by Could an overly detailed marketing strategy be hampering your success? Want to develop a flexible strategy to adjust quickly to market changes or client feedback?
In this article, you’ll discover how agile marketing can improve results for your clients.
Harnessing the Power of Agile Marketing
In the rapidly evolving world of digital marketing, agencies and marketers are constantly seeking new strategies to stay ahead of the curve and deliver exceptional results for their clients. One approach that has gained significant traction in recent years is Agile marketing. Dorien Morin-Van Dam, a certified Agile marketer and social media strategist, shares her invaluable insights on how agencies can leverage Agile principles to drive success and foster a culture of innovation.
Dorien entered the world of social media marketing in 2010 when she took an online course and became certified. As a stay-at-home mom, she saw the potential in social media and started her own agency. Over the years, Dorien scaled her business slowly, navigating the challenges of balancing work and family life. Her journey led her to discover Agile marketing in 2018 while working with a client who was an Agile coach.
Intrigued by the concept, Dorien attended an Agile marketing workshop in New York City just before the United States shut down due to the pandemic. This pivotal moment not only equipped her with the knowledge to become a certified Agile marketer but also provided the tools to scale her agency during a time of uncertainty.
#1: Understand Agile Marketing
Dorien explains Agile marketing as a methodology that originated in the software industry. Just as iOS updates bring incremental improvements to Apple devices, Agile marketing allows for iterative updates to content and business strategies. The focus is on creating minimal viable products, testing the waters, and gathering feedback to refine and improve the final output.
In practice, you create a minimal viable product or the first piece of content, such as a Story or Reel on social media. Then, you gather feedback from your audience by asking questions.
For example, being agile is crucial if you're a content creator or working for an agency at a big trade show. Instead of taking all the content, giving it to your marketing team the following Monday, and spending five days creating one Reel, you should immediately post small pieces of content and get feedback by asking “What do you think?” or “Who else should I meet here?” This feedback helps you create more content people want to see. This way, you can create content that resonates with your audience while the event is still fresh in their minds.
Agile marketing encourages experimentation, flexibility, fast turnaround times, and collaboration among team members. It’s a good approach for marketers who want to stay on top of trends. Instead of investing extensive time and resources into a single campaign, Agile allows you to test ideas, make data-driven decisions based on real-time feedback, and use that feedback to improve your content and create better products—give your audience more of what they crave.
#2: Embrace an Agile Mindset
One of the primary concerns marketers have when considering Agile is the fear that it lacks a long-term strategy. However, Dorien emphasizes that the overall strategy and goals remain the same; the approach to content creation and team collaboration changes. Agile marketing enables teams to test ideas and pivot when necessary, ensuring the content resonates with the target audience.
Think of playing “the rock game” with your clients. The client might say in this game, “I want a blue rock.” So, you give them a blue rock, but then they say, “No, I really wanted a big blue rock.” Next, you give them a big blue rock, but they change their mind again and say, “Oh, I needed it to be a big, blue, smooth rock.”
Many marketers experience this back-and-forth game when working with clients. It can be frustrating and time-consuming. However, using an Agile approach helps eliminate this problem. You can show your clients small pieces of your work early on and get their feedback. This way, you can make changes quickly and create something that meets their needs without multiple revisions.
For example, in a recent campaign for a client's anniversary, Dorien wasn't sure about the direction, so she created five different options and asked for feedback from the client. This approach saved time and ensured they were on the same page.
When Dorien starts working with a new client, she requires them to meet with her every week, even if it’s just a 15-minute phone call. As their online voice, she needs to know what's happening in their personal life and business, such as travel plans, events, new products, or partnerships. Without this information, she can't create the right content.
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GET THE DETAILSIt's easy for clients and agencies to get distracted by shiny object syndrome, wanting to switch focus constantly. As a marketer, it's your job to keep them on track. Weekly Agile meetings help with this.
Preparing to Implement Agile Marketing in Your Team or Company
If you want to implement Agile marketing in your team or company, the first step is to get training. Small agency owners can start by taking a foundation course to learn about Agile's principles, values, and practices. Then, take an Agile marketing course specifically designed for marketers. Dorien points to Semrush as a good example of a company that embraces an Agile mindset from the top down.
As an agency owner, listen to your team members. When you put people who know the client in a room together, they'll generate fantastic ideas. For example, the Barbie marketing team likely put many people in a room to develop ideas, wondering if they would work. This is the Agile mindset that even small marketing teams can adopt.
Dorien stresses the importance of allowing team members to voice their concerns and ideas without fear of being shut down. Growing up in the Netherlands, where open communication and diverse opinions are valued, has shaped her perspective on the importance of creating a safe space for collaboration.
To successfully implement Agile marketing, you must cultivate a culture of trust, openness, and flexibility within your team. Encouraging team members to share their opinions and ideas fosters a collaborative environment where creativity thrives. When faced with challenges, such as a team member's absence, an Agile team adapts and finds solutions to keep projects moving forward. Promoting a culture where every voice is heard and respected allows you to tap into your team's collective intelligence and generate innovative solutions to complex problems.
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Dorien emphasizes the importance of understanding the difference between doing Agile and being Agile. While many marketing teams may use Agile tools and practices, such as Kanban boards or Scrum meetings, true Agility comes from adopting an Agile mindset. This mindset embraces change, encourages experimentation, and values continuous improvement. By fostering a culture that embodies these principles, agencies can create an environment where innovation thrives and teams are empowered to adapt quickly to changing client needs and market trends.
#3: Implement Agile Marketing Practices
Dorien recommends four key Agile practices that agencies can implement to improve their workflow and achieve better results:
- Daily Standup: Team members gather daily to answer three questions: What did I do yesterday? What am I doing today? Where am I stuck? This practice helps identify bottlenecks and encourages collaboration to overcome obstacles.
- Sprints: Projects are time-boxed with a clear starting line and finish line. By working on a project in focused increments, teams can identify issues early and ensure timely completion.
- Backlog: Agile teams maintain a backlog of tasks instead of traditional to-do lists. Prioritizing and pulling tasks from the backlog allows for flexibility and adaptability.
- Retrospectives: After completing a project, teams reflect on what worked, what didn't, and how they can improve the process for future projects. This continuous improvement mindset is essential for growth and success.
You can adapt these practices to suit the needs of different teams and projects. For instance, you can conduct daily standups asynchronously using collaboration tools like Google Docs, allowing team members across different time zones to contribute and stay informed. Sprints can be customized to fit the nature of the project, with time-boxing techniques applied to specific tasks or blocks of time dedicated to focused work.
Dorien's Agile marketing workshop illustrates the power of retrospectives through an example where teams were tasked with cutting out Easter eggs. By conducting retrospectives after each iteration, the teams could identify inefficiencies, optimize their processes, and dramatically increase their output from 20 eggs in the first round to 123 eggs by the fifth round in 1 minute. With continuous improvement and collaboration, you and your team can drive gains in productivity and quality.
#4: Measure Success and Embrace Curiosity
When implementing an Agile marketing process, measuring success and adapting strategies based on data is crucial.
For example, one of Dorien’s clients in the legal space saw their best Q2 in 12 years of business after implementing Agile principles in their content marketing strategy. The client and Dorien began by increasing their blogging, creating 45 articles in a year. Using data from Google Analytics and Search Console, they realized that the keywords they thought would attract people weren't the ones that actually did.
So, they adjusted their content strategy by creating more content around popular topics using similar keywords. They also tested new tactics online, such as making a Spotify-inspired end-of-year list for the law firm. They even turned a poor review into a positive outcome, gaining a new client in the process. By analyzing data and adjusting their approach, they created content that resonated with their target audience and drove meaningful results.
To thrive in an Agile environment, agency owners and team members must cultivate a culture of curiosity and a willingness to try new things. Consuming content, staying up-to-date with industry trends, and testing new features and platforms are essential for providing the best service to clients.
Encouraging team members to bring ideas to the table and praising their initiative, even if the ideas aren't perfect, fosters a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. By harnessing the power of Agile marketing, agencies can stay ahead of the curve, deliver exceptional value to their clients, and thrive in an increasingly competitive industry.
Dorien Morin-Van Dam is a social media strategist and content manager specializing in organic social media. She’s also a certified agile marketer, an international keynote speaker, and host of the Strategy Talks podcast. You can find her on LinkedIn.
Brooke B. Sellas is host of the Marketing Agency Show, a Social Media Examiner production. She is founder and CEO of B Squared Media, an agency that helps people connect, converse, and convert on social media. Her book is called Conversations That Connect. Find her on X and LinkedIn.
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