There has been a significant increase in agile adoption among marketers as a way of handling the fast pace of digital marketing work and the increasing volatility exacerbated by the global pandemic, new research from agile marketing consulting, training, and coaching organization AgileSherpas, in partnership with Forrester Research, reveals.
The 4th Annual State of Agile Marketing Report surveyed hundreds of U.S. marketers to measure their implementation of, and success with, agile marketing.
“In a profession often marked by long hours, unrealistic expectations, and unsung heroism, the growing adoption of a framework that emphasizes sustainable pace and empowered teams is a beautiful thing,” said Andrea Fryrear, president and co-founder of AgileSherpas, in a news release.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption plans for 38 percent of the survey respondents. Yet, even in the face of urgent demand for adaptation, lack of training or knowledge about agile approaches combined with a lack of talent to transform the team emerged as the largest hurdles preventing marketing departments from fully implementing an agile approach.
How has COVID impacted your plans for Agile marketing?
The survey shows that agile marketing is stepping resolutely out of buzzword territory and toward a best-in-class way of working with many clear benefits.
Key insights include:
- Total agile marketing adoption jumped by ten percentage points this year to 51 percent.
- Agile ways of working were found to be most prevalent in creative services, content creation, and operations (77 percent), followed by demand and ABM (76 percent).
- Among marketers not already using agile marketing, there is a strong sense of urgency to implement it in the very near future; 93 percent of non-agile respondents share they would like to do so within the coming year.
