Marketing project management offers limitless possibilities. Numerous methodologies and approaches make managers perform like superheroes.

But among all this diversity, two methodologies dominate: Waterfall promises predictability and control, while Agile offers efficiency and adaptability. Both methods emerged long before the digital marketing era, but they actually help teams create content, launch campaigns, and engage with their audiences.

Which approach in the Agile vs Waterfall debate seems more suitable for marketing needs?

Let’s figure this out.

Agile Or Waterfall For marketing Needs: Comparing The Popular Methodologies 

Let’s explore the characteristics of each methodology and compare them using 4 criteria.

1. Flexibility vs rigidity: planning processes and backlogs

Agile project participants work with a backlog. This is a list of tasks that are constantly reviewed and reevaluated. Each sprint is preceded by selecting the most important tasks from this backlog at that time.

For example, a team is launching a customer feedback campaign for a new product. No one knows which stories will resonate most, and which formats will work best. Perhaps it’ll be text or video interviews.

The entire team works within the first sprint instead of planning six months in advance. Team members collect the first portion of feedback, test different formats, evaluate engagement, and so on. Based on this data, a manager can adjust the next sprint.

However, Agile requires discipline. Without regular backlog reviews, you’ll end up with chaos instead of agility.

Waterfall practitioners prepare plans several months in advance. All promotions, articles, emails, and social media posts are scheduled in detail. This approach is effective when a team has established formats.

Managers can easily divide complex tasks into subtasks on a visual timeline using a convenient work breakdown structure (WBS). Many well-known PM software offers this functionality.

You can learn more about how to create a WBS in Excel here.

For example, scheduling monthly posts on your company’s Facebook account. On Mondays, you publish customer case studies, on Wednesdays, statistical information, and on Fridays, industry news digests.

In this case, the entire team knows who will be doing what in the coming months. They have time to prepare for expert interviews, arrange photo shoots, or prepare graphics. However, if something suddenly changes, adjusting is painful.

2. Adaptation vs control: philosophy of approaches

According to Agile, a project is broken down into short sprints, typically lasting 1-4 weeks. A team creates small but complete parts of a product. After each sprint, team members analyze the results and adjust course.

Imagine building a bridge. It’s possible to start construction by creating a temporary crossing. This way, a team can test it, get feedback, and only then decide on the permanent structure.

Waterfall is about a sequential approach. It means that a team can plan a campaign from start to finish. They approve each stage and then strictly follow the route. 

In the case of building a bridge, a team first works on the foundation, then installs the supports, and finally constructs a roadway. Any changes midway through will be costly and complex.

In the world of marketing, this difference is quite critical. Waterfall is worth choosing if you know exactly what you want to say and to whom. Agile is more effective in situations where experimentation and rapid response to audience reaction are required.

3. Team rhythm: standups and meetings

Teams working according to Agile principles run daily standups. These are typically 15-minute meetings where everyone answers three questions:

• What did I do yesterday?
• What will I do today?
• Are there any obstacles in my way?

For example, preparing an annual branded corporate print calendar. This project may involve photographers, designers, a content manager, and a production team.

A content manager knows that a designer is ready to work and can hand over the layout ahead of schedule. A project manager notices that a photographer doesn’t have access to the corporate brand book and promptly resolves the issue.

Sometimes, standups can turn into long discussions if a team doesn’t maintain discipline.

Waterfall communication usually involves written reports and long meetings. A team completes successive milestones and meets upon completion of each. A week or even a month may pass between these milestones. This model is typically suitable for large and complex projects.

In a calendar project, everything must be perfectly aligned before sending a calendar to a printer center.

4. The cost of adjustments: change management

Changes are common in Agile. After each sprint, a team can change priorities without drama. 

Backlog management and possible adjustments are quite simple. However, without clear boundaries, a team can endlessly improve and optimize processes. Therefore, the role of a product owner, who says “stop,” is critical here.

In the Waterfall methodology, any change to requirements during a project is considered a disaster.

It can be a situation when the concept has already been approved, the budget for preparing materials has been spent, and production has been ordered. Such a restructuring means wasted time and money.

Let’s say a team is preparing a rebranding campaign in 3 months. The responsible workers have already prepared creatives, created videos, invited influencers, and written content. A month before the launch, a manager changes the key characteristics of the new brand. All content must be rewritten.

What about the hybrid options of these methodologies? 

Hybrid Approaches: The Best Of Both Worlds

In fact, it’s quite rare to see projects in marketing that are based solely on Agile or Waterfall. Companies mostly rely on mixed or hybrid approaches.

Here are three variations of these popular approaches:

• The Big Release, Small Iterations model (Water-Scrum-Fall). It is typically applied for major launches. A company plans the overall campaign structure and key milestones in advance, following the Waterfall model. However, the creation of specific materials happens in sprints. They know that November 20 is the big launch day. However, what exactly will be included in the final package of materials will be decided three weeks before the deadline based on current data.

• The Wave model (an Agile-Waterfall hybrid). In this case, Waterfall helps a team plan work effectively, but it doesn’t work in sprints within each campaign. For example, you decide to release 4 advertising videos in Q1. The date is fixed. However, specific topics and formats will be discussed iteratively, from sprint to sprint.

• The Core-and-Experiment model (Bimodal marketing). It may happen that 70% of marketing content in a company is created on a fixed schedule and according to Waterfall. It can be a baseline publication plan that will maintain brand presence. The remaining 30% are experimental projects run on Agile. Team members can test new formats, channels, and hypotheses without risking the main content flow.

When To Use Each Approach

Here are some practical recommendations for marketing teams.

Favor Agile if:

• Your project is experimental, or you’re planning to launch a new product and don’t know how the market will react. Agile allows you to learn on the fly.
• Your industry is a rapidly changing environment. Digital marketing and trends require immediate action.
• Your project requires constant optimization, and you need to constantly analyze metrics and adjust actions.
• Your team is small and co-located. Agile is suitable when team members can communicate freely and make decisions together.
• Management and all stakeholders are committed to active participation. Agile implies continuous feedback.

Focus on Waterfall if:

• Your project or campaign has a tight deadline with a fixed outcome. It can be a print ad in a magazine or participation in an exhibition.
• Your budget is predetermined and limited. Waterfall allows you to control costs when you have a fixed amount and no room for adjustment.
• Marketing texts need to be approved by lawyers. The best option is to plan everything and get approval only once.
• Team members work in different geographic locations.

Rely on hybrid models if:

• You work with different types of projects within a single portfolio. It means that your team deals with both stable, routine tasks and innovative experiments.
• You work in a large company, and your organizational structure is quite complex. In this case, it makes sense to combine long-term strategic planning with flexible, tactical execution.
• You’ve already begun the transformation process. A hybrid model allows you to gradually change your work culture by training your team in new practices on less critical projects.

Make A Clear Choice Between Agile And Waterfall For Your Marketing Campaigns

By choosing the right methodology for your marketing projects, you make a pragmatic decision about how your team can work more effectively, taking into account the maturity of processes and your company’s structure. Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid approaches are all reliable and worthy of consideration.

The best methodology is the one that helps you create marketing content that meets deadlines and is relevant to your business. Start experimenting today, and within a month, you’ll see which approach can lead your projects to success.