For marketing teams, the amount of change happening daily is astounding.

• 294 billion emails are sent
• 2 million blog posts are written
• 172 million different people on F’book
• 532 million status updates
• 844,000 hours of video sent to YouTube
• 40 million different people on Twitter
• 22 million different people on LinkedIn

(Source: MBA Online)

Since the inking of the Agile Manifesto, Agile has been primarily used within development and IT teams.

IT and development teams have enjoyed tremendous boosts in collaboration, customer value delivery, and software releases on a predictable cadence.

But why hasn’t marketing learned from development and tried to incorporate Agile practices into their daily routines?

The answer: they’re trying.

It is a far cry from the majority of marketing teams using Agile practices, but many teams are starting to experiment with what Agile can introduce into their teams.

A mere 5 years ago told a very different tale. Marketing projects were typified by rigid scheduling; chaotic, fragmented attempts at teamwork; missed delivery dates; major disconnects with development or the ‘delivery’ teams.

By necessity, marketing teams are wise to deliver value in shorter chunks (iterations).

A pronounced and visible movement towards Agile and Lean methods, popularized by Eric Ries’ seminal work, The Lean Startup has marketers viewing their work and their role in the business in a whole new light.

So what will Agile bring to your marketing team?

Some of the most important things:

• ‘Test and learn’ DNA
• A close connection to the customer voice
• Thoughtful risk-taking
• A tight-knit, focused collaborative team

All these will be featured in a series of upcoming blog posts at http://www.dannaden.com.

Stay tuned to hear how marketers can start using Agile today to build stronger teams and deliver more focused value to the business.