Product Owner: Innovation driver for digital marketing agencies
The last 8 weeks have been more than easy for most digital marketing agencies. Depending on the industry, media budgets of clients have been paused and projects put on hold. However, this should not be the time to stick your head in the sand. Rather, this time is a momentum to innovatively sharpen your service offerings and intensify the trust of your customers. After all, there are more possibilities than initially thought; these can be controlled primarily by a product owner.
Why does the positioning of a product owner makes sense in times like these?
Each account manager has direct contact with customers and will discuss with them different options, such as how to optimize marketing and sales. A good Product Owner collects the generated signals centrally in the agency and, in case of an increased demand, will integrate them into the dynamic Service Map.
This process creates enormous transparency advantages and thus a competitive advantage over other agencies.
Example: If account managers discover in discussions with various retailers that the retailers’ customers have an increased need for communication, the AdLingo Ad Format can be offered. AdLingo specifically fits in further discussions with other retailers. This bundled knowledge is provided by the product owner. In other words, the product owner’s objective is to integrate innovations into the agency’s service map, in order to ensure pricing and knowledge transfer and to push innovation.
Which processes, responsibilities and meetings does the product owner control?
Artifacts: Which general tools does the agency use for customer meetings and pipeline monitoring? Here, the product owner is responsible for updating the dynamic service map
Events: The agency clearly defines which events take place within the organisation and what the agenda and objectives are. The Product Owner is usually the Chairman of the Pipeline Review, where account managers bundle external customer signals and define cross and upsell.
Roles: The Product Owner should have a close exchange with the Customer Scrum Masters. Furthermore he should have an overview of which customer developments are already implemented or still open in the customer backlog.
How can you easily and efficiently position a Product Owner role in an agency?
Definition of the modus operandi: First of all, it must be evaluated whether the agency is more heuristic or algorithmic. This means that if the digital marketing agency can be seen more as an “extended workbench” and works very process-oriented and functional, a product owner role is not recommended. However, if the agency moves more towards consulting and heuristic processes, it makes sense for an agency to think about a simple Scrum model in the organizational development process.
2. Definition of the manifesto:
- Roles: Which roles do we have in the agency regarding service innovation, customer development and expert knowledge. Important: Roles are not single persons, but one person can also cover several roles
- Artifacts: Which artifacts (standard tools) do we use to get a consistent overview
- Events: What events are needed for (1) customer meetings, (2) internal service development and (3) pipeline management
3. Piloting with the team: In the third step, the team will refine the manifesto and run through it using 3-4 customers as examples
4. Implementation: In the fourth step, the process is implemented, monitored and adjusted if necessary.
We compiled a simple DIY guide and the slides for the call. You can also watch the video of our call.
If you want to get to know more about us or about what we do and what we offer, please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.
Your Amaze Growth Team
