The Power of Public Speaking: How Public Speaking Establishes Your Expert Brand

The Power of Public Speaking: How Public Speaking Establishes Your Expert Brand

Personal Branding, Public Speaking

In the world of personal branding, few tools are as potent and transformative as public speaking. It offers a unique opportunity to create and influence public perception, setting you apart from the competition and positioning you as an authoritative figure in your industry.

 

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, business professional, or industry leader, harnessing the power of public speaking can be a game-changer for your personal brand. In this article, we’ll delve into the numerous benefits of public speaking engagements, and how they can elevate your professional image and establish you as an expert in your field.

Personal branding revolves around standing out, enhancing credibility, and becoming a recognized authority in your niche. By cultivating a distinctive personal brand, you unlock a world of opportunities, from advancing your career to increasing product sales and growing your social following. Public speaking is a unique platform that offers unparalleled exposure and visibility, connecting you with your audience on a deeper, more personal level.

However, many individuals shy away from speaking engagements due to fear and nervousness. They resort to alternatives like email marketing and blogging to promote their personal brand. But understanding the power of public speaking as a complementary tool to other brand-building efforts is essential.

This blog post will unveil compelling reasons to include speaking engagements in your brand-building strategies and provide valuable insights on overcoming your fear of public speaking.

Establishing Credibility:
When you step onto the stage as a speaker, you command attention and authority. The act of sharing your knowledge and insights positions you as a credible and knowledgeable figure in your industry. Audiences perceive speakers as experts and are more likely to trust and respect individuals who can deliver valuable information with confidence.

Showcasing Expertise:
Public speaking offers a platform to showcase your expertise in a way that few other mediums can match. As you share your experiences, ideas, and innovative approaches, you demonstrate your deep understanding of your field. This exposure not only reinforces your personal brand as an expert, but also distinguishes you from competitors.

Building Thought Leadership:
Thought leaders are individuals who inspire others with their ideas and vision. Through public speaking, you have the opportunity to shape discussions, influence opinions, and drive change within your industry. Being recognized as a thought leader enhances your personal brand and opens doors to new opportunities, including media features, collaborations, and invitations to exclusive events.

Expanding Network and Influence:
Speaking engagements provide a direct and impactful way to expand your network and connect with like-minded professionals, potential clients, and industry peers. The relationships forged during and after your presentations can lead to valuable partnerships, referrals, and collaborations that further strengthen your expert brand.

 

Enhancing Visibility and Reach:
Public speaking expands your reach beyond your immediate circle. Conferences, workshops, webinars, and panel discussions offer exposure to diverse audiences, both in-person and virtually. This heightened visibility can attract new followers to your personal brand, growing your influence and impact.

Improving Communication Skills:
Speaking in public hones your communication skills, making you a more effective and engaging communicator. These improved skills extend to various aspects of your personal brand, including interviews, networking, and media interactions.

Personal Growth and Confidence:
The journey of public speaking is not only professionally rewarding, but also personally transformative. Overcoming the fear of public speaking and mastering this art form builds self-assurance and confidence. As you embrace challenges and overcome them, you grow both as a professional and an individual.

 

In today’s competitive landscape, leveraging the power of public speaking can propel your personal brand to new heights. By establishing credibility, showcasing expertise, building thought leadership, expanding your network, and enhancing your visibility, you position yourself as a true authority in your field.

Embrace public speaking as a tool to elevate your professional image, solidify your expert brand, and leave a lasting impact on your audience. The rewards go beyond the stage; they lead to exciting opportunities, influential connections, and a personal brand that stands out in the crowd. So, step up to the podium, embrace the spotlight, and let your voice shape the future of your personal brand.

 If you are interested in a coaching session to evaluate or improve your public speaking and presenting skills please contact me to schedule a meeting >>>

 

Master Presenter Workshop video

Tips for Building Self-Confidence

Tips for Building Self-Confidence

Personal Branding

Feeling confident is an important aspect of personal development that can be developed and practiced. Here are some ways that can help you build your confidence.

 

Self-confidence is a dynamic quality that holds the power to transform our lives. It is the belief in our own abilities, worth, and potential to navigate the challenges and opportunities that come our way. While some may perceive self-confidence as an innate trait, it is important to recognize that it is not solely dependent on genetics or luck. Rather, self-confidence is a skill that can be developed and honed through conscious effort and practice.

The fascinating aspect of self-confidence lies in its contextual nature. It manifests differently in various aspects of our lives, such as personal relationships, professional endeavors, and even our own inner dialogue. The level of confidence we possess in one area may not necessarily translate to other areas, highlighting the malleability of this quality.

Fortunately, like any other skill, self-confidence can be cultivated and strengthened. By implementing proven strategies and adopting empowering mindsets, we can embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, unlocking our true potential along the way. By actively working on building self-confidence, we can open doors to opportunities, overcome obstacles, and lead a more fulfilling and authentic life.

In the following sections, we will explore a range of strategies and practices that can help you enhance your self-confidence. From recognizing your strengths to challenging your fears, each step is designed to empower you and foster a positive self-perception. Remember, building self-confidence is a process that takes time, patience, and consistent effort. So, let us embark on this transformative journey and unlock the boundless possibilities that await us.

Know your strengths: Identify areas where you are good and where you have been successful in the past. Focus on developing and using these skills to build your confidence.

Expand your comfort zone: Push yourself to try new things and step out of your comfort zone. By exposing yourself to unfamiliar experiences, you will develop resilience and adaptability, which are crucial for building confidence. Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and see them as chances to prove your capabilities.

Set goals and achieve them: Set both short-term and long-term goals – professional, personal, educational. When you achieve these goals, you will feel more confident and believe that you are capable of success.

Take a positive approach: Focus on positive thinking and replace negative thoughts about yourself with positive ones. Avoid self-criticism and instead focus on appreciating your achievements and qualities.

Surround yourself with positive influences: Surrounding yourself with supportive and encouraging individuals can greatly impact your self-confidence. Seek out friends, mentors, or support groups who uplift and inspire you, as their belief in you will reinforce your believe in your own abilities and skills.

Celebrate your progress: Acknowledge and celebrate small and big achievements. By recognizing your progress and giving yourself credit, you reinforce a positive mindset and build momentum towards greater confidence. Keep a journal or create a gratitude list to remind yourself of your accomplishments.

Visualize success: Practice visualization techniques to imagine yourself succeeding in various situations. Visualization helps you build a positive mental image of yourself achieving your goals. By repeatedly visualizing success, you condition your mind to believe in your abilities and increase your confidence when facing real-life challenges.

Seek feedback and constructive criticism: Request feedback from trusted individuals who can provide constructive criticism. By seeking input from others, you gain valuable insights into your strengths and areas for improvement. Embrace feedback as an opportunity for growth and use it to refine your skills and enhance your confidence.

Help others: Volunteering or assisting others in their endeavors can boost your self-confidence. By making a positive impact on someone else’s life, you realize your own value and capabilities. Additionally, sharing your knowledge and skills with others can reinforce your belief in yourself and provide a sense of purpose.

Practice assertiveness: Learn to express your needs and opinions assertively. Expressing your thoughts and feelings with respect for yourself and others will help you build confidence.

Take care of yourself and embrace self-care rituals: Engage in activities that nourish your mind, body, and soul. Engaging in hobbies, practicing mindfulness, or engaging in self-reflection can contribute to your overall well-being and confidence. Prioritize self-care as a means to recharge and rejuvenate yourself.

Remember, building self-confidence is a continuous process that requires patience and consistency. Be kind to yourself, embrace setbacks as opportunities for growth, and stay committed to your personal development. With time and effort, you will witness your confidence grow and flourish.

Self-Confidence Workshop video

Crafting Your Leadership Brand: A Strategic Approach for Leaders

Crafting Your Leadership Brand: A Strategic Approach for Leaders

Personal Branding

Developing a powerful leadership brand is crucial for both established and emerging leaders. As a leader, your personal brand must align with your current and future leadership goals.

 

It goes beyond highlighting your work experience and skills; it should reflect your unique leadership style, core values, and the impact you’ve made.
In this article, we will delve into the key considerations for shaping your leadership brand and present a framework to guide you through the process.

If you are an established leader, examine and focus on the following:

Unifying Your Experiences:
If you’ve accumulated a diverse range of experiences, it’s essential to connect them cohesively. Paint a clear picture of the value of your work by identifying common themes and accomplishments that showcase your leadership abilities.

Balancing Roles and Responsibilities:
As a leader, you may wear multiple hats. Find a balance when communicating your brand and thought leadership. Highlight the strengths you possess in each role and demonstrate how they contribute to your overall leadership journey.

Crafting Your Business Story:
Go beyond a simple timeline of work history. Tell a compelling story about your business experiences, approach, and values. Emphasize the impact you’ve had, as this will resonate with your audience.

Synthesizing Key Messages:
For impactful keynote presentations, distil the messages behind your stories into powerful takeaways. Your ability to deliver concise and meaningful insights will leave a lasting impression.

 

If you are an emerging leader, here are a few tips for you.

Expanding Your Network:
Build influential connections to advance your leadership journey. Seek out introductions to key individuals who can help you reach the next level in your career.

Developing Your Voice:
Position yourself as an authority in your field by developing a strong voice. Share valuable insights through content creation, speaking engagements, and thought leadership platforms.Addressing Weaknesses:Identify any weaknesses in your resume and work on addressing them to enhance your credibility and build trust as a next-level leader.Non-Verbal Communication:Pay attention to your personal appearance, body language, and communication style. These elements greatly influence how others perceive your leadership abilities.

The Strategic Framework:
To build your leadership brand effectively, follow this strategic framework:

– Self-analysis: Evaluate where you are currently standing in relation to your leadership goals. Identify your target audience and the specific goals you want to achieve.

– Value Proposition Messaging: Develop clear and compelling value propositions that communicate your unique leadership qualities, core values, and vision.

– Communication Plan: Create a plan to communicate your leadership brand to your target audience. Utilize various platforms, such as social media (LinkedIN), speaking engagements (forums and conferences) and networking events.

– Execution: Break down the steps needed to execute your communication plan. Consistency and perseverance are key to increasing your visibility and engagement over time.

 

To summarize, building a robust leadership brand requires a strategic approach that goes beyond surface-level improvements. By understanding your goals, identifying your audience, and crafting a compelling narrative, you can elevate your leadership brand and make a lasting impact as a leader. Embrace the journey of self-discovery and intentional communication, and you will pave the way for a successful and influential leadership brand.

Self-Confidence Workshop video

Relaunch Your Personal Brand: Preparing for Future Success

Relaunch Your Personal Brand: Preparing for Future Success

Personal Branding

Embarking on a career change, transitioning to a new role, or stepping into a leadership position requires a well-thought-out personal brand relaunch strategy. Before making any public announcements, it’s crucial to lay the groundwork behind-the-scenes.

 

There are proactive steps you can take to prepare for your brand’s impactful relaunch. In this article, we’ll delve into the key strategies that will help you authentically and successfully relaunch your personal brand and positioning yourself for future success.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis:
Begin by performing a SWOT analysis, assessing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This evaluation will provide a clear understanding of your current standing versus your desired goals. Identifying gaps and areas for improvement will help you build a robust foundation for your future personal brand.

Define Your Value Proposition:
Craft a compelling value proposition that sets you apart and communicates the unique value you bring to your target audience. Beyond merely listing skills and expertise, delve deeper into how your strengths, address the needs and desires of your stakeholders. If you find articulating your value challenging, contact me to schedule a coaching session to refine your brand messaging effectively.

Create a Personal Brand Communication Plan:
Develop a comprehensive communication plan to ensure your brand messages reach your intended audience effectively. Focus on a few key channels that align with your goals and audience, rather than spreading yourself thin across various platforms. Learn to use online tools that can help you plan and schedule publications of content or social media posts and monitor audience engagement. Cultivate a long-term approach that strengthens your brand’s visibility and engagement consistently over time.

Prepare Content for Launch:
Gather all the content necessary to go live with your updated personal brand. This may include one of the following: website content, capturing personal imagery through photos or videos, social media banners, business cards, and other online collateral. Prepare blog posts, articles, and a content plan for future posting to keep your brand relevant and engaging.

While you can find resources online to guide you through these steps, consider seeking professional support to expedite the process and ensure a polished and impactful brand launch. Working with experts can save you time and guarantee a professional outcome, setting you up for success from the start.

In summary, relaunching your personal brand requires thoughtful planning and execution. By conducting a SWOT analysis, defining your value proposition, developing a communication plan, and preparing content in advance, you’ll be poised for a successful and authentic brand launch when the time is right. Get ready to hit the ground running and set yourself up for future success with a revitalized and strategic personal brand.

Ready to relaunch your personal brand with impact? Join my coaching session to strategize and craft a powerful brand that aligns with your goals. Contact me to book your session now >>

 

Top 10 qualities of a leader

Top 10 qualities of a leader

Career Brand Management, Personal Branding

Leadership is not simply one skill, but rather a mosaic of qualities and personality traits that makes an individual a leader, a person people trust and are willing to follow.

 

An important part of leadership is its authority, and for people to accept this authority, it has to be legitimate. Leaders whose authority is not earned and not recognised are simply tyrants.

The definition describes leadership as a “process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal”. The definition focuses on “what” is it, but not on “how” it is done. And we all know that some people just have the necessary ingredients to be a good leader and others don’t.

 

So today, I want to list 10 qualities of a leader that I think are essential and I encourage you to self-reflect on them to see if you have what it takes to be a leader.

Courage – mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.  The ability to do something that frightens others, bravery. No surprise this word comes from Old French “corage”, from Latin “cor” meaning ‘heart’. Courageous leaders are people who are able to push through uncomfortable situations and are willing to make difficult decisions. They also do not back down when things get too hard, but persevere and strive. If there is a quality that can inspire respect and trust from others, it is courage.

Self-control – the ability to control one’s desires and emotions, especially in difficult and stressful situations, remaining calm and collected under pressure. Self-control means that the individual is able to self-regulate and alter responses to avoid undesirable behaviour, increase desirable ones, and achieve long-term goals.
Being able to control emotions, thoughts, and behaviour in the face of temptations and impulses is a highly desirable leadership skill.

Self-motivation – it would be difficult if not impossible to be a leader without the ability to drive oneself to take initiative and action to pursue goals and complete tasks. It is an internal driver to create and achieve, a force that keeps pushing you forward. Self-motivated individuals are proactive and willing to go the extra mile, because they have this internal desire for performing and giving their best. They are also more resistant to failures and setbacks. Self-motivation and courage make them unstoppable.

Decisiveness – moving forward means making decisions, often tough ones and in difficult circumstances. So, leaders have to be decisive, they need to make decisions quickly, confidently and effectively while understanding that they take the responsibility for it. Being decisive means, you weigh pros and cons, you calculate risk, you make an informed decision, and then you stick to what you decided.

Work ethic – this goes without saying, a leader is required to have a high sense of ethical behaviour and adhere to both written and unwritten sets of rules and code of behaviours, as well as ideals of discipline and hard work. As a role model, his or her behaviour and approach to work should be exemplary and unquestionable. It is also the leader’s responsibility to ensure others understand the work ethic and demonstrate high standards.

Likeable personality – if being “likeable” might not seem like a leadership quality at first to you, think again. Would you rather work with someone you like or not?
Some research shows that likable leaders seem more effective, as they are more positive in words and actions. And while it is not always possible to be liked by everyone, openness, humility and empathy is surely a desired trait of a modern leader.

Sympathy and understanding – leaders often fail because they are too self-centred and forget that they only exist if they have people who follow them. And the modern servant leadership model shifts the importance of the business and company to the team, and in this model the leader’s main goal and responsibility is to provide a service to the people. That requires empathy, listening skills and understanding. A servant leader is open to feedback, considers the opinions of others, and encourages creativity and innovation.

Responsibility – key element of leadership is assuming responsibility. And in business it boils down to making sustainable decisions that take into account all stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, suppliers and clients, as well as environment, community and future generations. Responsibility is task-oriented and focuses on processes that must be in place to achieve the goal. A good leader ensures that these tasks are completed, and he holds himself personally accountable for the results.

Cooperation and team spirit – cooperative leadership means a leader engages in the same activities as everyone else and demands no special privileges. He is close to the people, open to feedback and willing to work with others. This approach also helps keep the company hierarchy flat and give an easy access to the leadership, making the decision-making process faster and more efficient. This also naturally positively impacts the team spirit – the willingness to work together to achieve a common goal.

Visionary – a leader must look into a future and have a clear vision of how the future should look. While we may focus on our KPI this month and this year, the leader must look a decade ahead. Because we make decisions that impact what we do tomorrow, and the leader’s decisions made today, impact the business in the future.
And that vision, that conviction and belief of a leader should serve as inspiration to others. Therefore, visionary leaders need to be skilled communicators to motivate people to work hard to make that vision come true for a benefit to all.

 

Blogging to sell – How to write and SEO optimize your content

Blogging to sell – How to write and SEO optimize your content

Branding & Marketing

Thinking about blogging to sell your products or services? You need 2 key ingredients…

 

A while ago I was working with a company that wanted to drive more traffic to their website through their blog. The articles were supposed to attract potential clients looking for legal services or looking for answers to their legal questions. The existing blog had a very poor readership and the conversion to download free e-books was very low.

It turned out that the content – while interesting, engaging, and well written – was missing 2 key ingredients:
1. it was not written to sell the product or service (directly or indirectly)
2. It was not SEO optimized

 

Let me dive a bit deeper into these two points now as you may wonder why well-written and engaging content was not enough. It wasn’t because… the intention of the blog was to be informative and thought-provoking, and in some cases also entertaining. And articles written from this perspective were great for branding, but they were not designed to solve clients’ problems, either to stimulate them to take any action like downloading the e-book, signing up for a newsletter, or getting in contact.

And let me clarify it right away… I am not saying “write to sell”. I am saying “write to add value, solve a problem, give advice, share the experience and give your clients a chance to stay in contact or work with you”. And this is why you craft content that responds to your client’s needs and you offer them additional resources like e-book, newsletter, or service subscription. And this solves problem number one.

Blog to sell

But there is also point number two – how to make sure that your blog – the endless well of knowledge you created – will be found by your potential clients?
You probably already know it should be SEO optimized. So what does it mean exactly? Does it mean you have to compromise your creativity in any way to please the search engine? Not necessarily!

Traffic is not the goal for your website, it is a result. The question is: what is your goal? Do you want to sell your services or products? Do you want to increase readership? Your goal should determine the type of content you write and the extent to which you would go to optimize it.

You also should know that by content I do not refer solely to the text – blog posts, articles, landing pages – but also to the images, documents, infographics or videos that you place on your website.
Once you define your goal, it is important to understand who your audience is. In other words – who would potentially benefit from your product or services. If you have clarity on your potential client, it is easier to put yourself in their shoes and start thinking from their perspective: what are their needs or problems? What do they look for? Or in some cases, perhaps creating that need for them.

Curious now? Check out the other articles in the Blogging series to find out how you can create a need for your clients and offer your product or service to satisfy this need.

Develop or perish – key skills to remain competitive in the future workplace

Develop or perish – key skills to remain competitive in the future workplace

Career, Career Brand Management

Do you want to remain competitive in the future workplace? Check if you have the 10 key skills and competencies to stay relevant.

 

Overworked, discouraged and without energy – those are the characteristics of the XIX century workforce. An alarming picture emerges from numerous studies and burnout became a modern plague. Especially now, when social interactions are limited due to the global pandemic and most of the work is done remotely from the home office.

Many professionals start feeling that their potential or skills at work are not utilized to the fullest potential. As a result, they do not know what to look for, where to place their passions, what is the purpose and meaning of their lives. Does this sound familiar to you?

New competency model

Technological development, which is revolutionizing the world before our eyes, introduces inevitably changes in the way we live and work. The development of artificial intelligence, robotization, management of a huge amount of data – all this means that the competency model of employees is changing. And skills like comprehensive problem solving, creativity, innovation, cooperation, cognitive flexibility and empathy become more important. 

A big question is if all employees and leaders have the strength to become such?

Many employees often feel discouragement, irritation, fear or even anxiety. The tasks they perform do not give them satisfaction and joy and they don’t know the sense and purpose of their job duties. On such foundations, it is impossible to build competencies of the future that will help to win with artificial intelligence.

Ideal employee of the future

The ideal employee of the future is a flexible specialist. One that is digitally savvy and has the ability to see problems in a wider spectrum. A creative individual that can also demonstrate analytical thinking and understanding of the data.

And while machines can beat us in analyzing information, they cannot look at it creatively. For this reason, in the era of machines, there will be someone who is well-versed in his work, empathic, able to communicate and cooperate and having a flexible mind. Such a combination of features ensured success in every age and there is no indication that the machines would change something in this field.

 

Key skills to develop or acquire

Let’s look at the below 10 skills and competencies that can keep you relevant in the future workplace.

Interdisciplinarity – the ability to understand concepts from various fields and “connecting the dots”.
In the face of the increasing complexity of the world and problems, narrow specialities will not allow people to properly understand reality. Therefore, people with 360 degree view and expertise in various fields will have the advantage. 

Innovative and adaptive thinking – proficiency in unconventional thinking that goes beyond the usual patterns. Creativity, flexibility and openness to change are the base for development and progress.

Digital competencies – the ability to use a wide array of digital tool, as well as new media for effective communication.

Design thinking – the ability to use a non-linear iterative process to understand users’ needs and problems, creating solutions and prototypes,  defining tasks and their implementation to achieve the expected results.

Computational thinking – the ability to understand and translate huge amounts of data into abstract concepts. As the amount of available data increases, people will have to be able to process the huge amount of information in a meaningful way.

Deeper reasoning – the ability to recognize the deeper meaning or importance of what is being expressed. While routine and repetitive activities can be performed by robots, there is a whole range of skills that the computer will not be able to master, such as drawing deeper conclusions that go beyond the scheme.

Emotional intelligence – the ability to communicate with other people in a deep and direct way that allows you to feel and stimulate specific reactions. Employees with high emotional intelligence are able to quickly assess the emotions of other people, empathize with them and communicate more effectively. 

Intercultural competence – ability to work with people from various cultural backgrounds. In the times of progressing globalization, the ability to work with people who function in different cultural conditions may turn out to be a gold competence.

Working in informational noise – the ability to filter valid and credible information in the media noise and overload of facts and data will become increasingly important to effectively work in the world of complexity. 

Virtual collaboration – the ability to work effectively within virtual teams. The rapid development of communication techniques will require employees of the future to work at a distance within virtual teams. Usage of tools for online or virtual cooperation will be an asset.

 

 

 

MY ONLINE

PERSONAL BRANDING COURSE
available now on Udemy! >>>

 

Agile Marketing – Where to start?

Agile Marketing – Where to start?

Branding & Marketing

Thinking about transitioning to agile marketing, but not sure where to start? Here are 5 steps to begin with…

How to attract customers, how to grab their attention and meet their expectations in rapidly changing market conditions? Competition is fierce and marketing campaigns are becoming increasingly costly. Long term planning seems like a practice of the past and proves to be ineffective as it doesn’t keep up with ever-changing customer behaviour.

Agile marketing is designed to respond quickly to the changes and streamline and simplify processes. No surprise agile methodology is the leading one for the IT world and with the fast-growing number of successful start-up companies, the agile framework is also infiltrating the business world under various guises like Scrum, Lean or Kanban. Confused already? Here is the key difference…. While Scrum focuses on creative and adaptive teamwork to solve complex problems, Lean is based on continually eliminating unnecessary elements and activities from processes. Finally, Kanban focuses on reducing lead times and work in progress.

You may wonder how agile methodology used in software development can be adapted to marketing? While these two domains may look very different at first, certain principles are so fundamental and universal that they can be very quickly adopted in marketing management.

And here are 5 areas you may start with:
– Agile mindset
– Agile planning
– Iterations & testing
– Retrospections & learnings
– Daily standups

AGILE MINDSET

It all starts with an agile mindset. And while it is difficult to imagine a company turning agile from one day to another, a big change is simply a sum of smaller changes, and you may start with imperceptible initiatives and build on their success.
Best if you understand the 4 Agile Values and 12 Agile Principles

Agile Marketing Values and Principles*Source: https://www.agilemarketing.net/what-is-agile-marketing/

AGILE PLANNING

If every project you start begins with a detailed plan, then perhaps you can take a cue from agile and instead of planning all activities and assigning strict budgets 12 months ahead, you draft a general outline first. While planning the whole year gives us a feeling of control, it doesn’t allow much flexibility to respond to the market change. If we plan only as much as we can predict up front, then we can filin the detailsls when it comes to scheduling marketing activities. We can also limit the amount of documentation necessary to be efficient and effective and meet any compliance we need to adhere to.
The agile approach accepts the change and welcomes it at any time. So if customer behaviour changes, marketing activities can be adjusted as well. If your company was planning product advertisement in an airline onboard magazine and assigned a budget for it, surely in the mid of 2020 pandemic, it became clear that perhaps it would be best to shift the advertising budget to a different channel.
Or, if you discovered that your audience shifted from using Facebook to using TikTok, perhaps it would be a good idea to split the advertising budget and test the performance of the ads on another channel.

Effective marketing always requires a broad vision and guiding principles. However, agile marketing implies reacting quickly and adapting to change rather than rigidly following a plan. Just because it is a predetermined and accepted plan. The main difference between agile and traditional planning is that the first one is iterative and adaptive, while the latter is set in stone.

ITERATIONS & TESTING

Marketing teams can gain flexibility and respond efficiently to market changes through iterations. Iterations are short, looped periods during which planned marketing activities are implemented.

All starts with a simple sketch that serves as an outline of an idea that the marketing team thinks might work. The effort is put into creating something worthwhile, but not perfect and refining the idea in the next iteration.

It also allows time for testing to see the results on a small scale and try it on various audiences or channels. This approach allows quick market research and finding the best solution in a time effective and cost-efficient manner.

FAIL FAST AND LEARN

Here is another agile principle, fail fast and fail often. Sounds counterintuitive, yet it works. You may not know what works well at first, but at least you know what doesn’t and you can move on.

Short iterations allow you to catch any mistake sooner rather than later, as well as reduce the risk of investing significant financial resources in products or campaigns that would not work.

Failure is part of the process and can be used as a lesson learnt. As long as we are learning from it we are moving. And sometimes we need to experiment to find a solution that may work. Moreover, teams that are not afraid to fail, are also not afraid to experiment and make bold decisions.

Many agile methodologies include retrospective meetings during which team members can share the experience and reflect on what went well and what didn’t work. Retrospectives are a great opportunity to identify problems and brainstorm solutions.

DAILY STANDUPS

Another team activity that can be adopted by marketing teams is daily stand-ups. Short focused morning meetings are designed to pass the most important information by each team member.

Usually, the format includes 3 questions:
– What did I do yesterday?
– What will I do today?
– Did I encounter any problems?
The answers help identify any blockers and share personal successes that contribute to achieving team goals.
Meetings are conducted standing up and each person has approximately 2 minutes to speak. These meetings main objective is to increase team communication. They are not designed for planning, they keep the team informed, aligned and connected. You can think about them like the sports team’s huddle.

Implementing agile methodologies in marketing may sound like an overwhelming task but surely it starts with adopting an agile mindset.
Some say that if you are not agile all the way, you are not agile at all. 😉
So, how agile are you?

Share your thoughts and comments below – I would love to hear from you!