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A digital maturity model (DMM) is a structural framework that companies use to see where they stand in their digital maturity. Most digitally-savvy companies will be aware of a DMM and may understand their place in it, but many struggle to use the model to help them plan their future. To fully understand how a digital maturity model can benefit your company, it’s important to grasp how they work.
What is the Digital Maturity Model?
One of the most common DMMs you encounter when researching them, is the Google and Boston Consulting Group version. These two entities collaborated to build the model which consists of four stages, in this case: Nascent, Emerging, Connected, and Multi-Moment. This model showcases the basics of DMMs – the skeletal structure if you will. Companies often have their own versions, with different names but essentially all DMMs follow the same concepts:
- At least 4 phases of digital maturity ranging from ‘beginner to master’ levels. These phases, or stages, come with requisites, digital tools or skills that a company employs at certain stages, that dictate the digital maturity. The names of the stages vary from company to company, so don’t get distracted by the titles. What the Google-Boston model calls ‘Nascent’ others may call ‘Starter’ (at 2Stallions Digital we call it the ‘Basic’ stage).
- The universal truth of a DMMs is that it plots effectiveness versus efficiency. The aim is to optimize both effectiveness and efficiency, with the last ‘phase’ providing perpetual, lifetime value. Different companies may set different definitions or standards for each stage depending on their business goals.
Why do you need a Digital Maturity Model?
As we mentioned, a digital maturity model is a framework that helps map and guide your company towards a digitally successful future with potential limitless opportunities. Without know where your digital maturity currently stands, it becomes difficult to plot your course to digital maturity. Data shows that a focus on improving digital maturity improves efficiency and effectiveness of marketing and business success.
Essentially, think of a digital maturity model as the roadmap that guides your company through its own digital transformation.
The future is digital. If the global pandemic of the 2020s teaches us anything it’s that digital transformation is not only inevitable, it’s also necessary for company growth and long term survival. Digital transformation drives new business opportunities and operational efficiencies that were previously bottlenecked by traditional systems and processes. With the rise of digital technology, organizations are able to easily redefine the way they operate, but all that depends on the what stage of digital maturity you are in. Enter the digital maturity model!
How can you use the Digital Maturity Model to Drive Business Growth?
A digital maturity model lays out priorities and goals needed to achieve the next stage of digital maturity. So where do you start? The first thing is to understand where your company is currently at – is it just beginning its digital transformation, already further into its journey, or close to achieving full digitization? Depending on where you are in your digital transformation journey, that’s where you start with your digital maturity model.
A digital transformation comes with significant opportunities and threats, and it impacts every industry. Increasing digital and online connectivity allows companies to improve their entire business, improving internal cohesion, customer relations, and sales and marketing strategies.
Depending on what stage you’re in, you can use the DMM to set objectives, targets, and define the strategies and tactics you need to get there. To use our DMM as an example, if we would find that you’re at the ‘Ad Hoc’ stage, where you’re running online ads but need to improve the ROI (return on investment) or perhaps you have a social media presence but aren’t seeing any engagement.
The stage’s name ‘Ad Hoc’ indicates that you might be reacting to developments rather than proactively planning out the strategies to drive them. Working towards the next stage would include the development of a consolidated strategy based on your business needs and objectives. Each stage comes with its own targets and its own direction, aimed at reaching the next stage.
Final Thoughts
Every business needs a roadmap to get to where it wants to go. With the inevitability of a digital transformation lying in wait for every company, it’s vital that your business learns where it stands in its digital maturity and where it wants to go. Mapping the journey and following the plan it lays out is the biggest strength of having a DMM tailored to your needs.
Of course, it helps to have a guide on the journey, just to help you navigate. That’s where we at 2Stallions Digital Marketing Agency can help you! We’ve got a decade of experience helping our clients grow their businesses by leveraging digital performance marketing.
