How to use scrum for marketing teams?

Scrum for marketing is a popular agile framework that many teams are embracing these days to boost their agility and foster genuine teamwork. It helps them score better results with their campaigns.

Marketing teams often find themselves juggling shifting priorities and coordinating a mix of unique skills while racing against tight deadlines.

What Scrum Is and Why Marketing Teams Often Choose It (and Stick With It)

Scrum is an agile framework that originally sprang from software development but fits marketing like a glove too. It zeroes in on clear roles, regular check-ins and key tools designed to crank up collaboration, transparency and delivery—usually through familiar fast-paced cycles we call sprints.

• Product Owner: Acts as the voice of the stakeholders and juggles priorities in the marketing backlog to make sure the team’s efforts pack a punch.
• Scrum Master: The go-to guide for the Scrum process, clearing roadblocks like a pro and gently nudging the team to stick to agile principles.
• Marketing Team: A versatile crew handling everything from crafting compelling content and eye-catching designs to crunching analytics and running campaigns.
• Marketing Backlog: An ordered lineup of all marketing tasks and projects waiting their turn.
• Sprint Goal: The north star for the team during a sprint. It can be launching a fresh campaign or rolling out a new content series. It is something clear to rally around.
• Daily Standups: Quick no-nonsense daily check-ins where the team syncs up, spots any hiccups early and keeps the momentum rolling without getting bogged down.
• Burndown Chart: A handy visual that shows at a glance how much work is left on the sprint menu, like watching the clock tick down before the deadline.

Using Scrum gives marketing teams a much clearer line of sight and lets them gather feedback faster than you would expect. It helps put first tasks in a way that makes sense and amps up overall accountability.

Visual representation of Scrum adapted for marketing teams showing roles, events, and flow

A Friendly Step-by-Step Guide to Bringing Scrum into Your Marketing Team

Diving headfirst into Scrum, it is smart to pause and really size up your team's readiness by identifying those key roles and getting crystal clear on your goals. Set realistic, achievable targets and make sure everyone’s on the same page with expectations

Set sprint goals for marketing to be crystal clear and measurable—think along the lines of 'launch email campaign X' rather than some vague, catch-all task that leaves everyone guessing.

Effective Approaches and Tools for Getting Scrum to Work in Marketing

Tweak your Scrum ceremonies to fit the rhythm of marketing work. Keep daily standups crisp and to the point. Tailor sprint planning so it gels with the creative flow and make sprint reviews the moment to spotlight tangible marketing wins stakeholders can celebrate.

• Encourage open communication to break down silos and warmly invite ongoing feedback—after all fresh perspectives never hurt.
• Keep a sharp focus on customer and audience input to ensure marketing efforts truly hit the mark with what they need.
• Promote collaboration across departments so everyone’s unique skills get a chance to shine and create something better.
• Use visual task boards that let everyone easily catch the big picture of progress without digging through endless emails.
• Support continuous learning by holding retrospectives and don’t be shy about trying out new ideas even if they feel a bit out there.
• Keep sprint lengths flexible, generally between one to three weeks and adapt naturally to the pace the campaign demands.

Several project management tools back Scrum for marketing teams. Jira brings detailed agile features to the table. Trello has a simple and visual approach. Asana is known for flexible task management. Monday.com shines with strong automation capabilities. Jira packs powerful integrations but can feel like taming a wild beast at times. Trello is easy to use but less tailored for specialized needs. Asana strikes a balance between user-friendly and solid tracking. Monday.com stands out for custom workflows, even if it might stretch the budget a bit.

Screenshot or dashboard example of a marketing Scrum board

Typical Challenges in Applying Scrum to Marketing and Some Clever Ways to Tackle Them

Marketing teams often wrestle with a few stubborn hurdles when implementing scrum for marketing: resistance to embracing agile mindsets, unclear responsibility, and the constant tug-of-war between creativity and tight sprint schedules.

• Overcome resistance by helping the team truly grasp the benefits of Scrum and bringing them into the fold when customizing the process. This way, it’s much easier to get buy-in.
• Adapt Scrum terms so they jive with marketing lingo and fit the team’s specific context because nobody likes jargon that feels like it is from another planet.
• Keep sprint boundaries flexible to allow room for creative bursts and the inevitable urgent tasks that pop up unexpectedly.
• Break down those long-term marketing campaigns into smaller, bite-sized sprint goals that feel more manageable and less overwhelming.
• Use retrospectives regularly to tackle any sticking points and continuously improve how the team gels and works together.

"Scrum shakes up how marketing teams get things done by promoting a culture of openness, speeding up feedback loops, and mixing creativity with solid execution. It’s the secret sauce that helps them really tap into their full potential." – Jamie Turner, Marketing Strategist and Agile Coach