Making Marketing Agile

Making Marketing Agile

SpeakerFrank Days

Correlsense

Today You Will Learn

• What is Agile Marketing?• What are the benefits of Agile for marketers?• What are the challenges?• Specific ways to be more agile• Selling Agile to your CMO

Frank Days

VP, Marketing, Correlsense

Director Social Media Novell

Pioneer in Agile Marketing

Tangyslice.com

Linkedin.com/tangyslice

About Me

Agenda• An Introduction• Benefits

• How it works• Challenges• Case Studies

INTRODUCTION

Applying ideas of

Agile development to marketing

What is Agile Development?

“Software development methodologies based on iterative and incremental development, where

requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-

functional teams”

- Wikipedia

*** Also, see The Agile Manifesto[1]

“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

Credit: Scott BrinkerChief Marketing Technologist

Agile vs. Waterfall

Image: Wikipedia

BENEFITS

Why I care about Agile?

• Need to be responsive and adaptive• Never liked marketing plans• Short shelf life for marketing plans

Results matter more than documentation so I need a lightweight approach

Benefit #1Agile gives you a way to adapt to fast moving media and markets

Each day:700 million pieces of content  shared on Facebook

30 million Twitter updates

900,000 blog posts

Benefit #2:Agile can help us learn (fail) faster

Just 32% of marketers know how customers behave across channels

Benefit #3 Marketing interactive projects delivered on time and work

Benefit #4Speed and flexibility are competitive advantages

Benefit #5Less planning means more working

HOW IT WORKS

Plan in short windows or SPRINTS

Image: Wikipedia

USE CASES describe how customers use your product

SCRUM MASTER leads the way

PRODUCT OWNER speaks for the market

Meet or SCRUM frequently to discuss progress

BACKLOG captures everything in that SPRINT

What have you done for me lately?

What have you completed?

What are you doing next?

What barriers are you facing?

SCRUMS are open/transparent

BURNDOWN CHARTS measure progress during a

SPRINT

Image: Wikipedia

CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME

Marketers are storytellers

Agile idea: Focusing on smaller blocks means less time storytelling

Talent level…“Waterfall protects the weak”

Agile ideas:

Smarter people can adapt

and can handle uncertainty

Image: Wikipedia

Many inherently waterfall programs

• Direct mail• Old school advertising (print, TV, radio)• Tradeshows/events

• Agile idea: Waterfall overlay

Mandated planning cycles

• Quarterly reporting• Annual budgets• Semi annual updates

• Agile ideas: – Open scrums– Monthly presentations

Your agencies are waterfall…

• Statements of work• Creative briefs• Risk reward balance

• Agile ideas:– Invite them to scrums

CASE STUDIES

No more “everyone is a marketing expert” syndrome

• Run in 30 day sprints• Post progress in a Wiki• End of sprint “Science Fair”

Agile time to results = waterfall time to live

• Using for interactive projects• Higher risk, greater uncertainty• Low cost, high velocity testing• Need right people and project

First Tennessee Bank

• Using agile to compress cycle times• Talent management tool• Have to deal with compliance

“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

TAKEAWAYS

• Agile can help marketers be more responsive• New philosophy of iterate, learn and adapt• Work in small blocks• Some waterfall overlays may be required• Start small and scale

Connect with me…Frank Days

@tangyslice

fmdays@tangyslice.com

Tangyslice.com

Agile Marketing Group on Facebook

 www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org 

Thank You!

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