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Agile Marketing: 5 Principles of Agility for Content Marketing - Scott Brinker
Transcript of Agile Marketing: 5 Principles of Agility for Content Marketing - Scott Brinker
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.
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2
3
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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
[email protected]: @chiefmartec
Reach me at:
MarTech Conferencehttp://martechconf.com