As many of you are aware, the world used to be a much simpler place for marketers. Typically at the start of a new year, goals were created and scheduled out over the course of the upcoming year. Usually, these goals did not change very much. However, in today’s fast moving world, change has become a fact of life and marketers now need to be able to adapt to the demands of consumers. This means being able to change goals and timelines accordingly. Those marketers able to accomplish this are able to take advantage of the competitive nature of this new technology world. Instead of the yearly marketing calendar, marketers now have to constantly fine tune their programs and projects, enabling them to expand on what’s working best.
It goes without saying that while it’s important to be flexible on projects, never forget to keep your long term strategy and vision in mind as well. Ideally, you want both to complement each other, so keeping both in mind is essential to stay competitive. Working for a software company, I can attest to the importance of being flexible. You never know when you may be asked to make last minute changes to the product. Being responsive to a customer’s request and taking their opinions into consideration, is the key to a successful and thriving business.
It should be apparent by now that I’m fascinated by agile marketing. I recently came across a great post on the subject by Dror Gliksman. Below are a few core values that I thought were most important nuggets for everyone interested in agile marketing to be aware of.
• Agility: Don’t get stuck in long term planning. Plan, execute, test, and deploy. Embrace change!
• Question Everything: Trust your gut, and make changes accordingly. If you can change something before your customer points it out to you, you’ll be in a better place.
• Let Go: Not everything is going to be perfect all the time. Accept that, and know that with an agile framework, you can constantly work to make things better and better.
• Navigate: Understand your customers and make changes that you know will better your product. Your customers will help you along the way, but don’t rely on them to map out everything that needs to change.
You’re Turn:
If you are currently practicing agile marketing, how is it working for you? Let me know in the comments.