The Future of Marketing is Lean and Agile

    The Future of Marketing is Lean and Agile-01 (1)

    A lean approach to sales and marketing allows businesses to disrupt the competitive landscape by quickly reinventing themselves and fully utilizing the potential provided by digital technology. Lean symbolises a marketing revolution – its own “new deal.”

    COVID-19 has brought the global economy closer than it has been in decades to the VUCA situation (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity). Change is constant in today’s industry, and competition is fierce.

    In a matter of few weeks, companies found themselves in a position where they had to choose between becoming predators or prey. The ability of management to adjust and adapt the business strategy, revolutionize processes, and stay true to the company’s True North, as well as the resilience and drive to develop new market opportunities quickly and cheaply, determine which way a business goes.

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    Much of the lean movement is predicated on the realization that as businesses mature, the very factors that made them more competitive are also slowing them down. Continuous improvement is the only way to maintain a long-term competitive advantage.

    Digital marketing and media make it easier to produce, launch, and gain quick performance feedback. But those things will only function if the rest of the “business machine” abandons traditional marketing practises.

    It’s no longer feasible to perfect campaigns for six months or longer.  While the C-suite and corporate communications professionals should still be in charge of the corporate or global brand, everyday marketing and selling of goods at the product or solution level must be lean.

    Individuals in charge of marketing performance need the necessary tools and the freedom to quickly test campaigns so that the market can refine what’s “best.” It makes sense, yet corporate executives find it difficult to relinquish control of performance to the market and reduce their involvement.

    Agencies, consultants, and marketing freelancers are frequently brought in by large firms to provide an outside-in viewpoint that allows them to move more rapidly and creatively—without becoming enmeshed in the corporate machine. Small firms should remember the power and value of their agility and work to keep the wheels lubricated.

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    The importance of executives and subject matter experts cannot be overstated. Still, rather than prescribing the type of marketing they desire, they are best suited to sharing what they know about market differentiators and customer behavior. It is here that marketing specialists step in to help companies whose core competencies may not be marketing (which is largely data-driven and digital)

    Companies must reduce tools, marketing processes, and creative executions to a bare minimum. To discover if consumers or businesses will buy anything, organizations don’t need to spend six to nine months building a microsite, television and radio commercials or an app.

    Internal and external marketing experts can test banner advertising, add dynamic content on a landing page, and have inside sales or the account management team approach key clients with an offer in a fraction of the time and expense

    Marketing will not always be perfect, but that is the idea of a lean approach and testing methodology. Trim the fat, get rid of the devil’s advocates from the marketing review process, and let the market prove the benefit of lean marketing performance.

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