Times change along with technology. It’s not a new song.
To continually stay relevant, a few years ago we made a dramatic shift as an agency, to becoming an agile marketing agency. We dove head first into the agile methodology, historically used by software companies, to deliver more efficient, stronger and faster results for our clients.
One of the many benefits we’ve learned about working agile is that detailing out an exact marketing plan, a year in advance, will never be the most successful course of action to meet your goals. And speaking of goals, those can (and should) change throughout the course of a year.
So, how do you create a successful marketing roadmap? Just like Google Maps can show you, in real time, what restaurants are open nearby or notify you of a better, faster route to get to your destination, agile marketing helps you work in “real time” and adapt to current situations to maximize results.
Creating an annual marketing plan doesn’t work anymore. Markets, technologies, trends and consumer behaviors change so fast, it’s near impossible to predict what will happen six months down the line. What you thought were your goals and objectives in the fall, may be completely irrelevant by the spring. Working in the “now” helps you stay ahead of the competition, and gives you and your marketing partners the flexibility to adapt and pivot to changes in the market or your stats and analytics.
Agile allows you to work more fluidly, not just on a set list of deliverables that were planned a year ago, but by focusing on what will deliver the most value and the best results the fastest.
Today, people look for services on their own timeframe, via the channels that work for them. 3.5 billion Google Searches a day prove that. Agile marketing is an approach that directly aligns with how people buy now, which is also the foundation of inbound marketing.
Just as the agile methodology was developed to improve software development, the same principle can be effectively applied to marketing.
Plaaaaaaan Plaaaaaan Plaaaaaaan, and plan some more > Build > Launch
Build > Learn > Iterate (Repeat)
The second model allows you to continually see what is working, and improve upon it for more effective results in less time.
When it comes to inbound marketing, there are still some unknowns, which are almost impossible to predict or plan for a year out. How do you know what topics will resonate the most with your audience six months from now? How do you know if one blog post per week is just as effective as two? What videos will most help your audience make the decision to work with you?
Instead of guessing what your audience wants and needs, and investing the time and resources to try to plan out the next 365 days, the Agile approach allows you to choose a theme for the month, try a few topics and tactics and see what is most effective. After a few months you’ll have enough data to help you make truly strategic plans for the coming month, and give your audience what they are looking for.
So, picture this.. It’s Q4 and you’re thinking about your marketing budget and plans for the next year. You work with your marketing team and agency partners to set goals and a projected course of action for meeting those objectives. Sounds ideal right?
By the start of Q2 of the next year, website traffic is down, the development team is talking about new product launches and a few updates to existing products. Meanwhile, the sales team is coming up against the same few challenges and questions from customers and prospects that they need content support for, to better help them sell.
But, you already have a marketing budget and a plan of action in place, that was approved six months ago. Your budget is set, and your plans were made without any of these unforeseen events. Now what? How do you change gears and adapt to what is happening now?
Marketers can no longer be afraid of change or veering from a set in stone plan. Agile gives you the power to work in an “inspect and adapt” cycle, responding to actual opportunities that are happening now based on actual data and results. You have to be able to give your customers and prospects what they need now, not what you thought they would need last year.
Ready to work with an agile inbound marketing partner? Book a consultation to see if we're a good fit for your business.
