What’s the big deal with agile marketing? There’s been a lot of talk about it lately, but why should you make the switch? Well, I’ve got some pretty enticing facts that may just convince you to give agile marketing a try. Below are ten reasons from “agile” blogger Jim Ewel on why you should consider implementing agile marketing from his blog. (To read the complete post click here.)
- Productivity – “While there are no formal studies comparing the productivity of agile versus non-agile marketing teams, teams who make the switch report increased productivity”, according to Ewel. With agile marketing, productivity can be measured in many different ways: results, points, tasks completed. Because not all tasks are the same difficulty, many teams decide to assign points to each story according to the level of difficulty involved with accomplishing that task. Regardless of what metric you use to measure productivity, the goal should be to increase the volume coming out of the marketing department over time.
- Transparency – Agile marketing allows management, sales, and development to see what each team is working on. Review meetings also can be used to summarize teams contributions and “evangelize their efforts on a regular basis”. Similarly, planning meetings allow for cross-departmental input, increasing awareness of what’s going on inside the department. Because agile marketing stresses the value of teams working closely with customers, there’s an added level of customer interaction transparency. Ewel points out that one of the benefits of agile marketing is that it helps in “providing a degree of honesty and candor atypical of traditional marketing”.
- Prioritization – By holding sprint planning meetings, you are forcing teams to prioritize requests and allowing them to see all available resources. This usually spurs a group discussion around determining the best steps around how those resources should best be deployed.
- Measurability – One of the key values stressed in agile marketing is measurement and accountability says Ewel. In agile marketing, teams run small tests, analyze the results, and decide what works. “This emphasis on measurability improves marketing’s ability to communicate its contribution.”
- Increased ability to adapt and change – Agile by its very definition means to be able to quickly adapt to change. This is made possible by “both setting aside a portion of the marketing resources anticipating the inevitable changes, and by the short nature of sprints.”
- Customer Satisfaction – Because of the close interaction with customers, needs are met quickly. Customers receive honest and clear information enabling them to make a more informed buying decision. This in turn, ultimately increases customer satisfaction and return business.
- Competitiveness – A prioritized, and measured marketing effort, as well as increases in customer satisfaction all lead to improvements in competitiveness.
- Improved internal communication – “One of the biggest benefits of agile marketing”, cross-departmental communications tend to improve as well as within the marketing department. The improved communication can partially be attributed to the daily scrum meetings held where people talk about what they accomplished the previous day, what they are hoping to accomplish today, and potential impediments.
- Good for the ol’ career – Agile marketing is begging to get some traction in the workplace. “Just as developers who deeply understand agile development are in high demand, marketers who deeply understand agile marketing and who have experience implementing agile marketing in organizations will be in demand.”
- Fun! – Agile marketing can be a lot of fun. Gathering and talking every day about what you’re working on and challenges can quickly build team cohesiveness. “The respect for the individual and self-managing nature of teams that are part of the agile values also lead to greater satisfaction with work.”
Your Turn
Are you part of an agile marketing team? If so, what are some of the benefits you have witnessed?
