How Agile Marketing Can Benefit Your Business

It hasn’t been around for very long, but Agile Marketing is fast becoming synonymous with high-performance, productivity, and quick results.  

If you aren’t yet acquainted with this system, it would benefit you to look into it in more detail. This system is one of the best ones out there to increase the productivity of your marketing team. They get a chance to work on projects that yield results instead of wasting their time.

Not only will your team be happy, you’ll see benefits too – mainly to your bottom line.

What Is Agile Marketing and How Does It Benefit Your Company

To get a better concept of what this system is we need to look to one of the early proponents of it, Andrea Fryrear. Andrea’s passion is to help marketing teams reach their potential, while saving a ton of time and money.

When Agile Marketing was first introduced, she decided to become a certified coach. She has quickly become one of the most influential Agile Marketing leaders.

What Andrea loves about this system is not so much that it helps you accomplish things rapidly – which it does. Rather, she wants business owners to see this as a system that will help them continuously improve their marketing processes as a whole. The principles of Agile Marketing encourage collaboration within the marketing team. And it prevents teams from getting distracted by other time-consuming, low-production projects.

When they examine the results of their efforts, they can quickly implement changes. This system gives marketing teams an opportunity for experimentation, continuous relief, and quick iteration. Andrea is also quick to point out that Agile Marketing is more of a mindset than anything else. A mindset that will keep your team focused, enthusiastic, and always ready to make improvements in their efforts.

How do you put this system into practice?

Basically, you implement fast iterations, which are kind of like sprints. So, let’s say your marketing team tries something new. Instead of waiting a year or two to see if it works for you, you can find out within a few weeks. Your team will look at what you’ve accomplished within a certain period of time, make the necessary adjustments, and then put them into practice.

Because of this strategy, Agile Marketing is very much in harmony with one of my top marketing tips: Keep learning. The more you learn, the more you practice, the more results you will see from your little Agile Marketing sprints. The great thing about this system is the time it saves. It allows teams to accomplish in a few weeks what used to take months or even years. You get to save a lot of time and money by quickly figuring out what’s not working and finding ways to improve it.

Why Your Team Will Love Implementing Agile Marketing

Besides saving your company time and money, this system will make your team happier. How so?

For one thing, it helps them save time. They don’t have to focus for long periods of time on tasks that are getting them nowhere. Instead, they get to figure out what’s not working rather quickly. Then, they get to find ways to make improvements. It gives them the opportunity to see results from all their hard work within a short amount of time.

Another reason your team will like this strategy is because each and every person has a role to play. Having clear direction is the dream of just about every employee. It makes their work day so much easier and, by default, more productive. Something you’ll notice immediately about Agile Marketing is the regular staff meetings. The keyword here is regular.

For whatever reason, a lot of companies have a hard time sticking to a staff meeting schedule. But they’re vital to the success of your team and company as a whole. The perk of having a staff meeting on a consistent basis is that everyone is on the same page. Everyone knows what their roles are. Boundaries won’t be crossed and feet won’t be stepped upon. It makes everyone feel like they’re truly working as a team.

Let me ease your mind about a concern a lot of people have about these meetings. They’re not super long. The majority of meetings are 15-minutes, typically at the beginning of each day. The team gets to talk about what they accomplished the day before, what obstacles came up, and what their plan is for the day ahead. Longer, more in-depth meetings are held every few weeks. This is when the teams get to determine what’s working and what needs to change in order to reach their goals.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When First Implementing This Type of System

Whenever we start something new we’re going to make some mistakes. It’s no different with Agile Marketing. In fact, Andrea has found that some teams make the exact same mistakes.

Here are some of the common mistakes made and what you can do to prevent or work through them.

1. Not Being Flexible with Yourself or Your Team

When we have stiff, inflexible muscles we’re more prone to injury. The same can be true of inflexibility in business. A sure way to injure your bottom line or the morale of your team is with inflexibility. At the same time, you want to put your new system to good use so that you can start to see results.

The key here is balance. No two companies are exactly alike. You have different needs than the company down the road. In all likelihood, you probably have different goals. Additionally, your team sizes and the personalities on those teams differ as well. Don’t be too strict with the Agile Marketing principles. Bend them to fit your unique needs.

2. Not Making Incremental Changes

No one has ever been able to completely overhaul a system or practice overnight. This is just as true of marketing and business as it is making lifestyle and dietary changes. If you want to drive everyone on your team insane – including yourself – try to implement every Agile Marketing principle at once.

Instead, to keep the peace in your office, make incremental changes. One step at a time will get you further than trying to do everything at once. Take one principle and work on it. Once your team has that down, move onto the next. Doing this will make life easier for everyone.

3. Using Too Many Outside Resources

There’s nothing like outsourcing your work to make your progress come to a screeching halt. That’s not to say you can never outsource work. It’s just that, if one of your goals is to see fast progress you’re not going to see it if you do a lot of outsourcing.

To whatever extent you can handle or afford it, try to have a multi-functional marketing team. This means that your writer also knows about SEO and social media marketing. If you can’t hire someone who has all the skills you would like, by all means – train your team. You’ll save a lot of time in the end. And it will give your employees an opportunity to learn skills that will make them a valuable part of your team.

An AgileSherpa – How They Can Help You Make a Smooth Transition

Implementing any changes in your business can be difficult at times. Thankfully, there are people who can help us, like Andrea’s company, AgileSherpa.

Within her company are multiple marketing Sherpas who assist (or shepherd) your team through the transition process. They train your team so that you can avoid some of the common mistakes and start to see results more quickly. It’s an investment, but for most companies it’s definitely worth the time and money.

Agile Marketing Is the Wave of the Future – Will You Be Part of It?

Every year, it seems like there’s something new on the market pertaining to productivity or marketing. Some of the new tools, technology, and techniques are quick to leave the market as soon as they get there. Others, though, are here to last. Such is the case for Agile Marketing.

Some people didn’t get it at first. But more and more companies are jumping on board. The results they see from implementing the principles of this type of marketing are too impressive to ignore. It can be scary to try new things. But business owners and marketers need to sharpen their skills often. Without doing so, they won’t get the results they want. In fact, old practices that have fallen by the wayside can actually harm a business.  

If you’re going to do anything this year to improve your business, give Agile Marketing a try. It’s the wave of the future – the way many successful businesses will operate their marketing departments. If you want better results from your marketing and improved productivity from your team, then this is the tool you need!

Would you like more information about Agile Marketing or how to become an AgileSherpa? Contact Andrea Fryrear. She’ll help you find the best courses and training programs for the needs of your team.