Scott Brinker's agile marketing can be an especially good fit for content marketing, social media marketing, and conversion optimization program

1. Agile Marketing
by Scott Brinker @chiefmartec #mus13

2. Don’t panic, but…

3. Marketing is exploding.

4. Explosion of
touchpoints.

5. Explosion of content.

7. Explosion of devices.

9. Explosion of technologies.

10. Explosion of data.

11. “There must be a pony
in here somewhere!”

12. Explosion of ideas.

13. Holy cats!
It’s a full-time job
just keeping up with
all the things you
should be keeping
up with.

14. Okay, a little panic is appropriate.

15. Unprecedented scale of change.

16. Unprecedented speed of change.

17. Stop the ride.
I’m going to be sick.

18. Sorry, this is the new normal.

19. Real-time marketing.

22. High-metabolism
marketing.

24. What’s next? Something even faster?

25. Warp-drive marketing?

26. Is it too late
to consider a career change
to something more tranquil?

27. Like a role on Deadliest Catch?

28. TRUE FACT:
Commercial Alaskan king crab
fisherman have longer average
tenure than CMOs.

29. Source: CMO Survey, February 2013, www.cmosurvey.org
CMO tenure: 4.8 years

31. But we love marketing.

33. We need a more enlightened
approach to change.

34. Agile marketing.

35. Buzzword
du jour?

36. Who wouldn’t want to be agile?

37. Little-a agile: an adjective.

38. Big-A Agile: a methodology.

39. Let’s just go with “agile marketing”
because shift keys are a pain.

40. “Agile marketing” is
applying agile management methods
in the context of marketing.

41. So what is agile management?

42. An iterative and adaptive process

43. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams

44. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams
work in a series of short cycles,

45. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams
work in a series of short cycles,
incorporating rapid feedback,

46. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams
work in a series of short cycles,
incorporating rapid feedback,
to deliver emergent solutions,

47. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams
work in a series of short cycles,
incorporating rapid feedback,
to deliver emergent solutions,
emphasizing transparency
among all stakeholders.

48. Gobbledygook
on the stage.
FOUL:

49. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams
work in a series of short cycles,
incorporating rapid feedback,
to deliver emergent solutions,
emphasizing transparency
among all stakeholders.

50. An iterative and adaptive process
where small, highly-collaborative teams
work in a series of short cycles,
incorporating rapid feedback,
to deliver emergent solutions,
emphasizing transparency
among all stakeholders.

51. A brief history of “agile.”

52. It began with software engineers...

53. “Waterfall” project management.

55. This is a predictive process,
not an adaptive one.

57. In the real world, things change.

58. Going back up the waterfall
is perilous.

59. There must be a better way.

60. agilemanifesto.org

61. Scrum is the #1 agile framework.

63. An agile task board.

64. As a ____(role)_____,
I want __(goal/desire)_
so that __(benefit)___.
Driven by user stories.

66. Sprints: 1-4 weeks,
4-8 cross-functional people.

67. T-shaped people.

68. The daily 15-minute stand-up.

69. 1. What did I do yesterday?
3 Questions of the Daily Stand-up:

70. 1. What did I do yesterday?
2. What am I going to do today?
3 Questions of the Daily Stand-up:

71. 1. What did I do yesterday?
2. What am I going to do today?
3. Are there any impediments in my way?
3 Questions of the Daily Stand-up:

72. Potentially shippable increment.

73. The sprint review.

74. The sprint retrospective.

75. Inspect, adapt, repeat.

77. 84% Ability to change priorities
Benefits of adopting agile:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

78. 77% Improved project visibility
84% Ability to change priorities
Benefits of adopting agile:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

79. 75% Increased productivity
77% Improved project visibility
84% Ability to change priorities
Benefits of adopting agile:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

80. 72% Improved team morale
75% Increased productivity
77% Improved project visibility
84% Ability to change priorities
Benefits of adopting agile:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

81. 72% Improved team morale
71% Faster time-to-market
75% Increased productivity
77% Improved project visibility
84% Ability to change priorities
Benefits of adopting agile:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

82. What does this have to do
with marketing?

83. The marketing plan
is dead.

84. Who killed the
marketing plan?

85. The connected customer.

86. ZMOT: Winning the Zero Moment of Truth, Jim Lecinski

87. Hey, who
twisted up
my funnel?

88. The Cynefin Framework
(pronounced ku-nev-in)

90. A Ferrari is complicated.

91. A rainforest is complex.

92. Marketing used to be complicated.

93. Marketing used to be complicated.
Now it is complex.

94. This is complex.

95. This is complex.

96. This is complex.

97. From Stretched to Strengthened, IBM Global CMO Study 2011

98. What do you do in
a complex environment?

99. Probe, sense, respond.
Experiment.

103. That, sir, is a dead
marketing plan.

104. The yearly marketing plan process
kind of looked like this:

105. “Little strategy” marketing cycles
kind of look like this:

106. Could we adapt
agile development
methodologies
to help us manage
complex, modern
marketing?

107. Short answer: yes.

108. Agile Development Values

109. Individuals and interactions
over processes and tools.
Agile Marketing Values

110. Self-organizing teams.
High-bandwidth
communications.
Direct customer interactions.

111. Responding to change
over following a plan.
Agile Marketing Values

112. Respond to market feedback.
Avoid “sunk cost” traps.
Act on new opportunities.

113. Remarkable customer experiences
over formalized internal procedures.
Agile Marketing Values

114. Marketing is not manufacturing.
“The model is not reality.”
Customers don’t see silos.

115. Testing and data
over opinions and conventions.
Agile Marketing Values

116. Beware the HiPPO.
Detect when things change.
Seek “validated learning.”

117. Many small experiments
over a few large bets.
Agile Marketing Values

118. Adaptive and iterative campaigns
over “Big Bang” campaigns.
Probe, sense, respond.
Discovery over prophecy.

119. Agile principles have many advocates.

125. Big data thrives with experimentation.

126. Big Data
Big
Testing
Big
Experience
Generate
hypotheses
Prove cause-
and-effect
Deliver better
experiences

127. Agree in principle?
How does that translate into practice?

128. If agile development
delivers software, what
does agile marketing
deliver?

129. We ship content!

130. Stories along the
buyer’s journey.
As a ___(persona)____,
I want __(goal/desire)_
so that __(benefit)___.

131. Marketing missions with
small, discrete components.

132. Content marketing
is great for agile marketing.

133. Social media marketing
is great for agile marketing.

134. Web development
is great for agile marketing.

135. Search engine optimization (SEO)
is great for agile marketing.

136. Mobile app development
is great for agile marketing.

137. Marketing automation
is great for agile marketing.

138. PPC advertising
is great for agile marketing.

139. Landing page optimization
is great for agile marketing.

140. Landing page optimization
is great for agile marketing.

141. Mobile landing page optimization
is great for agile marketing.

142. Disclosure: my company sells
software for agile production of
amazing landing pages (and more).

143. Blatant self-promotion
on the stage.
FOUL:

144. Many marketing missions can
be broken into discrete chunks for
iteration and adaptation.

145. How do you get started?

146. Read “Essential Scrum”
by Kenneth S. Rubin
For software development,
but Chapter 2 will give you a
great high-level explanation
of Scrum, and Chapter 3 is
one of the best articulated
arguments for adopting
agile for any executive.

147. http://chiefmartec.com/category/agile-marketing/
http://www.agilemarketing.net
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/agile-marketing-whiteboard-friday
http://www.agilemarketingblog.com
http://agilemarketingmanifesto.org
http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/10/01/agile-
marketing-guide
http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/agile-planning.html
http://gregmeyer.com/?s=agile+marketing
Read more specifically about
“agile marketing” on the web:

148. Share and discuss with
with colleagues.
Not just marketing:
sales, IT, and beyond.

149. Win executive support.

150. Get volunteers for your
first agile team.

151. Modest expectations
for your first sprints.
Prepare for acclimation.

152. Focus on being agile,
not just doing agile.

153. Brace yourself for resistance.

154. Most sacred cows
are not agile.

155. 52% Inability to change culture
Why agile adoption fails:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

156. 39% General resistance to change
52% Inability to change culture
Why agile adoption fails:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

157. 34% Lack of manager support
39% General resistance to change
52% Inability to change culture
Why agile adoption fails:
Source: VersionOne 6th Annual State of Agile Survey

159. “To the uninitiated (and sometimes
even to those in the industry),
this way of working feels like
barely controlled chaos.”
www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/BT_Organization/Competing_in_a_digital_world_Four_lessons_from_the_software_industry_3058
February 2013

160. “Of primary concern is the
temptation to fall back into
traditional command-and-control
management styles—
to demand fail-safe business plans
with defined outcomes.”
– David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone
A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making
Challenge in a Complex Domain

161. Is it worth it?

162. “Accelerated cycles,
increased transparency,
and teaming outside the
typical organizational boundaries
(both within and outside the company)
will have great impact.”
www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/BT_Organization/Competing_in_a_digital_world_Four_lessons_from_the_software_industry_3058
February 2013

163. Punctuated equilibrium.

164. “Adapt or die.”
– Billy Beane

165. Marketing is exploding.

166. Harness the explosions.

167. Harness the explosions.
Agile marketing:
for a world of constant change.

168. Thank you!
Want to reach me?
sbrinker@ioninteractive.com
Twitter: @chiefmartec
Software to help you be agile:
http://ioninteractive.com
More about agile marketing:
http://chiefmartec.com

169. Credits:
Inspiration from these brilliant people (and others):
Matt Blumberg
John Cass
Jonathon Colman
Frank Days
Jim Ewel
Neil Perkin
Todd Shimizu
Jascha Kaykas-Wolff
Agile Marketing
Kent Beck
Ron Jeffries
Mitch Lacey
Robert C. Martin
Kenneth S. Rubin
Michael Sahota
Ken Schwaber
Jeff Sutherland
Agile Development
David Armano
Brian Clark
Steve Denning
Jim Manzi
Eric Ries
Peter Sims
David J. Snowden
Brian Solis
And More

170. Thank you!
Want to reach me?
sbrinker@ioninteractive.com
Twitter: @chiefmartec
Software to help you be agile:
http://ioninteractive.com
More about agile marketing:
http://chiefmartec.com