your marketing plan sucks: nine flaws in modern marketing workflows and ways that agile can help
your marketing plan sucks:
nine flaws in modern marketing workflows and ways that agile can help
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
Applying ideas of
Agile development to marketing
The dominant design is emerging for agile marketing
Small “a”: Marketing faster• Real-time• Lean marketing• Forrester’s custom flavor
Big “A”: Applying Agile to marketing• From development• More responsive• More effective
Isn’t Agile Marketing
just marketers using agile?
Why I care about Agile?
A career in small, fast growing companies•Need to be responsive and adaptive•Never liked marketing plans•Short shelf life for marketing plans
Results matter more than anything
so I need a lightweight approach…
Nine Flaws in the ways marketers work today that make
Agile a challenge…
Flaw #1Marketers think they know a lot… when they really don’t …
Flaw #2 Old school overhead slows
things down
Flaw #3 Marketing is a hero based profession…
Flaw #4: Your agencies are probably waterfall…
• Statements of work• Creative briefs• Risk reward balance
Flaw #5 Disconnect between planning and doing in new social channels
Flaw #6: Marketers are storytellers
Flaw #7: Planning is cultural
“We do it this way…”“We need to build consensus…”“The CMO wants to see a plan…”
Flaw #8: Marketers like to talk…
Question: Are you looking too far back or too far into the future?
Flaw #9:We still have budgeting cycles
• Quarterly reporting• Annual budgets• Semi annual updates
How my team does Agile in Marketing…
One Month SPRINTS
Image: Wikipedia
PERSONAS for our core customers
Three monthly THEMES
PRODUCT OWNER is also SCRUM MASTER
SCRUM three times a week – sometimes more…
BACKLOG captured in a shares google spreadsheet
What have you done for me lately?
What did you just finish?What are you doing next?What is the problem?
Worst practices in Agile
• Things we could do better– No use cases– No post it notes– Planning poker – accurate sizing– Burndown charts– Science fair
What is working for us
• Clear objectives/priorities• Adaptive attitude/responsiveness• Low overhead• Team cohesion• Making it happen
“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
Shameless Plug
• Find us– iTunes– Agilemarketingblog.com
• Listen• Tweet• Question• Insult• Spread the word
Connect with me…Frank Days@[email protected] Marketing Group on Facebook
What questions
do you
have? ?