If you haven’t already adopted Agile in your marketing team, the likelihood is that you’ve heard it mentioned or it’s even been recommended to you – but you may not have much of an idea of what it really involves. And like I did a few months ago when I first heard the term, you may feel somewhat intimidated. But in writing How to apply Agile successfully to your marketing, I discovered that it really is something to get excited about; Agile, if embraced and embedded in the right way, can unlock the full potential of marketing within your organisation, and that’s a hugely exciting prospect.
Here are the key things I believe you and your organisation need to remember before you get started with Agile marketing:
- Look beyond the jargon. Yes, words like ‘Scrum’, ‘Sprint’ and ‘Kanban’ are irritating, but they’re really just a means to an end. Don’t let them put you off – the concepts aren’t anywhere near as mystifying as the terms themselves.
- View Agile as a new adventure. The first few weeks (and perhaps months) are unlikely to be plain sailing, but they’ll also be where much of the good stuff happens; you’ll start to discover what your team is really capable of and how much quicker you’re able to achieve big results.
- Keep an open mind and be flexible. Flexibility is, of course, a cornerstone of Agile; being too attached to your forward-planning schedule won’t do you or your team any favours.
- Prepare to lead, rather than follow. There aren’t many organisations practicing Agile marketing at the moment (although the number is growing). This doesn’t mean you should wait before getting started; what it means is that those acting now are likely to learn important lessons way ahead of the competition.
So, what does the future of Agile marketing look like? In short, bright. When you look at the success of brands such as IBM and Dun & Bradstreet, it’s only a matter of time before other B2B teams catch on. As a result, the next few years will undoubtedly see a more formal adoption of Agile marketing as the software development methodology continues to be moulded and reconfigured to fit the changing needs of the modern-day marketing department.
It’s up to brave, ambitious and optimistic B2B marketing teams to lead the charge and show that they can be – and are – not just agile, but creative, sharp, inspiring and unrelentingly forward-thinking.
