Agile Marketing

Scott Brinker @chiefmartec

5 Principles of Agilityfor Content Marketing

Co-founder & CTOSoftware and servicesfor marketing apps.

Author & EditorBlog on the entwining of marketing & technology.

Program ChairMarketing techconference.

Marketing used to work like this.

A

B

Today, it feels more like this.

A

B

Faster cycle speedsFragmented channels

Feedback loopsFrequent disruptions

Marketing used to be complicated.Now it is complex.

Technology (alone) is not the solution.

We have more ideas and capabilities than ever —

the bottleneck issomewhere

else.

We need new organizational capital.

technology changes exponentially

organizations change logarithmically

Time

Chan

ge

“…helping the companies thrive under conditionsof high uncertainty and rapid change.”

Shift happens.

Embrace and benefit from change instead of fighting it.

Respond to feedback fromreal customers.

Adaptability.

When everything is high priority, nothing is.

Give everyone a mechanism to agree on what is important.

Prioritization.

Helps teams coordinate in a highly dynamic environment.

Give knowledge workers knowledge.

Transparency.

Give teams greater responsibility to make a difference, to shape their work — and to be recognized for their contributions.

Empowerment.

Enable ways for teams to try new innovations quickly, frequently, and on a small scale.

Create the flexibility to scale up the winners and drop the duds.

Experimentation.

Sounds great. But how?

Plan

Review

Produce

Deploy

“Waterfall” marketing management — often a quarterly or yearly plan.

“Waterfall” is a predictive approach to management.

Notpredictable

A

B

Reasonably predictable

72% Improved team morale

71% Faster time-to-market

75% Increased productivity

77% Improved project visibility

84% Ability to change prioritiesBenefits

reported by software

teams who have adopted agile methods

Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

Sprint Planning

Sprint

SprintRetrospective Daily

Stand-up

1 day

2-4 weeks

Sprint Review

UpdateBacklog

Write down nominated tasks:

UpdateBacklog

• Write a case study• Configure new nurture

email campaign in MAP• Create a landing page• Launch new Google

keyword group• Connect with a social

media influencer

Transparency.

Experimentation.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 11

Rank the nominated tasks in order of importance.

UpdateBacklog

Prioritization.

Transparency.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 11 1

2

3

4

5

To Do In Progress Done

Sprint Planning

Empowerment.

Teamcommits totasks for the sprint.

Sprint

High ratio of work time to process overhead.

Minimize “fire drills” that derail work in progress

Sprints typically are1-4 weeks long — the team focuses on completing its work. Empowerment.

To Do In Progress DoneSprint

Teammates take tasks in order of priority, move them to in progress and then done.

Empowerment.

Transparency.

Sprint Every day, the team meets for a 15 minute “stand up.”

1. What did I doyesterday?

2. What am I goingto do today?

3. Are there anyimpediments in my way?

Transparency.

If there’s an issue in Europe, I want the

head of African diplomacy to know

about it.

1 3 4 5

6 7 8 9

11 12 2

10

SprintIf something must be added mid-sprint, then it is prioritized relative to the other tasks — and may bump others out.

Transparency.

Prioritization.

To Do In Progress Done

Sprint Review

At the end of the sprint, the team meets to discuss/demo what was completed.

Empowerment.

Transparency.

Sprint Review

Collect ideas for further iterations of completed tasks — as well as entirely new ideas inspired by what was produced/learned.

Add them to the backlog.

Adaptability.

Experimentation.

Focusing onhow things

were done, not just what was

done.

Sprint Retrospective

After the review, the team has a separate meeting just among themselves to discuss their process — and suggests changes for the next sprint.

Empowerment.

Adaptability.

Experimentation.

Sprint Planning

Sprint

SprintRetrospective Daily

Stand-up

1 day

2-4 weeks

Sprint Review

UpdateBacklog

There’s no sleight of hand.

One Big Waterfallvs.

Many Small Agile Sprints

Adaptability.

Each sprint cycle provides an opportunity to:• Reap the benefits of a smaller deliverable• Adjust your approach based on feedback• Stop wasting time on things that aren’t effective

— rebalance your investment• Experiment with innovative, new ideas

Adaptability.

Experimentation.

1

2

3

4

5

To Do Prevent burnoutby prioritized, self-committed work — and by postponing most interruptions to the next planning.

Empowerment.

Part I Part II Part III

Agile is clearly great for small projects that are produced and deployed within a single sprint.

But you can build a larger project over several sprints. Each part can benefit from points for internal review.

Part I Part II Part III Version 1 Version 2 Version 3

This is an incremental approach — each step offers you a chance to adjust your trajectory.

This is an iterative approach — each step offers you a chance to refine your deliverable based on feedback.

Adaptability.

Version 1 Version 2 Version 3

This is an iterative approach — each step offers you a chance to refine your deliverable based on feedback.

An iterative approach lets you “fail fast” — try new

ideas on a small scale before scaling them.

Experimentation.

Adaptability.

What about quality?Is everything done “quick and dirty?”

To Do In Progress DoneQuality is primarily enforced through the definition of done.

Managers can stillexercise control over when something “ships” to the world.

time

mar

ketin

g pr

oduc

tivity

Brand Debt

Agile Marketing

Robust “Done”

Agile Marketing

Weak “Done”

TraditionalMarketingBrand Debt

Rushing out sloppy work

ends up costing you time

What about a larger vision?Is everything just planned on-the-fly?

Prioritization of the backlog

Sprint review feedback

Minimize “fire drills” and maintain focus

A strong, clear vision is the fuel that powers the agile process.

What about work that doesn’tseem to fit the agile process?

Having too rigid of a plan issuboptimal in a dynamic environment.

Of course, being too “exploratory”without enough focus is suboptimal too.

“…the key meta-trends that will definehow all marketing is done in a world of

technology enablement...”– Terence Kawaja, CEO

LUMA Partners

“…helps the reader to understand how technology can be used for both successful

marketing strategy and execution.”– Jonathan Becher, CMO

SAP

Download a free copy of my book at chiefmartec.com

Chief Marketing Technologisthttp://chiefmartec.com

ion interactive, inc.http://ioninteractive.com

sbrinker@ioninteractive.comTwitter: @chiefmartec

Reach me at:

MarTech Conferencehttp://martechconf.com