs

- IDC, Agile Principles and Practices, 2010

Applying ideas of

Agile development to marketing

The dominant design is emerging for agile marketing

Small “a”: Marketing faster• Real-time• Lean marketing• Forrester’s custom flavor

Big “A”: Applying Agile to marketing• From development• More responsive• More effective

Isn’t Agile Marketing

just marketers using agile?

Why I care about Agile?

A career in small, fast growing companies•Need to be responsive and adaptive•Never liked marketing plans•Short shelf life for marketing plans

Results matter more than anything

so I need a lightweight approach…

How my team does Agile in Marketing…

One Month SPRINTS

Image: Wikipedia

PERSONAS for our core customers

Three monthly THEMES

PRODUCT OWNER is also SCRUM MASTER

SCRUM three times a week – sometimes more…

BACKLOG captured in a shares google spreadsheet

What have you done for me lately?

What did you just finish?What are you doing next?What is the problem?

Worst practices in Agile

• Things we could do better– No use cases– No post it notes– Planning poker – accurate sizing– Burndown charts– Science fair

What is working for us

• Clear objectives/priorities• Adaptive attitude/responsiveness• Low overhead• Team cohesion• Making it happen

“How do I sell

Agile Marketingto my boss?”

Advice*

• If you are not in charge– Start small – a single project– Things that look like development– Areas with rapid change– Something with strongly measurable ROI– Talk with a developer who knows agile

Shameless Plug

• Find us– iTunes– Agilemarketingblog.com

• Listen• Tweet• Question• Insult• Spread the word

Connect with me…Frank Days@tangyslicefmdays@tangyslice.comwww.agilemarketingblog.comAgile Marketing Group on Facebook

What questions

do you

have? ?

Nine Flaws in the ways marketers work today that make

Agile a challenge…

Flaw #1Marketers think they know a lot… when they really don’t …

Flaw #2 Old school overhead slows

things down

Flaw #3 Marketing is a hero based profession…

Flaw #4: Your agencies are probably waterfall…

• Statements of work• Creative briefs• Risk reward balance

Flaw #5 Disconnect between planning and doing in new social channels

Flaw #6: Marketers are storytellers

Flaw #7: Planning is cultural

“We do it this way…”“We need to build consensus…”“The CMO wants to see a plan…”

Flaw #8: Marketers like to talk…

Question: Are you looking too far back or too far into the future?

Flaw #9:We still have budgeting cycles

• Quarterly reporting• Annual budgets• Semi annual updates