Being constantly on the move and discovering new trends or ideas is part of the marketing job. But how can we organise our work to maximise our positive impact in an increasingly dynamic and opportunity-filled landscape? That's when the Agile methodology comes into play.  

Using the Agile methodology and the Scrum framework means prioritising flexibility, tangible results delivered quickly, and collaboration rather than rigid plans, which can quickly become outdated. By focusing on small steps completed in short sprints, we stay aligned with the main business goals and keep improving our ways to achieving them.  

Follow along to discover how we implemented the Agile methodology in everyday tasks, the challenges we overcome and how this approach helped the Accesa marketing team grow, reach milestones, and attract top European clients. 

Why should marketing go Agile? 

Our colleagues have already done a great job presenting the benefits of Agile in a software development context, such as quickly proving (or disproving) assumptions and promoting adaptability and continuous learning. Another important note is that Agile isn't always easy to adopt. In fact, it can be downright challenging if it means a major shift in team culture or outlook. 

So, what's the appeal of Agile for marketing teams that are equally used to the waterfall model and general chaos? The answer depends a lot on the context and challenges that each team is facing. For us, these were the best improvements: 

Focus 

Strong partnerships built on trust are the cornerstone of Accesa as a company. Placing the client at the centre of all marketing activities with this idea in mind, we can more easily determine the value and impact of our work.  

We start from what we know and validating as often as possible, our agile team more easily focuses on our clients' actual pain points and finds the best ways to connect them with the tech teams or solutions to solve those challenges. Going a step further, we can proactively identify opportunities for growth and strengthen our client relationships with innovative projects that address emerging problems or opportunities.  

Freedom 

Like the IT industry, marketing is a constantly evolving field. Artificial Intelligence alone has made a massive impact, revamping content creation and customer interaction thanks to technologies like Generative AI.  

Agile marketing encourages us to respond to change instead of following set plans and explore how innovations drive better results. Ultimately, this gives us the freedom to try new approaches, tackle old challenges from new angles, and apply our creativity in a changing business landscape. 

Naturally, not all experiments will have the desired effect, but even those yield valuable insights that help us improve as a team and as an IT partner. 

Flexibility 

With a focus on delivering tangible results and leveraging new possibilities comes a great deal of flexibility. As software development is a competitive and dynamic market, opportunities and threats come and go quickly, and responding accordingly is key to staying ahead of the curve. 

Two-week scrum sprints work great for our team because they help us focus on current marketing needs without locking in on lengthy projects that may lose impact by their fruition. When planning the sprint, we look at what would bring the most value in the here and now, even if that means pivoting from the last sprint's focus. 

Foresight 

The beauty of Agile is that flexibility doesn't come at the price of long-term planning. Starting with company objectives and long-term marketing strategies, we create and organise a backlog which helps us stay strategic and keep a comprehensive overview of our ongoing projects. 

While changes happen pretty often, the Agile methodology helps us plan ahead, identify dependencies, and leverage our growing library of marketing assets to their full potential. 

Feedback 

Giving and receiving feedback is a cornerstone of marketing in general, but the extra emphasis placed by the Agile methodology can't be understated. 

First of all, working as an Agile team makes feedback an integral part of marketing activities, with clear ownership and responsibilities. This goes a long way in identifying errors, sharing knowledge, and driving personal improvement. 

However, possibly even more important is how Agile connects the marketing team to the rest of the company. Any organisation will have plenty of subject matter experts that can help the marketing team stay informed and on-target. It's their inclusion and feedback that often elevates good into great. 

Cross-functional collaboration: aligning marketing with the rest of the organisation 

The foundation of agile marketing starts with collaboration, first within the team and then continuing with a healthy cross-functional cooperation. By fostering collaboration, we effectively break down silos and create robust communication channels that ensure everyone has access to the info and talent that can elevate their work. Through syncs, feedback, or hands-on working sessions we align with other departments, understand their vision and insights and build better digital solutions. 

It's important to note that this general improvement applies to more than just marketing. Our team is better prepared to help our colleagues with activities that they may have found challenging the past. For example, we can quickly adapt to and support new requirements from the delivery team or implement customer feedback received through Client Partners, building a more personalised and unified experience. 

Adapting Agile ceremonies and tools for marketing 

The irony isn't lost on us that the Agile Manifesto's first principle is "Individuals and interactions over processes and tools", but hear us out. There are plenty of differences between a software development team and a marketing team, so creating a 1:1 replica of their ceremonies or tools isn't a guarantee for success. 

Let's begin with tools since it'll be the shorter list.  

We started our Agile journey with Trello as a project management tool. A favourite for many thanks to its simplicity, Trello has all the functionalities a small marketing team could need. With the ability to create and organise cards, assign people and tags, and add descriptions, comments, story points, and attachments, the platform had every basic feature we needed. All in all, it's a great foundation to get people used to working agile, thanks to its intuitive UI, core features, and versatile extensions. 

As the team and complexity of our projects grew, we migrated to Jira. Compared to Trello, Jira has a myriad of features and customisation options. As many of our colleagues outside the marketing team use Jira, it helped us to connect and communicate more efficiently with various stakeholders and subject matter experts in Accesa. 

Jira's customisation capabilities were a good lesson in "just because you can doesn't mean that you should". Our advice is to keep it simple and just communicate often and effectively because special templates, rules and columns can be useful, but they may also overcomplicate a methodology that's meant to prioritise people and interactions. 

Other than the management platform, planning poker tools have been a great way for us to find common ground when estimating tasks, especially as we have a hybrid work model, and an online tool helps us connect from wherever.  

Now, onto the Agile ceremonies. We'll skip the definition and jump straight into our own experience with these meetings: 

• Sprint planning — A generous buffer is always welcome, especially if the backlog is kept tidy. Whether it's high-priority requests coming in, or delays on planned tasks due to unforeseen challenges, a buffer makes sure that the sprint's main objective gets done. And in the unlikely case that you don't have any surprises and you finish all your tasks early, you can just pull from the top of the backlog, following the Kanban framework.  

• Backlog refinement — The tricky part of this meeting is assigning just enough time. A short refinement might mean that unclear tickets end up in the sprint, and teammates need clarification. Too much refinement is a bad use of your time because a well-refined task at the bottom of the backlog will slowly lose its relevance by the time it reaches the top, and then it either needs refinement again or is discarded. 

• Sprint review (demo) — Who is the intended audience? Most likely, it's a mix of stakeholders, including managers, subject matter experts and the marketing team itself. With that in mind, remember to highlight the metrics that matter most to your business and the results of each individual's contribution, but avoid diving too deep into marketing statistics that don't mean much to people not actively involved in marketing activities. Those can be addressed in a different meeting. 

• Sprint retrospective — While this meeting is specifically dedicated to discussing what worked, what didn't and what you can improve, remember that you should always look for opportunities to improve. Going into the ceremonies with your notes in order will help you and the team compare ideas and draw actionable takeaways that can go into effect as soon as possible. 

• Daily Standup — This ceremony is either the most useful for business as usual or the least useful. The key aspect to keep in mind is that daily meetings should be short and to the point. There will always be something that some people need to discuss at length, but the best thing you can do is set a separate discussion. If the daily drags on too much, people lose focus, and that would defeat the point of keeping everyone up-to-date on the team effort. 

Success story: Accesa in Motion 

One of the most successful implementations of agile marketing at Accesa was during our 20^th anniversary celebration, under the Accesa in Motion umbrella. This two-day event demonstrated how agile methodologies can drive success, accelerate decision-making and ensure smooth collaboration across departments. The Accesa in Motion celebration featured three events: a memorable evening at the National Opera that took attendees through Accesa's journey from 2004 to 2024, followed by the third edition of the Accesa Tech Conference and ended with a lively '20s-themed anniversary party.  

Agile marketing in action 

The agile approach was essential in coordinating the various activities and the many teams involved. It enabled us to quickly adapt to changing priorities and align efforts across multiple departments. Real-time communication and constant iteration were necessary, as was the continuous collaboration between the marketing team, project managers, delivery teams, UI/UX designers, developers, guest speakers, and even clients to ensure that every aspect of the event, from the website to the presentations, was aligned with the overall vision.  

Using agile tools such as Jira, we were able to manage tasks and track progress efficiently. We used SurveyMonkey to gather feedback, organise better transportation and event attendance, which allowed us to make quick adjustments during the planning stages. Additionally, we built a dedicated event website from scratch using Wix, which allowed us to create a single source of truth about the anniversary event, answer questions in real time through our dedicated chat button, and keep the participants informed. 

Collaborative success 

Cross-departmental collaboration was at the heart of this project's success. Marketing worked hand-in-hand with various teams, discussing ideas, brainstorming solutions, and bouncing opinions off each other to overcome challenges. This collaborative approach allowed us to resolve issues quickly, from adjusting the website's content to organising dry runs or improving presentations. Agile marketing facilitated frequent check-ins and feedback loops, ensuring that we stayed on track despite the fast pace and complexity of the anniversary event. 

Measurable outcomes 

Accesa in Motion had nearly 2,000 attendees and improved the company's brand presence on an international scale, with 108 foreign guests attending the anniversary event. The Tech Conference featured 46 speakers delivering 19 presentations, three thought-provoking panels, and six proof-of-concept corners that showcased our tech expertise and innovative projects. 

Additionally, the marketing team's ability to adapt and deliver under tight deadlines was possible through agile methodologies, leading to a successful event rollout that hit every key milestone. The project showed how agile marketing can improve efficiency, collaboration, and drive business results, even for a complex event like Accesa in Motion. 

Choosing the Agile methodology within your team offers the flexibility to shift priorities and quickly adjust without missing deadlines or momentum. By breaking down tasks into manageable sprints, as we mentioned we do every two weeks, marketing teams can focus on delivering results based on continuous feedback, data, and tests. 

However, success with Agile marketing relies on choosing the suitable framework that aligns with your goals and team's needs. By doing so, marketing can boost productivity within the organisation, keep the chaos at bay and organise in a manner that makes sense for everyone.