How-To Guide

Agile Marketing

Executive Summary
When you hear the word agile, you probably think about agility, which refers to a systems
ability to change by adapting to its new environment. Similarly, agile movements are quick,
light and easy. When we speak in terms of marketing, Agile Marketing is a method for
planning and executing a marketing plan borrowed from the world of software
development.

Instead of long, waterfall methods of development that too often results in delayed or
out-of-date products launching later than planned, the agile method follows a simple
process of build, measure, and learn. Agile Marketing, then, is the application of these
methods to marketing. Marketers all over the world are adopting this method to the
extent that 2013 has been dubbed the year of Agile Marketing.

This How-To Guide defines why Agile Marketing is important and outlines its key principles
and identifies and action plan for getting started.

Why its important

While Agile Marketing is relatively new, its projected to make a big impact on the
marketing landscape in 2013. To understand why, consider some of the differences
between Agile Marketing over the traditional waterfall method:

Responding to change as it occurs instead of sticking to the plan.

Testing of products and using data instead of following opinions.

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 How-To Guide
Collaboration with employees instead of silos of hierarchy and upper
management.

Several small testing phases over one large plan.

Engagement with employees instead of posting a plan set in stone to be

followed.

The waterfall method refers to traditional marketing plans that involve a fixed sequence of
stages throughout the project lifecycle. You would not move to the next section, lets say
product design, until you had completed the previous section, in this case, research. The
marketing plan was oriented vertically with a series of cascading steps, hence the waterfall
association. The problem with this method is that it does not account well for project or
plan delays, which are far too common. Once a section of work is complete in a waterfall
plan, there is no return - or no climbing back up the waterfall.

Agile Marketing improves marketing by enabling what the waterfall method never could
completing work in smaller chunks and adapting quickly and effectively to change.
Through a system of checks and balances, Agile Marketing lets you evaluate your projects
while they are works in progress. When something isnt working, youll know it sooner, in
time to try a new approach. This lets you make decisions more quickly about when its
time to abandon part of the plan altogether. The value of this approach is flexibility. You
cannot predict with 100% accuracy the market or how well your plan addresses its needs,
but with Agile Marketing you can quickly adapt your plan as necessary, allowing you to
achieve better marketing results.

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 How-To Guide

How its being used

Most marketing departments operate on a rigid set of scheduled timelines. There are
usually annual targets and quarterly targets, but these targets are often unclear and dont
leave room to adjust to market changes.

This is where Agile Marketing comes into play. Rather than having your team operate in
large, time consuming sprints, it is much more efficient to work in shorter and more
defined sprints, such as monthly. This allows your team to touch base consistently about
where they are in their timeline and what is going on with the work they own. It doesnt
mean that you throw out your annual plan, it just means you work on smaller monthly
goals that will all add up to your annual objective. In order to achieve the best results, it is
important that everyone on your team have an equal opportunity to contribute. Its time to
abandon the silo and get everyone working together, whether a junior employee or
regional manager. Employees at all levels and in all departments can bring something
unique to your plan the Agile Marketing approach gets everyone involved in creating
and successfully executing your marketing plan.

Most businesses using Agile Marketing have adopted the scrum technique: a cross-
functional team, consisting of six to ten people. The idea here is simple: each scrum has a
project deliverable (the user story) and works in sprints. The scrum meets frequently
(stand-up) with the other groups to discuss your progress and get feedback, thus
improving future sprints and project deliverables. At the end of each sprint, there is a
review. Here you will determine if your goal was met and discuss possible improvements
for the next sprint, and then the cycle repeats. Each sprint builds upon the last to achieve
success in your overall plan; however, breaking each project down into smaller pieces will
make your marketing plan much more manageable.

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 How-To Guide

Agile Marketing Action Plan

While the concept of Agile Marketing has been around for over a decade, its only now
becoming mainstream. Here is an action plan that will help you get started with Agile
Marketing:

1. Assemble a Scrum: Build a cross-functional team, consisting of six to ten people.

2. Select a Deliverable: Define a task/user story - unit of work with expectations for a
specific set of results.

3. Identify Story Points: The effort required to complete a task or user story.

4. Determine the Sprint: A period of time allocated to complete a unit of work,

ranging from a few days to a few months. A Sprint represents a commitment to
complete the work in the allotted time.

5. Schedule Standups: A frequent meeting (daily or 2-3 times weekly) of all project
members where each responds to three questions:

What did you do yesterday?

What will you do today?
What barriers are you encountering?

6. Review & Refine: Conduct a review at the end of each sprint and document lessons
learned.

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 How-To Guide

Bottom Line
Agile Marketing is the future of marketing. The success of your business ultimately
depends on your ability to plan and execute well. Traditional marketing plans, based on
the waterfall concept, take a long time to create, have notoriously short shelf lives and do
not adapt well to rapidly changing marketing conditions. Agile Marketing overcomes these
limitations and helps the organizations that use this method function as a nimble
competitor.

2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.