360 Degree Marketing and Agile Software DevelopmentSee The Entire MailPoet/360-Degree Marketing/Kim Gjerstad Series

This piece’s title is so boring I can hardly stand it. But the question it represents matters, and in a big way: Is Agile Development a complete load of crap, or does it belong in your 360-degree marketing strategy?

 
would you rather listen?

Err … yes.

Agile Development does belong in your strategies, marketing or otherwise, regardless of the number of degrees you employ in your marketing campaigns. In fact, Agile everything belongs in all of your business processes. Problem is, the most commonly-acceptable definition of “agile …x…” kind of rejects the idea of business process, opting instead for a sort of “we’re smart, adaptive people; we’ll figure this out” approach to business. Worse, it pretends that this non-process is a process.

Or as the folks responsible for the too-small-to-read cartoon we’ve crammed into today’s graphic tell us, often Agile Process is an excuse for managers, designers, and architects to change requirements at a whim, with not enough time to address the changes correctly.

Now, back to our friends at MailPoet.

In his presentation on 360-degree marketing, Kim Gjerstad refers to Agile Development, but uses the term in the incorrect actually, the best way possible; Gjerstad and his team have adapted a policy and a business process whereby they are constantly updating the MailPoet software:

This both keeps MailPoet close to its users and makes the best use of the statistical abilities of WordPress’ Software Repository. And despite Kim’s incorrect use of the term “Agile Development”, he’s making one of his strongest points; being adaptive provides you extra marketing opportunities.

Your business is agile and adaptive, isn’t it? Trying to figure out the best way to be even more so? Contact me here. We can talk about the difference between agility and adaptiveness, and get your business’ nimbleness goals in line with your business process needs.