Christian Plewacki
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read

To be [agile], or not to be…

I’ve always been one to recognize and appreciate the grey area in debates about a range of different topics — politics, health & wellness, philosophy…even religion/spirituality. History has taught us that extremities of thought and polarizing ideologies hurt, divide and ultimately hinder or block progress toward common goals of individuals at a micro level, and thriving societies at a macro level. (One needn’t look very far to see that history has a nasty tendency to repeat itself, over and over again in this regard.)

One such debate that I see emerging into the conscious thought of large organizations striving to market and communicate to customers in ways that are meaningful, timely and relevant, is the apparent dichotomy between “Agile Marketing” and “Content Marketing.”

By definition, agile marketing is an approach or methodology to marketing inspired by the agile/lean processes followed in software development. It’s all about speed to market, and places value on “moving fast and breaking things” and then iterating, as opposed to traditional modes of planning, discussing, debating, and hopefully executing upon multiple rounds of approval and executive sign-off. And when I say “opposed,” I mean it in the most visceral way. Folks who are drunk on the Agile Punch see it as a revolution, a counter-movement against corporate silos & hierarchy, “Big-Bang” campaigns, tired conventions, and sluggish “strat planning” that takes place in a vacuum and not informed by “real-time” data. (See http://agilemarketingmanifesto.org/)

And what marketing professional would object to any of that? What possible downside could there be to shedding excess weight in order to adapt to changing customer behavior and meeting them right where they are with just the right CTA to accelerate their movement through the sales funnel?

I can think of several, actually.

Content marketing evangelists & practitioners — organizational change agents dedicated to implementing critical processes, tools and other resources that enable divisional marketing teams to effectively deliver content of the highest level of quality across a customer’s fragmented journey that is so valuable & useful that it drives conversions and sales as a byproduct — have legitimate concerns about the Agile craze. While we undoubtedly believe in continuously finding ways to streamline the planning process and operating more nimbly and efficiently, the risk of cutting corners and overlooking very important aspects of what it is to effectively market is serious. And I’ll tell you why; based not only on my personal bent or bias, but also what I’ve observed having participated in and observed Agile sprints.

In the Agile environment, subject matter experts from different areas of the organization are cobbled together in a small room and, after a short briefing period, are quickly assigned tasks with tight deadlines, as facilitated by a “scrum master,” who is responsible for ensuring different items are moving along and completed on time. The experience is pretty intense — and can be fun! — and there’s a lot of pressure on each individual to collaborate, wade through the complexity, and check their tasks off the list. Invariably, due to the “Flexible vs. Rigid Planning” mantra, the following mistakes are commonly made.

Unclear goals, objectives & KPIs — Amid the chaos, it’s quite difficult to define what the group is even trying to accomplish; and once defined, more challenging to keep the north star in sight. Adrenaline blurs vision. Scope creep ensues.

Crappy data — Incomplete, inaccurate sets of data are stitched together from different sources without time to validate, and these drive the execution plan. If content is king, thorough research and data-cleansing are required to ensure the brand is delivering the right content at the right stage of the journey, and in the right channel. It’s about delivering a coherent customer experience across all touch points, and this means taking the time to really understand as much as you can about the audience you’re trying to reach and engage.

Lack of quality assurance — It’s easy to compromise on the quality of the content you’re distributing when your collective feet are held to the proverbial fire and you must deliver by a deadline fast approaching. Inevitably, you “polish the turd” and click send. And when you realize the content did not perform as you’d planned, it’s ok, because you can “iterate.” You “failed fast,” so there’s grace, and actually honor in that.

Burnout — As previously stated, an Agile environment can be fun and exhilarating, but also draining and frustrating, due the the aforementioned factors, and others. Especially in older, larger, more matrixed organizations, SMEs are plucked from their day-to-day responsibilities, but are still beholden to those responsibilities. I’ve seen the struggle, and this needs to be addressed by the leadership sponsoring and overseeing Agile teams, or you can expect to see turnover.

Agile marketing evangelists commonly site the fact that agile methodology is applied to software development, intimating that this alone is reason enough for companies to apply this methodology to all facets of marketing. To this, I simply respond: “We’re not developing software.” The analogy breaks down on too many levels to go headlong and not discern or heed the obvious warning signs pointing to the dangers that lie ahead if enthusiasm and hype are not tempered and counterbalanced with wisdom and sober judgment.

Do I think Agile Content Marketing is a possibility? Of course! But we will only get there by adopting the virtue of Mr. Miyagi, not the haste of “Daniel Son.”

I leave you with a timely exhortation from one Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, Marketing Profs:

“Slow the $@$% down. Go deep into purpose and identity and ground your marketing and content strategy in something substantive — so that our content programs can find a place within the context of what our customers care about. There is such a thing as a bad slow in marketing. But there is a critical need for a good slow, too.” (Source: Content Planning Challenges: Marketing Masters Weigh In)

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modern marketing leader | proud husband & dad | arm chair philosopher | Harley guy | not a morning person

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