Talia Aukema-Gray

March 17, 2023
4 Minutes

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned about from my classes Marketing classes at WWU is agile marketing. As someone with ADHD, I get highly invested in projects, but quickly lose interest when progress slows, the finish line is out of sight, and my attention is divided between many projects. However, when I hesitantly began implementing agile methodologies into my school and work routine, I realized just how impactful this approach can be!

What is Agile Marketing?

Agile marketing is a strategic approach to marketing that prioritizes quick project executions through short, intense bursts (called sprints). Agile relies on rapid iterations and constant improvement.

The core values of agile marketing, as outlined in the Agile Marketing Manifesto, are:

• Focusing on customer value and business outcomes over activity and outputs.
• Delivering value early and often over waiting for perfection.
• Learning through experiments and data over opinions and conventions.
• Cross-functional collaboration over silos and hierarchies.
• Responding to change over following a static plan.

Agile Marketing Embraces Failure

The hardest lesson I’ve learned from agile practices is the value of failure. I’m a total perfectionist, so it was painful when my professor, Dan Purdy, told me that it essentially doesn’t matter if the first version of a product is perfect – or even very good. With agile marketing, the process matters more than the product.

At the end of each sprint, teams complete their deliverables and immediately begin the process of gathering data and analytics and discussing how to improve during the next iteration. This is where the core values of “Delivering value early and often over waiting for perfection” and “Learning through experiments and data over opinions and conventions” come into play!

Short sprints, with imperfect executions, allow marketers to incrementally refine and constantly improve results over time. Agile marketing requires teams to put in the work necessary to learn from their mistakes and continuously improve. This strategy has huge benefits for marketers – it makes room for us to shift our focus, adapt to customer needs, and change our priorities and expectations.

Adopting this mindset isn’t easy – it’s one of the aspects of agile marketing that I’ve struggled the most to embrace. However, it’s also one of the most valuable elements of agile marketing, and the one that I’ve learned the most from.