The 61 Best Marketing Tools for Every Business & Budget [2019 Guide] Part 1.

Written by Bethany Cartwright

@bhopecart

In the world of marketing, it seems like there are always new tools, tips, tricks, and trends to discover and incorporate into your marketing strategy. How is it possible to keep up with them all?

As a marketer myself, I often wish I had a better sense of all of the tools available to me -- and what sets each of them apart -- so I can make more informed decisions on how to create and optimize content.

Luckily, I have the privilege of working on a team of 150+ other marketers who specialize in different functions than I do. And because of that, I was able to curate this list of the top 61 tools every marketer should know about and use in 2019.

The list of recommended tools below is sorted into different sections so you can get a better sense of what tools are available for different functions of the job. At the end, you'll see the whole list of 61 tools that you can skim and bookmark for later. Nearly 50 of them are free marketing tools, which means the product offers either a free version with limited resources or a select group of tools inside the product that are yours to use at no charge.

Enjoy!

Your List of the Best Marketing Tools to Build Your Strategy in 2019

Marketing Automation

Automation is nothing new to marketers. Whether you want to save time doing marketing tasks or simply cut time wasted doing those daily tasks like saving emails and files to spreadsheets, having a tool that makes your life easier and saves you time is ideal.

While there are lots of automation tools out there for specific fields or verticals (for example, the HubSpot workflows tool for marketing automation), there aren't many tools that allow you to automate the various different tools you use throughout all aspects of your life.

Wouldn't it be nice to link lots of tasks between different apps together? Like posting your Instagram photos to all your social networks or linking your app reminders together. With IFTTT you can!

IFTTT (IF This Then That) is a service that allows you to create chains of simple conditional statements, called applets. These "if this then that" applets are triggered by a wide range of other web-based services at the choice of the user. Some of the web-based services that work with IFTTT include Gmail, Google Drive, Facebook, Twitter, Fitbit, and much, much more.

Sounds great, right? Check it out.

Data Reporting

Most tools that automate some of your marketing strategy will also provide reports that allow you to see and present your campaigns' performance to other employees in your company. What if you want a more holistic look at the health of your marketing?

From the efficiency of your content calendar to the effectiveness of your lead-generation methods, Digital Marketing Tuner offers a helpful overview of all of your latest marketing activities.

Developed by OverGo Studio, an inbound marketing agency and HubSpot Agency Partner, Digital Marketing Tuner guides you through a brief survey where you can submit basic information about your company's content volume, email open rates, website traffic, and more. The tool then sends you a detailed report in which you can better visualize your team's strengths and weaknesses so you can make even better decisions for your company moving forward.

Closing Deals and Tracking Relationships

You and your sales team want to sell your product or service -- not fight with messy spreadsheets, cluttered inboxes, or clunky tools that slow you down. That's why using a Customer Relationship Management System -- also known as a CRM -- is essential. Not only will it help your sales team manage relationships, but a CRM will also give you a place to deliver those leads you generated to your sales team.

CRMs are such an essential part of any good marketing and sales team that we think everyone should have one. That's why the HubSpot CRM is completely free.

HubSpot CRM automates the tasks salespeople hate and takes minutes to learn -- not months. That means doing more deals and less data entry.

Check out the HubSpot CRM Now

Collaboration

In any marketing team, the inevitable happens: there's a million files and pieces of content between everyone on your team without one place to keep it all. Organization on any team -- let alone a marketing team -- is essential. That's why it's important to have a collaborative organization tool to keep you sane.

Dropbox is the perfect tool to keep your team organized and your files under control. With cloud-based software to keep your files accessible anywhere at anytime, Dropbox helps your team store all of its files in a central location. Dropbox makes it easy to collaborate, too. With tools like Dropbox Paper, which allows you to write and collaborate in real time on the same doc -- and sharing tools for shared folders and files, you'll be organized and ready for any project that comes your way.

Get Dropbox for Your Team Now

Other Collaboration Tools:

• Google Drive
• Box
• Trello

Content Creation

In the world of content creation, there are admittedly tons of different tools you could use to create various types of content. Whether it's social images, logos, blog posts, or ebooks -- the options and tools are endless.

That said, a newcomer among the Adobe Suite of tools is winning the hearts of many marketers, including this one, for its ease of use to create stunning webpages, awesome videos, and eye-catching graphics. The best part? It's completely free and impossibly easy.

Adobe Spark is a suite of three web or mobile apps - Spark Page, Spark Post, and Spark Video -- that allows marketers to easily create graphics, webpages, and videos in a variety of themes in minutes.

You can completely avoid the hassle of page layout, video editing knowledge, or a CMS and start creating content that looks remarkable immediately. For example, we use Spark Page at HubSpot to create some of our online guides and promote them with Spark Videos and Posts. You can too!

Check out Adobe Spark

Other Content Creation Tools:

• Venngage
• Piktochart
• Canva
• Recordit
• Kap
• Adobe Color CC

Video Marketing

It's 2017 -- haven't you heard? Video is the thing everyone is talking about. But how do you actually implement it into your marketing?

Maybe your strategy is just to put a YouTube video embed on one of your blog posts or landing pages. But then what happens? Someone else's ad plays on your landing page before your video even begins. That's bad for your conversion rates, brand, and your user. Luckily, there's a solution.

Wistia is a powerful video hosting platform that allows you to host your videos on your website -- ad free -- with a guaranteed smooth playback and responsive player. Wistia also helps you prove the ROI of your video efforts by offering you video analytics and key metrics to fine-tune your video marketing efforts over time. Ready to take your video marketing to the next level?

Try Wistia for Free Now

Other Video Tools:

• Vidyard
• Vimeo
• YouTube

Content Distribution and Brand Awareness

While it might seem like a given, when it comes to getting your content distributed online, there really is king that we'd be remiss if we'd different mention:

I know, I know. Google isn't "exactly" a new or a fascinating tool that you didn't already know about. That said, within the same parent company is another important distribution channel that many marketers often forget when they're strategically distributing content for the sake of brand awareness.

YouTube is becoming more and more important to marketers lean more heavily on video-based content. While, of course, you should continue to optimize your text-based content for search engine optimization, don't forget to consider YouTube as an important channel as well. Not only is YouTube great for hosting your videos and getting them shared across social networks, it's also important to optimize your videos for search to get found on YouTube as well.

Other Distribution and Brand Awareness Channels:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Product Hunt

Continuing Education and Learning

A challenge all marketers face is the need for continuous learning over time. With new tools and methods changing all the time, it's essential to stay on top of the trends and changes. Luckily, there aren't a shortage of tools and platforms for you to learn new tactics or techniques and take necessary classes.

HubSpot Academy, for example, is a great place to go anytime you need to get up-to-date information on the latest marketing best practices, find answers to your questions, get certified in a new area of expertise, or renew certifications on subjects that you're a little rusty on.

Bookmark your HubSpot Academy portal today

Other Ongoing Education and Learning Tools:

• Lynda.com
• Udemy
• Codecademy
• Skillshare
• General Assembly
• DigitalMarketer

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

When it comes to your bottom-line goals, you probably want a few tools for not only attracting prospects to dedicated marketing campaigns, but just as importantly, converting those visitors into leads and customers.

Thanks to a drag and drop interface, Unbounce lets you quickly build mobile responsive landing pages without developer assistance. The tool also integrates with a number of different CMS platforms and tools.

With Unbounce Convertables, you can also launch targeted overlays on top of any web page, each with a dedicated call to action. Customizable triggers and targeting rules give you control over who sees your offers and when, so you can serve the most relevant offers to the right audience.

Try Out Unbounce Now

Other CRO Tools:

• Hotjar
• Optimizely
• Leadpages
• HubSpot Landing Pages Tool (try it below)

Build landing pages that convert visitors for free.

Event Marketing

Whether your team holds monthly customer and prospect events, yearly conferences, or just occasional community outreach parties and events, it's important to have the best event marketing tool up your sleeve when the time comes to use it. After all, in-person events are some of the best ways to interact with potential customers and create a brand experience that prospects, customers, and your community will remember.

Eventbrite is an efficient, easy-to-use tool tons of marketers rely on not only to manage the logistics (like ticketing) of events but also to promote their events. Eventbrite lets you create an event landing page and allows you to set up your ticketing and payment for the event all within the same platform. The best part? Eventbrite is always free if you're hosting a free event!

Check Out Eventbrite Now

Other Event Marketing Tools:

• Picatic
• Facebook
• AddEvent

Innovation and Efficiency Tools

If you're on the search for new marketing tools, chances are you're not just looking for the hammer and the nail in your toolkit. Instead, you might be looking for new and innovative solutions to try out and experiment with in your marketing. Sound about right?

As marketers, you've probably used forms -- whether on your site or in a survey -- more than a few times. But have you ever started to get bored with the same old, robotic form type?

Typeform is the tool you need to try if you're looking for new ways to interact with your prospects and customers while giving them a positive, human-centered experience. Typeform isn't just another survey tool. It's a conversational, interactive typeform that feels more interactive than a standard form. Use it to host survey content, lead forms, or even create content with it by putting together quizzes and more.

Try Using Typeform in your Marketing Today

Other Innovative Tools to Try:

• Giphy
• Todoist

Keeping Up with the Latest Industry News Tools

Reading this post alone won't end your career-long pursuit for the latest tools, trends, and marketing techniques. That's why keeping up with the latest industry news is a full part of your job as a marketer.

Product Hunt, a tool meant for finding the latest tools and products, is a must for any marketer trying to stay on top of the industry and find new channels to promote their own product launches. Product Hunt is a daily feed of launched tools, letting people upvote what they think is interesting. Pro tip: when you sign up for Product Hunt, set it as your homescreen in your browser so you'll always have a reminder to keep an eye out for what's new. Who knows? You might even decide to use some of the featured tools yourself!

Sign Up for Product Hunt Now

Other News and Timely Tools:

• Flipboard
• Pocket
• Your choice of online news sources or magazines

Lead Generation

If you're in the mood for demand generation, you probably have you eyes on the prize: converting anonymous website visitors into contacts with email addresses that you can successfully nurture. While landing pages are a must for some things, sometimes you want a shorter, simpler user experience to capture lead information.

HubSpot's free marketing tools can help do just that. The moment a lead shares their email, you’ll know who they are, where they work, and what pages they visited -- all in real time. When they view an offer or check your pricing, you’ll be ready to follow up right away.

And with simple but powerful analytics, you’ll learn more about what’s working and what’s not -- like which traffic sources or pieces of content are driving the most conversions. It's a risk-free way to find out what inbound marketing can do for you. No budget necessary.

Try HubSpot's Free Marketing Tools

https://bit.ly/3gYxlI9

Six Thinking Hats

What is your instinctive approach to decision making? If you're naturally optimistic, then chances are you don't always consider potential downsides. Similarly, if you're very cautious or have a risk-averse outlook, you might not focus on opportunities that could open up.

Often, the best decisions come from changing the way that you think about problems, and examining them from different viewpoints.

"Six Thinking Hats" can help you to look at problems from different perspectives, but one at a time, to avoid confusion from too many angles crowding your thinking.

It's also a powerful decision-checking technique in group situations, as everyone explores the situation from each perspective at the same time.

Six Thinking Hats was created by Edward de Bono, and published in his 1985 book of the same name. You can now find it in a new edition.

It forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and to look at things from a number of different perspectives. This allows you to get a more rounded view of your situation.

You can often reach a successful solution or outcome from a rational, positive viewpoint, but it can also pay to consider a problem from other angles. For example, you can look at it from an emotional, intuitive, creative or risk management viewpoint. Not considering these perspectives could lead you to underestimate people's resistance to your plans, fail to make creative leaps, or ignore the need for essential contingency plans.

In this article, we explore how to use the Six Thinking Hats technique, and show an example of how it can work.

How to Use the Six Thinking Hats Model

You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings, it has the benefit of preventing any confrontation that may happen when people with different thinking styles discuss a problem, because every perspective is valid.

Each "Thinking Hat" is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:

• White Hat: with this thinking hat, you focus on the available data. Look at the information that you have, analyze past trends, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and try to either fill them or take account of them.
• Red Hat: "wearing" the Red Hat, you look at problems using your intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also, think how others could react emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.
• Black Hat: using Black Hat thinking, look at a decision's potentially negative outcomes. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them.
  
  Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans "tougher" and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. It's one of the real benefits of this model, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that they often cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.
• Yellow Hat: this hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.
• Green Hat: the Green Hat represents creativity. This is where you develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. (You can explore a range of creativity tools to help you.)
• Blue Hat: this hat represents process control. It's the hat worn by people chairing meetings, for example. When facing difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking.

Terms reproduced with permission of Penguin Random House U.K.

A variant of this technique is to look at problems from the point of view of different professionals (for example, doctors, architects or sales directors) or different customers.

An Example of Six Hat Thinking

The directors of a property company are considering whether they should build a new office block. The economy is doing well, and the vacant office spaces in their city are being snapped up. As part of their decision-making process, they adopt the Six Thinking Hats technique.

Wearing the White Hat, they analyze the data that they have. They can see that the amount of available office space in their city is dwindling, and they calculate that, by the time a new office block would be completed, existing space will be in extremely short supply. They also note that the economic outlook is good, and steady growth is predicted to continue.

Thinking with a Red Hat, some of the directors say that the proposed building looks ugly and gloomy. They worry that people would find it an oppressive or uninspiring place to work.

When they think with the Black Hat, they wonder whether the economic forecast could be wrong. The economy may be about to experience a downturn, in which case the building could sit empty or only partially occupied for a long time. If the building is unattractive, then companies will choose to work in other, more attractive premises.

Wearing the positive Yellow Hat, however, the directors know that, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a healthy profit. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession.

With Green Hat thinking, they consider whether they should redesign the building to make it more appealing. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short term, then buy up property at a lower cost when the next downturn happens.

The chairman of the meeting wears the Blue Hat to keep the discussion moving and ideas flowing, encouraging the other directors to switch their thinking between the different perspectives.

Having examined their options from numerous viewpoints, the directors have a much more detailed picture of possible outcomes, and can make their decision accordingly.

Key Points

De Bono's Six Thinking Hats is a powerful technique for looking at decision making from different points of view.

It allows emotion and skepticism to be brought into what might normally be a purely rational process, and it opens up the opportunity for creativity within decision making.

Decisions made using the Six Thinking Hats technique can be sounder and more resilient than would otherwise be the case. It can also help you to avoid possible pitfalls before you have committed to a decision.

https://bit.ly/31asZH8

TikTok для бизнеса: эффективный инструмент или бесполезная игрушка

TikTok набирает невероятную популярность среди поколения Z: молодая аудитория проводит там ежедневно от 30 минут до нескольких часов. Кто-то считает, что эта площадка несерьезная, а кто-то видит в ней потенциал для продаж и качественный маркетинговый инструмент. 

Попробуем разобраться в этом вопросе вместе.

Как работает лента TikTok

Многие социальные сети проходят долгий путь от хронологической выдачи постов до собственных алгоритмов демонстрации публикаций пользователям. TikTok сразу перешел к рекомендованному контенту. В чем его особенности:

• Персонализированная лента. Вам покажут те видео, которые максимально соответствуют проявленным интересам. 
• Динамическая выдача. Результаты поиска будут зависеть от вашего поведения, времени, которое вы проводите в приложении и типа контента, который просматриваете. 
• Разнообразие результатов. Независимо от интересов, периодически вам будут демонстрировать видео из других тематик, которые потенциально могут представлять для вас интерес. 
• Из субъективных наблюдений. TikTok вовлекает, и если сначала может быть сложно провести там и 15 минут, то очень быстро вас «затянет»: вам начнут показывать все более релевантные и интересные видео — оторваться будет сложно. 

Если вы подумываете о том, чтобы завести канал, то рекомендуем исследовать площадку тщательно: посмотрите, как продвигаются бренды и блогеры, какой контент они генерируют и в каких жанрах работают.  

Возможности и функции

Основная задача платформы — создавать интересные видео. Возможностей немало, ниже только некоторые из них:

• Эффекты
• Дополненная реальность
• Микс
• AR-маски
• Дуэты
• Реакции

Популярные жанры

Для того, чтобы ваш контент смотрелся действительно уместно, важно понимать, какие форматы пользуются наибольшим спросом на площадке. Многие генерируют видео наощупь и каждый раз не знают, наберет ли оно достойное количество взаимодействий. На что стоит обратить внимание:

• Комедийные видео. Один из наиболее ярких и вирусных жанров. Вайны, шутки и приколы из жизни — это то, что заставляет аудиторию улыбаться, делать репосты, присылать видео друзьям и так далее. Частенько на других площадках создаются целые каналы-агрегаторы интересных TikTok-видео. Наверняка вы видели такие страницы в Instagram, Telegram и на других площадках.
• Влоги. Настоящая жизнь, как оказалось, интересует достаточно широкую аудиторию. Честный lifestyle, искренние разговоры, будни команды, закулисье брендов — все это «очеловечивает» бизнес, делает его более привлекательным для таргет-группы, особенно, если ее ядро — молодежь от 18 до 25 лет. 
• Красота, талант и спорт. Танцевальная студия может продвигать TikTok через преподавателей, фитнес-клуб — с помощью подтянутых тренеров. Самовыражение привлекает подписчиков: сеты упражнений, талантливые вокальные номера, танцевальные связки, процесс отрисовки макетов в гиперлапсе, создание яркого макияжа или укладки… В любой нише можно найти подходящий контент: процесс создания продукта, краш-тесты, «до-после» и многое другое. 
• Мода. Обзоры новинок, подиумных показов, советы по подбору и сочетанию вещей, тенденции и «модные “да/нет”» — это привлекает миллионы просмотров. 
• «Видео с котиками». Все, что связано с питомцами «заходит на ура» в публичном пространстве, и это ни для кого не секрет. Поэтому если у вас в офисе живет милый кот, вы можете завести для него канал.  
• Lipsing. Очень популярный жанр: включаете песню и делаете вид, что поете. Как ни странно, этот рецепт работает — такие каналы набирают немало просмотров, лайков, комментариев и подписчиков. 

Хештег-челлендж

UGC (User generated content) — контент, который создает аудитория компании. Например, с помощью своих видео можно стимулировать таргет-группу создавать собственные видео, оставлять комментарии, делать фото и т.д. Зайдите на сайт LEGO и оцените размещаемый там пользовательский контент. 

Один из популярных способов продвинуть продукт или услугу именно таким путем — хэштег-челлендж. Алгоритм достаточно простой: бренд генерирует креативную идею для ролика и запускает «волну» среди потребителей. Хороший пример — челлендж от «Сбербанка».

Аккаунт компании «Сбербанк» в TikTok был создан в марте прошлого года, и его задачей было наращивание активной аудитории, возрастом от 14 до 25 лет. Конечная цель — увеличить процент открытия молодежных карт и операций в онлайн-банкинге. 

Для участия в челленджах было привлечено 20 блоггеров [для работы с молодежными картами] и 8 блогеров [по программе «Переведи на Сбер»]. Это принесло 3,5 и 1,9 миллионов просмотров соответственно.

Платная реклама в TikTok

На площадке есть рекламные инструменты, и кроме органической оптимизации видео, можно также настроить таргетированную рекламу. Для этого здесь есть специальный кабинет. Однако, чтобы начать им пользоваться, нужно стать партнером TikTok — подписать агентский договор. Только после этого появится возможность работать с рекламодателями.

Те, кто уже работал в рекламном кабинете Facebook, быстро освоятся в TikTok, ведь тот похож на упрощенную версию первого. Пусть вас не смущает странная локализация на русском: «Беседа» и «Нагрузка» — это всего-навсего старые добрые «Конверсии» и «Трафик». 

Чем может быть полезен агентский кабинет TikTok:

• работа с рекламодателями и просмотр их общей статистики;
• создание рекламных кампаний (на уровне рекламодателя);
• распределение рекламного бюджета;
• назначение ролей (для просмотра, редактирования).

Всего в TikTok доступны три цели для рекламодателя: 

1. Трафик
2. Конверсии
3. Установка приложений

Создание рекламных объявлений в TikTok

Процесс настройки объявлений в TikTok предельно прост и, как уже говорилось выше, во многом схож с работой Ads Manager на Facebook. Поделимся несколькими лайфхаками о том, как получать лучший результат при настройке объявлений:

• Будьте креативны! 
• Осваивайте нативный формат и вертикальную видеосъемку.
• Подсматривайте и анализируйте, что больше нравится вашей ЦА.
• Не забывайте об авторских правах! Не ставьте на фон видео музыку известных исполнителей — ваш ролик не пройдет премодерацию.
• Заменить музыку в уже размещенном видео можно, зайдя в подраздел Library в настройках Smart Video Soundtrack. Одно из преимуществ TikTok — это большая библиотека лицензионного аудиоконтента!
• Рассчитывайте суточный бюджет для своих объявлений с умом: посмотрите сколько стоит конверсия и выделите на рекламу бюджет, который соответствует вашим ожиданиям по количеству конверсий.
• Внимательно указывайте теги и категорию своих товаров.
• Поиграйтесь с настройкой «Automated Creative Optimization» — так TikTok начнет сам комбинировать ваши ролики в поисках лучших сочетаний.
• Не стоит чересчур сужать свою аудиторию — потеряете в оптимизации.
• Тестируйте разные варианты с делением по возрасту, интересам и т.д.
• Если не указывать язык в соответствующей графе, вашу рекламу увидит большее количество пользователей, например, англоязычных.

В целом, интерфейс TikTok интуитивно понятен, со множеством популярных и полезных функций. Его юзабилити реализован очень качественно. Среди прочего здесь можно найти:

• Библиотеку с менеджером событий, где можно быстро и удобно настроить свои ивенты, приложения и Пиксель.
• Креативный центр с хорошим выбором настроек и шаблонов для редактирования.
• Аудитории, в т. ч. на основе взаимодействий с рекламой, сайтом, приложениями. Здесь же можно настроить Look-alike.
• Отчетность, в которой можно создавать и выгружать детализированные отчеты.

Технические требования к размещаемым видео следующие:

• Предельный размер файла для iOS — 250 Мб, Android — 75 Мб
• Кодек — H.264
• Соотношение сторон — 9:16
• Размер — 1080х1920 пикселей
• Форматы — mov, mp4

Полезен ли TikTok для бизнеса?

Гайдов и советов по инструментам, настройкам, креативу в TikTok — море. Уже существуют целые сайты, посвященные инструкциям и лайфхакам для русскоязычных пользователей. Что лишь доказывает популярность сервиса, которая растет в разы быстрее, чем даже у Facebook и Instagram.

У TikTok есть все необходимые перспективы для роли полноценного канала продвижения в сети и повышения продаж. Особенно как платформы для креативной, неагрессивной рекламы, создатели которой не боятся искать новые пути взаимодействия с аудиторией.

https://bit.ly/3eo2KRY

How to write a user story

By Simon Buehring 

Writing user stories takes a bit of practice when you are new to agile. That’s why we have developed this simple guide and handy graphic to get you started! They are covered in the popular Agile Project Management course.

If you think this guide will give others a good start to writing user stories, feel free to link to it from your blog or share it with your networks.

What is a user story in agile?

A user story is a simple description of a requirement and is a popular agile method to capture user requirements. It serves as a guide for the team about a user requirement. User stories are one of the many agile technique or methods which you will learn on the Agile Project Management courses.

User stories provide context and clarity of expectations, without focusing on technical details. Defining technical details too early can discourage alternative design options and changes. Being purposely vague, user stories provide room for creativity and interpretation.

A user story speaks from the end user perspective and follows this format:

As a ….. I want to ….. so that …..

User stories encourage team conversation which may uncover hidden assumptions and requirements. They are to be kept brief and should always meet the allocated acceptance criteria or definition of “Done”.

Who can write a user story?

Users are the ideal people to write user stories. If you’re using Scrum, it’s the Product Owner’s job to keep the Product Backlog full of user stories. The highest priority stories are pulled from the backlog to work on during a Scrum sprint.

How to write a user story

The key to writing an effective user story is to determine the who, what and why. Ensure that your user stories follow the I.N.V.E.S.T. standard – independent, negotiable, valuable estimable, small and testable.

1. Define your end user

The first thing to do when writing your story is to define your end user. Who is the person that will be using your product? A helpful way to visualise your user is to make them a persona profile. Give the person a name and find them a photo. Add their relevant attributes, attitudes and behaviours. Finally, give them a goal. The following example is a user definition for a smart baby monitor.

Example:

As a [parent]

2. Specify what your end user wants

For this part you’ll need to think about the solution your product is offering. What does your end user want from your product? Refer to the “goal” section of your persona profile, then add a brief description of this to your story. The following example shows what the end user wants from using a smart baby monitor.

Example:

As a [parent], I want to [check up on my sleeping baby without going into their room]

3. Describe the benefit of your product

Imagine that you are the end user speaking to the product developer. Tell the developer the benefit you will gain from using this product. The following example shows how the end user will benefit from using a smart baby monitor.

Example:

As a [parent], I want to [check up on my sleeping baby without going into their room], so I can [ensure their safety without disturbing them].

4. Add acceptance criteria

In agile, teams are required to deliver products that are potentially shippable. Acceptance criteria is the clearest and quickest way to determine whether a user story is done or not-done.

Each user story should have at least one acceptance criteria but try not to list too many. You can use S.M.A.R.T objectives to ensure your criteria are measurable. Always remember to write from your end user’s perspective and not confuse acceptance criteria with a to-do list.

Example:

As a [parent], I want to [check up on my sleeping baby without going into their room], so I can [ensure their safety without disturbing them].

- Night camera installed on baby’s cot monitor
- Baby temperature and breathing monitor function
- Data sent to parent’s smartphone
- Parent alert sent to smartphone if problem occurs

Start building your backlog

Once you have written your user story, you can add it to the backlog. Once you have a bunch of user stories, you can work on prioritizing and estimating the effort.

Embracing change is all part of the agile ethos, so product requirements may change during a sprint and you can refine your user stories as you progress. If you find that your user story is becoming complicated or undoable, you can break it into smaller user stories. That way, the stories are less likely to be left not-done at the end of a sprint.

The DSDM principles: A visual guide

By Simon Buehring

Learn the 8 DSDM principles and ensure they stick in your mind with this handy graphic and article. Ideal if you are working on DSDM projects at the moment or taking an AgilePM course.

Principles are the building blocks

DSDM has eight principles underpinning the framework. Each principle must be adhered to by the project team, as ignoring any of the principles can increase the chance of project failure.

The graphic below was created to help you learn about DSDM. If you like it, please show your appreciation by linking back to this page.

Now, let’s find out more about the DSDM principles and how teams can ensure they stick to them.

 

1. Focus on the business need

DSDM has a strong business-driven approach. A business case must be established for the project and the team must understand project priorities. Every decision the team make during the project should help achieve the project goal and the team must ensure the project is delivered on time.

MoSCoW prioritisation

To adhere to this principle, DSDM teams have several tools at their disposal. For example, the MoSCoW technique helps the team prioritise which of the business requirements Must be, Should be, Could be or Won't be delivered. Timeboxing helps to separate work into manageable chunks of time, with each chunk having its own deliverables and deadline.

The Foundation phase in DSDM also helps the team build focus. During this phase, team roles are established. The team then form the overall strategy, decide how risk/quality will be assessed, how technology will be used and how the project will be managed.

2. Deliver on time

DSDM places a strong emphasis on prompt delivery, proposing that even projects without any need for a fixed deadline still benefit from one. This is because having deadlines is the best way to control changing requirements. To stick to this principle, DSDM teams should focus on priorities, hit deadlines and manage their time by using the MoSCoW and timeboxing techniques.

3. Collaborate

Team spirit and collaboration is highly important for DSDM teams. This is based on a rejection of having multiple departments that rarely interact. Teams should instead work as one unit and collaborate to encourage understanding, higher performance and shared ownership.

Business and technical staff work together

DSDM teams fulfil this principle by having business and technical staff together in the team, instead of separately. The team involve stakeholders throughout the project and ensure each team member feels empowered to make decisions. The team use ‘workshops’ to meet stakeholders and involve them in the project.

Ensuring collaboration

The visionary, ambassador and business advisor roles also ensure collaboration. The visionary conveys the sponsor’s needs to the team and ensures the business case objectives are achieved. Ambassadors communicate user’s needs to the development team, whilst business advisors assist with areas such as law or marketing. On a non-agile project, these roles would be performed outside of the project or would not exist at all.

4. Never compromise quality

Quality is always fixed on DSDM projects and must be decided at the start. The final product shouldn’t be any more or any less than the quality decided upon.

Continuous testing

To adhere to this principle, DSDM teams must ensure quality doesn’t become a variable by testing continuously and reviewing constantly. This testing and reviewing occurs during the ‘exploration’ and ‘engineering’ iterative development phases. Testing should happen early in the project. Again, MoSCoW and timeboxing can be used to ensure testing is appropriate and organized.

5. Build incrementally from firm foundations

DSDM differs from other agile methods as it requires the foundations of the project to be agreed early. The foundations don’t need to be in too much detail – just agree on what the problem is and how to solve it. Once foundations are established, the solution must be delivered incrementally.

Just enough design up front

To adhere to this principle, DSDM teams must ensure they perform analysis and ‘enough design up front’ (EDUF) at the start of the project. During each increment, the team must re-assess priorities and project viability, ensuring they have taken stakeholder feedback into consideration. Both the feasibility and foundation phases allow for establishing a foundation; the exploration and engineering phases allow for incremental delivery.

6. Develop iteratively

DSDM proposes that nothing is created perfectly first time and projects operate in a constantly changing world. Incremental delivery allows for such change to be embraced and leads to higher stakeholder satisfaction. Each iteration is combined with testing, demonstrations and feedback. This ensures that each iteration improves upon the last and leads to a decent final product.

Feedback loop

DSDM teams can adhere to this principle by building feedback into each iteration. They must also be in the mindset that details should emerge later, not sooner, and they must embrace change. During each iteration, they should encourage creativity and experimentation, which will lead to learning and improvement. Constant review and feedback allow for change and progress to occur.

7. Communicate continuously and clearly

Bad communication often leads to project failure and traditional non-agile approaches fail to address this. DSDM aims to improve communication by using frequent face-to-face meetings, visual communication (modelling), advance releases of prototypes and workshop sessions.

Daily stand-ups

DSDM teams can fulfil this principle with several methods. One way is to encourage team interaction through daily stand-up meetings. These informal meetings allow the team to meet and discuss issues or ideas together. Facilitated workshops are also an effective way for stakeholders to improve their understanding and discuss requirements.

DSDM teams commonly use modelling and prototyping to further improve communication. These practical methods help replace the need for heavy, useless documentation.

Modelling

Modelling is a visual form of communication utilizing diagrams. This allows for complex systems, designs and products to be better understood.

Prototyping

Prototyping means creating prototypes of the product early in development, to allow stakeholders to ‘test-drive’ early versions of the solution.

8. Demonstrate control

It is vital to keep control of the project. DSDM proposes that it is only possible to do this by using a plan aligned to the project aims, with both being accessible to the entire team.

Ensure progress is visible

DSDM teams, especially the project manager and team leader, can fulfil this principle by ensuring plans and progress are visible to everyone. Managing must be proactive with an emphasis on reporting and tracking.

Measure progress by delivery

Also, progress must be measured by looking at what has been delivered, rather than activities completed. Timeboxing helps to control who is doing what and when. DSDM can also be combined with methods such as Kanban, which help teams to visualize project progress and see who is doing what, when and how long it will take them.

Summary

As you might have noticed, the eight DSDM principles embody the principles of the agile manifesto. The focus on iterative delivery, effective communication, collaboration and continuous delivery all align with the agile philosophy. DSDM also has some of its own characteristics – it’s process model and specific team roles - for instance. Yet, many of the other tools and techniques recommended by DSDM - modelling, prototyping and workshops, timeboxing, MoSCoW - are used by other agile methods.

DSDM® is a Registered Trade Mark of Agile Business Consortium Limited.