Playing Safe Sucks Why You Need An Agile Content Strategy

Nobody remembers the ads that played it safe. Why? Because there’s nothing to remember.

“Oh, I just loved that bland commercial that told me about the product in a super-corporate manner.”

You’re not going to hear that, ever. Except maybe from the corporate bigwig that greenlit the ad. They’re out of touch, don’t listen to them. Well, at least roll your eyes at them. If you are a corporate bigwig who approves these kinds of ads, here’s my message to you:

Stop playing it safe

Now I know, this might sound like really bad advice. And you might be asking yourself, “How do we go about taking risks? Isn’t that, risky?”

Of course, it’s risky, that’s why it’s called taking a risk. But, there’s hope. That hope comes in the form of an agile content strategy. An agile content strategy will allow you to take these risks, but with minimal, err risk. Let’s start with the basics.

What is agile?

At its core, agile content development is the process of creating content on the fly through iterations. Collaboration is key, as the content needs to be created quickly, but also researched thoroughly. This means the content developers will need to be working in sync with those pulling data, brand managers, stakeholders, and so on. Agile content is also generally created with the intention of addressing a certain pain point, topic, or need.

So, beyond sounding like a buzzword, what are the perks of agile content development?

It’s fast

In case the name didn’t give it away, agile content development is speedy. This is due to the collaborative and iterative nature of agile. Agile content should be driven by results, specifically the most recent ones. Think of agile content development as a relay, rather than a mapped-out marathon. You know the goal you’re shooting for, but you’re going to reach it through a series of sprints.

Because of its fast nature, agile content development is perfect for outpacing the competition. Look at your competitors and see what they’re putting out, and then experiment with that formula. Speaking of experimenting…

Agile lends itself to testing

While agile content development allows you to create faster, it also allows you to test more. For example, if you use agile to create an email in a week, you can easily test several different email formulas in only a few weeks. This ties into the previous point about outpacing the competition. If you’re able to test faster, you’re able to see results faster, and learn faster. And because of this surplus of data and quicker turn around time, you can…

Spend more time with data

Love it or hate it, data is your best friend. Especially with agile content development. When you’re quickly churning out content and trying new things, you will inevitably have more time to look at that sweet data you’ve been generating.

This data will become your best friend in the agile world. With this data, you can make snap decisions on what’s working or not working, and quickly try something new or attempt to duplicate your results.

All thanks to agile content development.

Take some f@#%ing risks

Okay, don’t be that bold. Unless you want to. I won’t stop you.

Agile content development is perfect for taking risks. Playing it safe won’t get you far with your marketing. Sure, you might have some OK results for a while. But what happens when those people get bored, or your brand goes out of style and gets passed by the competition?

Being bold and trying new things is a great way to stay on top of your game. Look at Taco Bell’s social media. They went out on a limb, gave some young people a chance with Twitter, and struck gold. Why? They know their audience. Also, Twitter is a perfect place to experiment because, like agile content development, it lends itself to quick iterations. They can experiment with a tweet, see if it works, and then try again.