ABOUT THE REPORT. For questions, contact Workfront at: THE AGILE MARKETING REPORT // 2016

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2 ABOUT THE REPORT This survey was conducted on the MarketingProfs.com website from May 2-17, 2016 among 332 participants, who were users of the MarketingProfs.com website and marketing professionals, by MarketingProfs on behalf of Workfront. 2 For questions, contact Workfront at: social@workfront.com

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Marketers seem to want the benefits of Agile and other work management methodologies, so what s keeping them from making the change? That is the question we set out to answer in this new report from Workfront, a leading provider of world-class enterprise work management solutions, which finds marketers highly aware of the need to implement structured processes for managing their work but struggling to implement these processes in a wholesale, formalized way. Among the most intriguing findings in the report are: 30% of marketers report using Agile to manage their work processes; the remaining 70% cite a lack of knowledge / expertise keeps them from implementing it. 57% of marketers report that their work planning processes are lackluster at best 40% say their departments use a combination of different methodologies to manage work Agile marketing isn t just about being nimble; it s a formal methodology that helps to improve overall work processes. For those marketing teams looking to increase the velocity by which they can compete in the marketplace, these findings should provide some perspective into the most common barriers to implementing Agile and other work methodologies in Marketing. Clearly, marketers are taking a more cautious, piecemeal approach to work methodologies, including Agile. But they also show that that these obstacles could be avoided with a little education and expert guidance. Whether marketers choose to move to Agile, waterfall or a mix of the two, there is certainly a need for marketing teams to transform their work experience into one of greater collaboration and increased velocity. 3

4 HOW MARKETING MANAGES WORK Compared to their brethren in IT or Engineering, Marketing is fairly new to the world of structured work management. It s only natural, then, that the survey found widespread disarray when it came to marketing work management. The majority of marketers found their planning processes lacking, while others reported using the old stand-bys of overtime and pushing around work to deal with ad hoc requests. QUESTION: How well would you say your marketing department plans out projects? Very organized birds singing and sunny skies 15% Somewhat organized only hear Are we there yet? about 5 times 28% Very disorganized running around with our heads cut off 6% Somewhat disorganized herding cats to get things done 11% Neutral some days are good, some days are bad 40% 57% OF MARKETERS REPORT THAT THEIR WORK PLANNING PROCESSES ARE LACKLUSTER AT BEST Andrea Fryrear, Agile Marketing Evangelist, says: 4 A lot of marketers feel like something is broken about our processes. We re taking in a lot of outside requests from multiple departments and work in triage mode all the time. This makes it difficult for us to produce quality work over a long period of time. Ultimately, that s not great for our audiences. They re not getting relevant marketing messages from us personalized, specific, useful content. If we re always trying to take in the next most urgent thing, we can t focus on establishing that connection with our audiences.

5 QUESTION: How do you accommodate for last-minute work requests? I don t get last-minute 4% work I already have time built 17% into my schedule for them I work late 20% requests5622 I reprioritize my current work 56% I tell them no 2% I say I will do it, but then don t 2% FOR THE MAJORITY OF MARKETERS, PUSHING BACK OTHER WORK AND WORKING OVERTIME ARE THE DEFAULT RESPONSES TO LAST-MINUTE REQUESTS 5

6 We plan all the needed steps in a campaign at once, then 26% execute the plan26 We deliberately re-organize our upcoming work based 14% on feedback14 MARKETING AND METHODOLOGIES Marketers are taking a buffet approach to adopting work methodologies. From question to question, the numbers of marketers who identified with Agile principles shifted significantly. The same was true of those who identified with more traditional work management principles. This points to the strong possibility that marketers are assembling their own piecemeal work methodologies. QUESTION: What kind of work management process does your marketing dept use to manage work? I don t 2% know2 5% Take them as they 14% come14 AT 40%, THE MOST PROMINENT WORK MANAGEMENT APPROACH FOR MARKETERS IS ONE OF MIXED METHODOLOGIES None5 A combination of multiple 40% methodologies40 26% INDICATED USING A WATERFALL-LIKE PROCESS (I.E., WE PLAN ALL THE NEEDED STEPS IN A CAMPAIGN AT ONCE, THEN EXECUTE THE PLAN ) AND AN EVEN SMALLER 14% INDICATED USING AN AGILE-LIKE PROCESS (I.E., WE DELIBERATELY RE-ORGANIZE OUR UPCOMING WORK BASED ON FEEDBACK ) 6

7 QUESTION: What is your #1 goal in adding a work or project management process to your marketing organization? Fulfill all requests sent to my team (not drop the ball) 23% None of the above 6% Clear set of tasks that get the team from idea to delivery on a project 30% Continuously get feedback so that the end product meets stakeholder expectations 41% 71% TURN TO WORK MANAGEMENT PROCESSES TO IMPROVE HOW THEY GATHER FEEDBACK AND THEIR VISIBILITY INTO THEIR PERFORMANCE Andrea Fryrear, Agile Marketing Evangelist, says: Combining multiple methodologies is popular because it s an easy way to put your toe in the water and test out a new way of doing things without abandoning what you know and what is comfortable. You can also get a feel for whether it s going to be a valuable or not. When it comes to Agile and Waterfall and mixing those, neither of those was made for marketers. We re going to have to adapt anything that we use in order for it to fit our particular needs. 7

8 MARKETING GOING AGILE? Yes, Agile marketing is officially a hot topic, with one-third of marketers now using it to manage their work. The report found that Agile marketing is more likely to be adopted in companies where Agile is already in use in other departments. The biggest obstacle to Agile adoption is lack of internal knowledge/expertise. QUESTION: Do you use Agile work methodology to manage your marketing work? I don t know 32% Yes 30% NEARLY 1/3 OF MARKETERS NOW USE AGILE TO MANAGE THEIR WORK No 38% 8 Hala Saleh, President of 27Sprints and Co-Founder of Produktivity Box, says: The percentage of Marketing professionals using agile methods is highly encouraging, and it suggests that Marketing departments are recognizing the benefits that IT departments are seeing by utilizing agile methods and frameworks to plan and deliver. The other interesting note here is the percentage of marketing professionals that said they didn t know whether or not they are using agile methods. This suggests that they either don t know what agile methods are, or they are unclear whether the methods they use can be considered agile.

9 QUESTION: Do other departments within your company use Agile to manage work? I don t know 38% Yes 32% No 30% VIRAL EFFECT? THE PERCENT OF MARKETING TEAMS THAT USE AGILE CLOSELY MIRRORS THE PERCENT OF COMPANIES WHERE OTHER DEPARTMENTS ALSO USE IT Barre Hardy, Associate Partner and Agile Marketing Expert, CMG, says: I think of this as the ripple effect. It s not uncommon for marketing to feel the impact of other teams transitioning to agile. When product has more frequent releases, it often has an impact on the volume of support required from the marketing organization, and a general need for them to re-evaluate how they can best prioritize and get the work accomplished. This often causes them to look at agile themselves. 9

10 QUESTION: When does your marketing team plan on implementing Agile? 40% 20% 20% 7% 6% 5% 3% Don t know Already use it Within next Next 6 Within next Next 2-4 month months year years No plans to implement AGILE MARKETING ON THE RISE: 41% OF MARKETERS EITHER ALREADY USE OR PLAN TO IMPLEMENT AGILE IN THE NEXT 4 YEARS 10

11 QUESTION: When considering Agile, what barriers or challenges do you encounter within your department? A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE/INTERNAL EXPERTISE IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO MARKETERS AGILE ASPIRATIONS I already use Agile, and did not face any challenges 11% I/my team doesn t know what Agile is or how it 43% works11 17 We don t have an internal expert to train and implement Agile Getting buy-in from my team 11% 29% Getting buy-in from leadership Lack of the right tools Getting over the learning curve We prefer to execute against a longer-term plan 15% 17% 18% 19% Andrea Fryrear, Agile Marketing Evangelist, says: You really need an internal advocate or educator on your team to kick things off, even if they aren t certified or a huge subject matter expert. At the very least, they should be someone who is engaged with the topic and willing to push the team forward, a person who can set up the first backlog and arrange the first meeting. 11

12 Meet Workfront Workfront is a cloud-based Enterprise Work Management solution that helps IT departments, marketing service groups, and other enterprise teams conquer the problems associated with traditional project management. It provides a single system of truth that eliminates work chaos, provides global visibility, and increases productivity. Workfront offers a complete adoptable solution powerful enough for technical users, intuitive enough for business stakeholders, and flexible enough to support Agile, Waterfall, or a mix of the two. It works in the same ways you do. To learn more about Workfront Enterprise Work Management for IT, Marketing, and other teams, and how it can increase enterprise productivity, please contact us at the following: THE AGILE MARKETING REPORT // 2016 workfront.com/services network workfront.com/services telephone telephone2 +44 (0)

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