7 Steps To Implement Agile Content Marketing

7 Steps To Implement
Agile Content Marketing
Rachel Burger
rburger@capterra.com
@RachelBurgerPM

I am Rachel Burger.
I am a researcher.
I am an economist.
I am a consultant.
I am a writer.
(I am also Capterra’s content marketing team lead
and senior project management specialist.)
@RachelBurgerPM

• Reader satisfaction is the end
goal.
• Grammar (often) matters.
• The hardest part of writing is
always getting started.
• Feedback from editors and
readers are essential for an
author’s long-term growth.
• Edits improve first drafts.
• Formulaic outlining assists some
writers more than others.
How to have a writer’s attitude How to have an Agile attitude
• Customer success is the end goal.
• Conventions (often) matter.
• The hardest part of creating is
always getting started.
• Feedback from customers and
stakeholders are essential for a
team’s long-term growth.
• Iterations improve first efforts.
• Formulaic processes assist some
teams more than others.
@RachelBurgerPM

There will never be a time when innovation expires.
@RachelBurgerPM

There will never be a time when software innovation expires.
@RachelBurgerPM

individuals + interactions processes + tools
working software comprehensive documentation
customer collaboration contract negotiation
responding to change following a plan
@RachelBurgerPM
Agile Values

Our highest priority is to satisfy the
customer through early and
continuous delivery of valuable
software.
Welcome changing requirements, even
late in development. Agile processes
harness change for the customer's
competitive advantage.
Deliver working software frequently,
from a couple of weeks to a couple of
months, with a preference to the shorter
timescale.
Business people and developers must
work together daily throughout the
project.
Build projects around motivated
individuals. Give them the environment
and support they need, and trust them to
get the job done.
The most efficient and effective method
of conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-face
conversation.
Working software is the primary
measure of progress.
Agile processes promote sustainable
development. The sponsors, developers,
and users should be able to maintain a
constant pace indefinitely.
Continuous attention to technical
excellence and good design enhances
agility.
Simplicity—the art of maximizing the
amount of work not done—is
essential.
The best architectures, requirements,
and designs emerge from self-organizing
teams.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on
how to become more effective, then
tunes and adjusts its behavior
accordingly.
@RachelBurgerPM
Agile Principles

@RachelBurgerPM
Key terms:
Scrum
Sprint
Iteration

@RachelBurgerPM
Agile Content Marketing Sprint

Agile content marketing is the philosophy that a customer and
team-centric approach, combined with iterative development and
a relentless focus on feedback, will yield the most efficient
personalized marketing solution over time.
@RachelBurgerPM

Agile content marketing works from startup to enterprise
Oracle derived one third of MQLs
from a blog platform developed
using Agile principles.
GrowthHackers added 60,000
unique visitors after four months of
no growth using high-tempo testing.
@RachelBurgerPM

Agile content marketing isn’t right for every team.
Benefits:
●Customer-focused outcomes
●Consistent improvement
●Strong, tight team
●Simplified, laser-focused
process
Risks:
●End-to-end security failure
●Too much change
●No tight team supervision
●Team-wide adoption failure
@RachelBurgerPM

7 steps to Agile content marketing
@RachelBurgerPM
All following slides and supplemental materials
are included in your handout
BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT

1. BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT
@RachelBurgerPM
Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
The Agile solution Desired outcome
Efficiency
determines success
Invest in a
specialized workforce
Emphasize
internal stakeholders
Marketing should be
marketing

Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
Efficiency
determines success
“Efficiency” has no context
Invest in a
Skills expire
Emphasize
No customer feedback loop
Marketing should be
marketing
“Fuzzy” marketing promises
Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
Efficiency
determines success
Invest in a
Emphasize
Marketing should be
marketing
@RachelBurgerPM

Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
Efficiency
determines success
Teamwork,
responsiveness, and
customer focus
determine success
Invest in a
Skills expire
Invest in a
versatile workforce
Emphasize
Emphasize
customer stakeholders
Marketing should be
marketing
Marketing should be
business embedded
@RachelBurgerPM
Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
Efficiency
determines success
Invest in a
Skills expire
Emphasize
Marketing should be
marketing

@RachelBurgerPM
Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
Efficiency
determines success
Teamwork,
responsiveness, and
customer focus
determine success
Invest in a
Skills expire
Invest in a
versatile workforce
Emphasize
Emphasize
Marketing should be
marketing
Marketing should be
business embedded
Traditional
marketing values
Problems
with those values
Efficiency
determines success
Teamwork,
responsiveness, and
customer focus
determine success
Adaptive strategy with
higher ROI and
lowered risks over time
Invest in a
Skills expire
Invest in a
versatile workforce
Retain and attract
passionate, flexible, and
exceptional employees
Emphasize
Emphasize
Content quality and
brand value increase
Marketing should be
marketing
Marketing should be
business embedded
Higher-quality
end product

BUSINESS VALUES │ 2. GOALS │ METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT
@RachelBurgerPM
Traditional content marketing goals Problems with those goals
Create and maintain an optimized marketing funnel
Drive brand recognition
Increase market share

@RachelBurgerPM
Create and maintain an optimized marketing funnel
Drive brand recognition
Increase market share
Create and maintain an optimized marketing funnel Narrow view of the customer journey
Drive brand recognition Emphasis on vanity metrics
Increase market share Missed nuance in a complex market

Agile content marketing only has two goals:
1. Curate and maintain customer trust.
2. Build and grow brand value.
@RachelBurgerPM

Business values 2. Goals Metrics Team structure
Procedure Testing Improvement
Emphasis on
customer trust and brand value
MEANS
@RachelBurgerPM
● Anticipating customer needs and desires
● Meaningfully delighting, entertaining, and helping
● Customer experience exceeds customer expectations

Traditional marketers have
dangerously little insight
into who their customers actually are.
@RachelBurgerPM

Agile market personas:
As a [ market persona ], I want to
[ do something ] so that [ my desired result ] happens.
Traditional buyer personas:
As a [ buyer persona ], I am more likely to [ desired business result ].
@RachelBurgerPM

We’ve gone from VALUES to GOALS to
CORRECTLY DEFINING CUSTOMERS.
@RachelBurgerPM
WELCOME TO EVERYDAY AGILE.
(Thanks, theory. You’re my rock.)

Emphasis on
customer trust and brand value
MEANS
completely rethinking success indicators.
@RachelBurgerPM
BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ 3. METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT

Traditional content marketing exclusively focuses
on internal business goals.
@RachelBurgerPM
Business Incentive Content Marketing Goal Measurement Proxy
Generate leads Content that converts Conversion rate per content
Drive website traffic Content that attracts Website visits per month
Increased market share Content that brands Branded searches per month

@RachelBurgerPM
Traditional content marketing metrics
incentivize the wrong behaviors.
Individual over team Costly pivots
Jeopardizes long-
term SEO
Excludes customer
feedback
No interest in
customer experience
Quality goes
unmeasured
Skill-based hiring Risk aversion

@RachelBurgerPM
Traditional content marketing metrics
incentivize the wrong behaviors.
Individual over team Costly pivots
Jeopardizes long-
term SEO
Excludes customer
feedback
No interest in
customer experience
Quality goes
unmeasured
Skill-based hiring Risk aversion
Eroded team trust Low ROI
Google acts as single
point of failure
Customer needs
go unmet
Differing brand
experiences
No built-in system for
quality improvement
Costly resource
management changes
Few identified
growth opportunities

RUNNING A COMPANY ON VISIBLE FIGURES ALONE IS A
DEATH
SENTENCE
@RachelBurgerPM

@RachelBurgerPM
Agile metrics stem from three qualitative, contextual questions
Does my team’s process work?
Are we building customer trust?
Are we creating brand value?

@RachelBurgerPM
Content Marketing Goal Measurement Proxy
Create brand value Net promoter score
Create customer trust Social engagements
Find the best ways to do the above
Average number of hours it takes to
create a specific kind of content
Agile content marketing metrics
change with context

Traditional marketing team Problems with these values
Project specific Operates on advertising calendar
“Resource management” People aren’t “resources”
Short-term hires Organizationally averse to feedback
@RachelBurgerPM
BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ METRICS │ 4. TEAM STRUCTURE │ PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT
Project specific
“Resource management”
Short-term hires

@RachelBurgerPM

@RachelBurgerPM
Agile teams value:
● Long-term talent investments
● Adaptivity and versatility
● Reliably passionate and transparent individuals
● Continuous improvement

Long-term content calendars Non adaptive
Reactive strategy adjustments Not proactive
Estimates vs actuals Incentivized irrelevant goals
@RachelBurgerPM
Long-term content calendars
Reactive strategy adjustments
Estimates vs actuals
BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ 5. PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT

@RachelBurgerPM
Sample week: content writer
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Finish article A Edit article A Publish article A Promote article A Retrospective!
Peer review B Analyze B Document B Reflect B Adaptive
Implement test 1 Interact with audience Brainstorm C Outline C Start writing C
Adaptive Improve and test Improve and test Improve and test Adaptive
BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ 5. PROCEDURE │ TESTING │ IMPROVEMENT

@RachelBurgerPM
Risk acceptance
Time boxed
Measurable experiments
Ideas come from anywhere
Team-based decision making
Retrospectives
Learn no matter what
BUSINESS VALUES │ GOALS │ METRICS │ TEAM STRUCTURE │ PROCEDURE │ 6. TESTING │ 7. IMPROVEMENT

Innovation is always possible.
@RachelBurgerPM
Content provides unlimited opportunity for growth.
Agile will never expire.

How will you iterate?
Rachel Burger
rburger@capterra.com
@RachelBurgerPM

7 Steps To Implement Agile Content Marketing

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7 Steps To Implement Agile Content Marketing