Susan Gilbert — July 25, 2018 — July 25, 2018
Use Scrum in Agile Marketing to Bring More Visibility to Your Brand
Social media and content curation are always in a state of flux — when it comes to being prepared for the latest marketing trends online we need to have a strong leadership structure in place. That is where Scrum methodology and marketing can come together to build a stronger brand online.
Agile marketing has become an important strategy while preparing for that next viral campaign. Social media managers and teams need to be quick to respond, otherwise the timing of community engagement can be quickly missed along with the opportunities that come with it.
Team management is essential in order to keep all of the right systems in place — utilizing the Scrum framework to organize content and those working together on a marketing plan can help eliminate mistakes and better capture the needs and desires of your audience.
What is Scrum in Agile Marketing?
The term, Scrum, began as a software development concept where teams of 3 to nine developers would break their work into actions to be completed in different time intervals. According to Wikipedia, the process involves tracking progress, and 15 minutes re-planning meetings known as daily ‘scrums.’ The concept is simple: “A flexible, holistic product development strategy where a development team works as a unit to reach a common goal.”
The core of utilizing the Scrum method is to be ready and prepared for changes in your industry, particularly with your customers. Many times we are not able to fully predict what the next trend will be although we can certainly utilize research, tracking, and social media to our advantage. With this understanding marketers can take a more “empiracle” approach in order to maximize your team’s effectiveness regardless of uncertainties.
Here’s a diagram of how an organization can utilize this method whether they are a small or large business according to Scrum.org:
In this example, software is developed within a 30 day time frame detailed in “The Scrum Guide ” by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. The Scrum Team includes the owner of the product, the team who helps develop it, and the “Scrum Master” who helps organize the process. The goal is to become self-organizing in order to best accomplish the mission at hand with flexibility, creativity, and productivity as the main objectives.
How can your brand or business utilize Scrum in your agile marketing strategy? Here are several ways you and/or your team can plan your campaigns and increase your brand awareness online:
Be flexible with a specific deadline
While it is good to lay out a content marketing strategy ahead of time leave space open for the latest changes in technology and on social media. For example you can set a campaign deadline for a production promotion for 30 days while viewing your niche in the big scheme of things according to the conversations and activity that are emerging. Set milestone goals at the end of each deadline to track your progress and to save any additional actions for the next time frame so that you do not get off focus from your target.
Set up a content schedule
After the initial target market research plan ahead and consider publishing on a tighter time table in order to include the most popular topics or trends within your set deadline. This will ensure that your are providing the most valuable and relevant information that your community will want to read according the specific campaign that your brand is currently promoting.
Meet with your team daily during the week
Each day use gather together for at least 15 minutes in order to brainstorm and recap the progress of your work. Go over how the goal(s) has been met, what can improve to meet the ones that have been missed or not achieved yet, and what is standing in the way of being effective. This will clear up any misunderstandings and keep everyone on task for what you want to accomplish.
Be ready for the unexpected
A successful agile marketing tactic involves being ready for whatever happens next online, and daily attention and activity along with social media monitoring. Your business will want to be respectful of how your tweets or posts are being received and whether your content is reaching your audience in a way that adds value.
Go over a final review at the end of your campaign
After meeting your deadline it’s time to have a longer team meeting to review all of the action plans and data. It’s important to be objective during this process and to learn from both the mistakes and successes in order keep the momentum for the next run. Try not to extend this more than one hour so as to be concise as possible with limited ramblings that could be off-topic. During this time you will be able to learn more about the personality of your members, how to make improvements, and document a new plan in what the Scrum methodology refers to as a “backlog.”
Agile marketing can work well for a brand or business who has the right collaboration in place and is ready to be flexible for changes ahead. Using the key points above will help you to create more unity, creativity, and success online with the right communication and checks and balances in place.
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