Collaboration and alignment are critical components of an agile marketing strategy, which also depends on project management and communication tools, according to a recent study [download page] from Ascend2 and its research partners. However, identifying the right technology is a challenging aspect of agile strategies, per the report.
In fact, the survey results suggest that some of the more important aspects of an agile marketing strategy also prove to be among its most challenging. Beyond tech, half of the marketers surveyed identified data as a key component of an agile marketing strategy, but separately, obtaining and utilizing data emerged as one of the top challenges to implementation of an agile strategy.
There are payoffs for getting it right, though. The top benefit of an agile marketing approach, per the respondents, is flexibility and adaptability to new challenges, as cited by a majority of the survey’s participants. Other top-cited benefits include faster time to get things completed and more effective prioritization of work.
These, then, are logically seen as key reasons for implementing an agile marketing strategy. The most common reason given is to improve productivity, while many also do so to enhance their ability to manage changing priorities.
Another key reason is to increase competitive advantage, and on that front, things seem to be moving in agile’s direction. Indeed, more than 1 in 5 (22% of) respondents said that the importance of agile marketing in establishing a competitive advantage had increased significantly over the past couple of years, while another two-thirds (68%) said that it had increased moderately. In other words, 9 in 10 marketers surveyed believe that agile marketing has become more important to establishing a competitive advantage.
With that in mind, one might expect adoption of this approach to increase from a somewhat modest current baseline. The survey finds that 43% of respondents have either fully adopted and are utilizing agile marketing methodologies (12%) or have adopted and utilize some of these methodologies (31%). Interestingly enough, a recent survey from AgileSherpas found the exact same level of adoption: in its research, 43% of marketers had adopted some form of agile marketing in their organization.
This latest study indicates that a further 38% of marketers are either currently implementing agile marketing methodologies (21%) or currently planning to do so (17%), leaving just 1 in 5 (19%) who have no plans to use this approach.
About the Data: The results are based on an April survey of 321 marketers targeting B2B (25%), B2C (45%) and B2B and B2C equally (30%). The majority (69%) of respondents work at companies with fewer than 50 employees.
