What is agile marketing? It turns out that this model makes it much easier to react in the tough, dynamic business environment of the 21st century. The pandemic has shown that everything can change overnight. This agile approach helps a lot then.
The State of Agile Marketing report from 2020 forecasts that 41 percent. marketers are already using agile marketing. The rest will be joining them soon. It's time to finally clear up this difficult concept!
What is agile marketing?
Buddhists speak of skillful means. Agile marketing is a sensation in marketing. In Polish, it is about agility of reaction. agile- agile), but the term better explains variability, maneuverability, or just dexterity.
All definitions mention the volatility and unpredictability of events in the business world. Agile marketing is about adapting quickly to a changing situation on an ongoing basis. The obstacle is not the problem here, but the expected part of the process. In the face of agile, the marketer does not lose his head and quickly creates a new strategy adapted to changing circumstances. I must admit that this is a tactic tailored to the present times. Detailed action plans set out for a decade ahead - today they are rather a thing of the past. Specific steps must be flexibly adapted to new technologies or realities.
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It is said that in today's labor market, the most successful is not the person who has the highest qualifications, but the one who can quickly change them and adapt to the new situation. A similar principle can be formulated with regard to marketing in 2021. This explains the popularity of agile marketing.
Done is better than perfect
One of the most famous Polish business speakers repeats that "done is better for the perfect". This is exactly how you can understand the principle of agile marketing. Everything is based on the quick, sometimes simultaneous completion of many different stages of a work or project. The team can then modify the effect based on the experience gained along the way. This means that corrections and corrections are possible in the course of work. How is the traditional approach? After a time-consuming planning stage, the next steps are carried out sequentially. Time for a summary is at the very end. Often then it turns out that certain ideas have not worked out. It may already be too late for corrections… If their implementation is also based on traditional marketing principles, it may take many months or… years before changes occur.
In what areas can agile marketing be used?
- Campaign planning,
- communication strategyand,
- leading social-media,
- positioning of pages,
- customer service,
- PR campaign
- placing products on the market,
- event planning.
In fact, the number of possible solutions is unlimited, because new technologies keep appearing with the development of new technologies.
Agile marketing is based on speed, teamwork, daily communication and clear drawing of the project, e.g. on a board with cards. In this way, any large project can be divided into segments lasting 2-6 weeks. This reduces the fatigue of team members and facilitates corrections along the way. Everyone was in a situation where they worked on a project, and in the end it turned out that it was not the point at all ... Continuous communication and dividing activities into segments prevent such events. At most, the effect of activities carried out in the last days or weeks can be “trash”, but not the entire project.
The beginnings of agile marketing
The first example of agile marketing was the Toyota brand strategy. In the 1950s, when almost no company had yet used sophisticated marketing strategies, the Toyota Motor Company implemented a multi-stage process, which included, among others, Ishikawa diagram, Pull Kanban system and many other elements. With time, lean management evolved from it, and later also agile marketing, as we know it today. This concept, however, began to gain popularity the most along with the rise of the Internet.
Firstly, the systems used in development companies could be inspiring. Each of the designers of the game or system works simultaneously on one sector of the project. Corrections and changes take place in the course of brainstorming. In this way, the effect is achieved faster and is better than if the design was created first and then had to be completed without revision along the way. In the dynamically changing Internet environment, this approach has been incorporated into agile marketing strategies. Sometimes it is even difficult to plan a campaign on Google or Instagram for a year ahead. Variable algorithms and trends make it a much better idea to act on an ongoing basis and constantly modify assumptions.
Advantages of using agile marketing
From the report already cited TsoAM shows that marketerswho use agile marketing believe that:
- their team can react quickly to changes (82 percent), while in traditional marketing teams it is only 70 percent.
- their strategy of operation correlates with the company's vision (86 percent), while in traditional marketing teams it is only 79 percent.
- their team uses opportunities (89%), while in traditional marketing teams it is only 81%.
Agile marketing is worth implementing in companies whose problem is a rigid structure or processes. You can start with simple steps such as daily summaries of current affairs. They are called stand-up meetings, because they are not about sitting consultations, but short summaries that can be arranged on the fly. Some teams already use agile marketing, although they don't know it yet. Task boards in programs such as Asana or Wrike are white-boards with a schedule of subsequent stages and tasks - only on-line.
If you are interested in improving the processes in your company and you are considering an agile marketing campaign, contact us - we will propose a solution tailored to your needs.