E-Guide
Keeping up with demand…
Three years later, we’re still feeling the knock-on effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic – adverse and otherwise. The overnight shift to remote opened our eyes to new, agile working methods that many of us have championed ever since.
As a result, we’ve seen an exponential increase in the availability and sophistication of technologies that make the dream of agile working a reality; from new cybersecurity tools that protect the new hybrid perimeter to Portal, Meta’s all-encompassing device for home and remote workers.
Marketing isn’t exempt from this shift; in fact, it’s been more affected than most industries. After relying on the power of digital to shop, socialise and work for the past three years, today’s post-COVID customers have sky-high expectations. They want a better experience, they want more value, and they want to receive it faster than ever before. Unsurprisingly, it’s become pretty difficult for marketers to keep pace with these demands.
Enter Agile Marketing
In the marketing world, Agile as a concept, has been around for a few years. It’s the name given to a revised approach to project management and software development, which focuses on delivering value to customers faster and without the hassle of yesteryear.
Agile Marketing requires a strategic vision to go alongside a short-to-long-term marketing plan and the managing, executing, and measuring that typically goes with it. Just as COVID-19 transformed the world, Agile could well transform marketing in a similar way.
Is it the answer to all your problems? Probably not. But it can certainly help you adjust to the increasingly digital world we find ourselves in. and the choice to embrace Agile or ignore it could be a huge differentiator between marketing success and failure in the years to come.
Adapting to change
Unfortunately, many of us are hesitant to adapt. Just as there are global, established organisations thriving in the new digital era, plenty of organisations, industries, and nations still find it difficult to adapt. Despite inefficient administrations and little-to-no flexibility, they just can’t let go of the old ways.
For this group, visibility, communication, and trust don’t come naturally. Throw barriers like a lack of training and limited support from management into the mix, and you can start to see why they can’t create a process that allows them to react to the ever-changing demands that come with being a modern business.
Plenty of marketers are guilty of this unwillingness to change, too. As a creative industry, marketing is often uncharacteristically conservative when it comes to self-organisation. Planning typically happens in a limited capacity, with a limited group of people, resulting in a limited approach that’s almost impossible to change once it’s out of the gate.
That said, while many marketers have failed to break free of traditional mindsets and continue to do what they’ve always done, plenty have adapted – with pace and accuracy. It’s these forward thinkers that are already reaping the rewards of Agile Marketing.
From increased productivity due to small, speedy self-sufficient teams, to improved flexibility and measurable metrics for success, marketers that are willing to adapt to Agile will seize the opportunities offered by the new digital frontier.
This has been part one in our five-part series on Agile Marketing. If you’re interested in embracing Agile and the benefits it offers your people, profits and customers, join us for part two, where we’ll be taking a deep dive into the key ingredients needed to create a cross-functional, Agile team.