In a previous blog on agile marketing I discussed how marketing could learn from software development and become more agile. With online and digital channels becoming more prolific, there are numerous opportunities for marketers to put this into practice. A successful marketing program uses extensive experimental design and testing. Using the agile methodology, marketers can constantly test, learn and improve. This is becoming increasingly important as marketers strive to remain relevant and embrace Agile Marketing – an approach encouraging rapid response to align customer and prospect needs and maximize return on marketing dollars spent.
The core components of a successful agile marketing program are:
Embracing an expanded role for analysis and insights.
Organizations constantly struggle to analyze the results of their marketing efforts. In most organizations, marketing follows a fairly rigid planning and execution process. However with evolution in technology, marketers now have the ability to analyze the results of their current marketing programs and also the capability to adjust the execution of these programs. An example of this is the optimization of content for online and email campaigns based on existing results. In the traditional model marketers usually plan in advance and assign content up front but if organizations employ agile techniques, they can analyze the results, adjust and optimize content based on results, maximizing the return on marketing spend.
Evolved marketing technology.
The evolution of flexible marketing technology is critical as it allows integration of different data resources and makes campaign results available in a timely manner. Having a marketing technology that enables easy set up and modification of marketing programs and processes is essential for agile marketing.
Embracing cultural change.
The biggest evolution in marketing is cultural. Agile marketing is a different way of planning, designing and executing marketing and this requires a cultural change.
As marketing budget shifts from traditional media to digital media and with an increased focus on justifying the marketing spend, organization must embrace the agile marketing concepts.
