The year 2020 has demonstrated why clear visibility into plans more than just once a year, half or even quarter is essential for marketing leaders. If you can’t see what’s happening in the first place, you’re not going to be able to adjust accordingly for sudden market changes.

Underscoring just how vital resiliency is when it comes to marketing planning, a recent blog from Forrester SiriusDecisions’ Meta Karagianni puts it this way:

“The ability to manage unplanned events and calibrate and adjust sales and marketing plans quickly is no longer a nice-to-have but a critical muscle B2B sales and marketing leaders must develop.”

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At the start of the year, we took a deep dive into the concept of agile marketing and what it takes to adopt the approach for your marketing team: proper planning and training and, crucially, a collaborative and centralized planning solution (among other things, of course).

In a newly released Gartner report, the research and advisory firm underscores the importance of centralization, as well as the continued growth of agile practices. According to a survey of more than 400 marketing leaders, almost two-thirds of marketing teams are either “fully or primarily” centralized.

“CMOs are evolving their teams through increased centralization, more functional alignment and continued exploration of agile marketing practices,” Gartner says. “These changes are helping build more scalable, flexible and resilient marketing organizations.”

So, what does it take for marketing leaders to achieve this centralized approach?

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