Turning agile marketing from intent to reality

However, are you really?

It’s no surprise if you’re not, most are still adopting a traditional approach, resulting in delays because of an often-protracted response to feedback, customer opinion and what’s happening in the media.

You should consider embracing ‘agile marketing’ and make some minor alterations to your existing way of working. It’s not uncommon for marketing projects to take months to be implemented effectively, which is far too late to captivate a restless audience that demands relevance and authenticity almost immediately. Agile marketing provides a solution.

So, what is agile marketing?

There are lots of articles about ‘agile marketing’, but, in our view, it involves focusing your resources, giving them the power and the right technology, and having a responsive agency in place to get things done! Rather than exclusively following your carefully considered plan and process, which is also essential, agile marketing empowers a small team with a range of skills that can hyper-focus on one thing until it’s delivered. They should be given the freedom to dedicate themselves 100% to the project in the smallest possible time, known as a sprint, the duration could be a few days or a couple of weeks or so. Working collaboratively, the aim is to get the job done quickly and efficiently, working proactively to remove the barriers which can keep a project in stasis for weeks.

What does agile marketing look like?

Generally, agile marketing needs:

• A team that’s capable of working together to deliver what’s needed. The make-up of the group varies depending on the nature of the project. Many successful agile marketers choose to outsource some team members from across the business to get the exact blend they need for the project
• Enable free-flowing communication between all the team members and empower them to make some independent decisions based on clear guidelines
• A responsive, experimental approach to campaign development and implementation

Typically, a sprint will involve:

• Defining aims and objectives
• Using analytic data as a basis for creating marketing ideas that may work
• Testing the ideas multiple times rapidly and refining them each time until the best variations are found
• Spin-off ideas may also be tested simultaneously. The aim is to get a workable model up and running as soon as possible, then continue to test and refine over subsequent weeks and months, in response to analytics results and audience feedback. For fresh inspiration and to add budget-friendly value to in-house efforts, many companies opt to outsource some or all this process
• Being aware of what’s happening around you and have the tools in place to be able to capitalise on what’s happening in the media
• Including a proactive agency in your team who can deliver the creative elements in your timescales

Agile marketing gets results

When it’s done well, companies can expect to see stunning results. The more agile you become, the more ‘normal’ it will feel, so it will be more likely that you will see significant benefits. Whether you’re new to agile marketing or have partly implemented some of the principles but would like to go further, we can help.

Our team of producers, designers, shooters, developers and animators, all collaborating with you to create work… that works. Get in touch to find out more.