One of the major challenges experienced by businesses when running a marketing campaign is usually a lack of funds. Many startups and small businesses operate on a limited budget, and that is why many of them cannot afford to spend big on the marketing aspect of their business. This is where the importance of agile marketing and lean startup marketing comes into play.
This article will cover what agile marketing and lean marketing are. Also, you will get to learn other things about these marketing concepts. Continue reading to find out more.
What exactly is lean marketing?
Lean marketing uses the lean startup methodology which centers on minimizing cost and maximizing productivity. It is about making smart decisions that will help increase ROI while at the same time decrease waste. Lean marketing can be very helpful for businesses operating on a limited budget. It will help them cut down costs and boost productivity.
What is agile marketing?
Agile marketing has to do with breaking down projects into several pieces so that they can be worked on in set time periods (sprints). You evaluate the project and the progress made so far to verify if everything is going accordingly or there are any changes that need to be made.
Agile vs. Lean marketing
Both agile marketing and lean marketing have many similar processes. Both concepts are borrowed from iteration and rapid product development. That is why the two concepts usually go hand-in-hand. However, despite the many similarities they share, they have some distinct differences. The major difference between both concepts is that agile marketing uses feedback for the iteration loop. That means bringing a project to completion very fast, then making necessary adjustments based on reception.
For lean marketing, it focuses on streamlining the product creation process while making necessary adjustments simultaneously. Unlike agile marketing, everything is done on the fly. It focuses on reducing wastes and lowering costs.
However, despite their differences, lean and agile marketing has brought significant changes in the marketing field. Unlike in the traditional marketing process where lengthy campaigns take place before accessing results, lean and agile marketing allows you to review the project and make adjustments on the go.
What are the benefits of going lean?
Whether you run a startup, small or large-sized company, there are many things you can benefit from going lean. Here, we will look at some of the main benefits of lean marketing.
Get feedbacks in a hurry
One of the major benefits of using the lean marketing principle is that it allows you to get feedback in a hurry. For example, if you’d like to find out the level of reception that a newly developed product will receive from the public, you don’t have to wait until the launch day of the product. Lean marketing allows you to run small experiments during the product development process to find out how it will perform. With this, you don’t have to waste resources and time into launching a massive marketing campaign.
Innovate faster
Another thing lean marketing does is that it allows you to innovate faster. You get to find out what works and what doesn’t faster. This gives you the opportunity to make quick adjustments where necessary.
Saves you money
This is one of the main benefits of lean startup marketing. It helps you identify the things that work and ignore those that don’t. This allows you to focus your budget on the most valuable channels. By doing so, your marketing efforts will be more effective and productive. That being said, it saves you a lot of money.
Focus on the customer
In the traditional marketing process, there’s no room for improvements or adjustments. The whole product planning and decisions are done ahead of time. For lean marketing, it gives you the opportunity to focus on the customer right from the product creation process. You get to carry out tests on the product on a regular basis before launch. This allows you to eventually come up with a final product that customers will love.
Reduces wasting of resources
Since lean marketing helps you to identify what works and what doesn’t, you only get to invest and divert your resources on what works. This helps in optimizing your best channels and preventing waste of resources.
Allows your team to make better decisions
Many lean organizations get things done faster by using automation. This gives your team members the time and opportunity to make better decisions. It also gives them time to focus on other important work-related affairs.
Better returns on investment (ROI)
A well-executed lean marketing strategy gives better returns on investment. Since you are not spending wastefully on your marketing efforts and you are making use of the right tools, you are most likely going to get a good ROI.
Lean marketing fundamentals
Lean marketing relies on some key points which are as follows:
Analysis
- Competitors
- Target audience
- Market
Hypothesis and forecast
- Idea – hypothesis
- KPIs for evaluation
Test and feedback
- Product launch
- Test with a small audience and budget
Short iterations
- Plan for days, weeks, or a month rather than developing a strategy for one year
Measurability of result
- Iterations end with KPI results analysis
Conclusion
In today’s highly competitive business world, marketing has gone beyond using old approaches and traditional methods. Businesses that still relies on old marketing practices may not be able to survive the turbulent business world. That is why all businesses must adopt modern approaches like lean startup marketing. It will go a long way in boosting your marketing efforts.
If you are a business owner looking for the best way to cut costs on a new product you are working on, you should consider using lean marketing. Aside from cutting down costs, it will also help in eliminating resource wastage. Furthermore, lean marketing gives you the opportunity to make necessary adjustments to a product before it is launched. All these and more are the reasons why you should adopt it in your business.
