A-Z guide: Agile marketing explained

So to clear things up, we’ve broken down some of the key terms – many originate from the world of Agile software development, although some have been adapted to work for marketing.

Backlog

This is essentially your to-do list. In Scrum you’d usually have a Product Backlog and a Sprint Backlog – the former being your longer-term to-do list, the latter being the list of tasks you want to achieve in your next sprint. The purpose of Sprint planning meetings is to prioritise and decide what goes from the Product Backlog to the Sprint Backlog.

Epic

This is a set of User Stories over the course of a few weeks or months – in other words a campaign.

Kanban

This is another Agile framework – Scrumban is a mix of the above-mentioned Scrum and Kanban.

Kanban board

This is a visualisation of a team’s workflow, most often indicating work in the Backlog, work in progress, what’s awaiting approval and what’s done.

Product Owner

The nominated person within the organisation who oversees an Agile team, but isn’t necessarily involved in the team’s day-to-day activities. This person has a more strategic role and often coordinates with senior management, for example.

Retrospective

This is a meeting at the end of each Sprint to discuss what went well, what could have been better, and things to remember for future sprints. This meeting is usually facilitated by the Scrum Master.

Scrum

Agile project management (in the software development world) can be carried out in a number of different ways. Scrum is one such framework, and generally the most commonly adopted in marketing.

Scrum Master

The nominated person within an Agile team who leads Sprint planning meetings, stand-up meetings and retrospectives. It’s possible to become a certified Scrum Master (another way of learning the role).

Sprint

These are blocks of two to four weeks of work. Each sprint starts with a Sprint planning meeting, when the team decides the goals for the Sprint ahead. It’s bookended with a retrospective, when the team discusses what went well, what didn’t, and learnings for future sprints.

Sprint demo

This is a time-boxed meeting (around one hour) during which the team plays back what it’s achieved and demos any working functionality or prototype.

Stand-up meetings

These are daily meetings where the team discusses what each team member achieved the day before, their tasks for the day ahead and any blockers. This is facilitated by the Scrum Master.

User Story

This is a tool which allows marketers to better understand their target audience (and personas) and their viewpoint. Often written on a large index card, they follow the format: “As a [role], I want to [task], so that I can [goal or benefit].”

This glossary is an extract from our Premium guide, How to apply Agile successfully to your marketing.