A brief look at the state of Agile marketing as of May 2017, according to multiple studies of adoption levels. You'll also see data on the movement's momentum, as well as some unfortunately mischaracterizations of what Agile really is.

1. THE STATE OF
AGILE MARKETING
MAY 2017
Andrea@theagilemarketer.net | @andreafryrear

2. FIRST, SOME SALT

3. FIRST, SOME SALT
Marketers’ limited understanding of agile may
be impacting the data you’re about to see.

4. “Can you plan to be agile?
Isn’t that cheating?
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

5. “Some of the most impressive
examples of agile marketing
happened because of an event
that couldn’t be planned for.
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

6. “Responding to social trends
means flexibility, and agile
marketing doesn’t work with
controlled and deliberately
timed plans.
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

7. agile
More Salt
Agile
@andreafryrear

8. 8

9. Marketers admit they have a limited understanding of what Agile means
11% Already use agile; no challenges
43% I/my team doesn’t know what
Agile is or how it works
29% We don’t have an internal
expert to train/implement
11% Getting buy-in from my team
17% Getting buy-in from leadership
18% Lack of the right tools
19% Getting over the learning curve
15% We prefer to execute against
a long-term plan
What barriers or
challenges do you
encounter within your
department?
Source: Workfront Agile Marketing Report 2016

10. AGENDA
1. Who’s Using Agile?
2. What Agile Marketing Looks Like Now
3. Benefits of Agile Marketing
4. Signs of Growing Momentum
@andreafryrear

11. WHO’S USING AGILE
An overview of the marketing teams
who have already made the switch
1
@andreafryrear

12. Do you use an Agile
work methodology
to manage your
marketing work?
30%
Yes
38%
No
32%
Don’t
Know
@andreafryrear
Workfront

13. 29% of senior marketers
“Strongly agree” that their company fully
embraces marketing agility
(Senior executives, vice presidents, directors, managers)
Source: Forbes/Aprimo
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

14. Where do you feel
your team fits in the
scale of embracing
agile marketing
approaches?
High: We’re using an Agile
approach today
Medium: We’ve
been embracing
some aspects of
Agile methods
Low: We’ve tried
some minor aspects
of Agile marketing
Not at all: we don’t use
Agile methodologies
Don’t know
21.2%
52.2%
16.3%
7%
Source: Wrike
@andreafryrear

15. 20-30% of marketers
Seem to be actively working to implement
Agile on their teams
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

16. WHAT AGILE
MARKETING LOOKS LIKE
Methodologies and tools marketers are
using today
2
@andreafryrear

17. Agile
Marketing
Methodologies
@andreafryrear
Source: WrikeTheAgileMarketer.net

18. What kind of work
management process
does your marketing
department use to
manage work?
2% I don’t know
5% None
14% Take them as they
come
40% Combo of multiple
methodologies
26% Plan the steps, then
execute the plan
14% Re-org upcoming
work based on feedback @andreafryrear
Source: Workfront

19. 7.8% Have plans to start,
but haven’t yet
22% We’re just starting now
33.1% Started in the last six
months
18.1% Started 6-12 months
ago
11.1% Started over a year
ago
4.4% Been using for more
than two years
3.6% I don’t know
Source: Wrike
How long has your
team been using an
Agile methodology?
@andreafryrear

20. BENEFITS OF AGILE
MARKETING
What’s in it for marketers considering
an agile transformation
3
@andreafryrear

21. 98% of respondents
Said their organization has experienced
success from agile projects Source: VersionOne
BENEFITS OF AGILITY
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

22. Source: Aprimo/Forbes
BENEFITS OF AGILITY27%
Faster speed-to-market
23%
Higher marketing metrics and KPIs
28%
Marketing projects completed on time
26%
Flexible approach to changing customer needs
20%
Increased accountability across marketing function
20%
Increased marketing collaboration
9%
Faster shifts of marketing spend
21%
More efficient marketing iterations
18%
Increased real-time customer experience
22%
Increased customer response
16%
Fewer layers of marketing approval
11%
Transparency of marketing spend
26%
Marketing projects completed on budget
@andreafryrear

23. Source: Wrike
Visibility to the overall
project status
Improved teamwork
and morale
Better team
alignment on
priorities
Better division of work
between team members
Can identify roadblocks,
problems, schedule
issues faster
Improved quality of work
Faster time to get
things released
18% 14%
13%
13%
10%
17%
16%
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

24. GROWING MOMENTUM
OF AGILE MARKETING
All signs point to a movement on the
cusp of something great
4
@andreafryrear

25. The Search is On
Google trends shows a
385% increase in
search volume since
Sprint Zero.
@andreafryrear

26. Explosion of Education
● Tracks at major conferences
● In-person and online
education opportunities
● Consulting firms like
McKinsey and BCG are
developing Agile marketing
practices, following firms
like CMG into the field.
@andreafryrear

27. Going All In
@andreafryrear

28. The time has come...

29. ANDREA FRYREAR
Case studies and stories: andrea@theagilemarketer.net
Agile marketing nerd @andreafryrear
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net

30. ABOUT THE DATA
Wrike
How Marketers Get Things Done: The State of Agile
Marketing in 2016
Conducted February 2016; 803 US marketers via email;
more respondents from small to medium-sized teams
Workfront
How Marketers are Using Agile, Waterfall and Everything in
Between in 2016
Conducted May, 2016; 332 participants collected via
MarketingProfs.com
Aprimo/Forbes
Forbes Insights Research Report on the Future of Marketing
High level respondents (31% Sr. Execs; 30% Managers)
around the world; number of respondents unclear
VersionOne
11th Annual State of Agile Report, April 2017
Primarily large organizations; largest percentage of
respondents from software/IT; thousands of respondents
@andreafryrear
TheAgileMarketer.net