It’s no secret that businesses that can keep costs low and adapt quickly to market shifts are the most successful, but how did they get there? Lean marketing teams are a significant component of this success because they allow brands to pivot their strategies as the world, the market, and their competitors change. Lean marketing is synonymous with agile marketing, wherein projects are structured in smaller bite-sized chunks so that marketing teams can adapt to changes and challenges on the fly.

When appropriately implemented, agile marketing allows for faster growth and innovation through market research. With agile marketing, new products are launched quickly, changes to existing products are made swiftly, and new ideas are vetted more efficiently. Learn how to implement agile marketing into your business today with our post on agile market research in 2021.

Every agile marketing implementation will look a little different, but they all share some key characteristics.

Agile Marketing Research

Agile marketing research is marketing research that is flexible and designed specifically for the needs of a project. The agile methodology that lean marketing teams use involves the following components.

Mindset Shift

In the past, marketing teams would beg for the budget to conduct marketing research. Now, in 2021, companies are discovering cost-effective ways to conduct research, stay agile, and encourage their teams to move quickly. The new mindset is to run your company like a start-up, always ready to change direction at a moment’s notice. Lean marketing teams have to think about their work differently, focusing on data-driven insights, performance, and ultimately delivering value to customers.

Experimentation

Rigid marketing plans that are set in stone? No thanks. Agile marketing is the antithesis of strict. Small, frequent experiments are the bread and butter of this methodology, and questions like, “What are the needs of the market?” are the knife. Regularly testing, gathering feedback, and implementing changes is the key to any successful agile marketing initiative.

Commitment To Customer

Agile marketing is not beneficial unless there is a commitment to customer-centricity. You are customer-centric when you put your customer first and at the core of your business to build long-term relationships.

Managers, directors, and other business leaders must remain focused on helping their team work collaboratively, with a customer-first mindset.

Data-driven Decision Making

Data-driven decision making is a process where businesses frequently collect data, analyze that data, and make relevant decisions to improve their business based on their conclusions.

The data collected with agile market research ensures that businesses incorporate customer and employee needs into products, communications, and services. By understanding precisely what their audience wants and needs, companies can quickly make effective decisions to keep customers coming back for more.

Fuel Cycle is Here to Help

Fuel Cycle makes conducting agile marketing research more straightforward and more intuitive than ever before. Ignition, our agile insights platform is designed to help organizations move quickly to deliver incredible products, optimize brand presence, and connect with customers and employees faster than ever before using an easy to read dashboard.

For more in-depth commentary to kickstart your agile marketing plan, check out our Guide to Agile Research in 2021.