Digital Maturity Model: Calculate Your Path to Growth

It’s often hard to define what exactly we mean when we say something is mature. It can be subjective, for instance, at what age is it appropriate to leave a child at home alone, or relatively objective, such as aged wine rising in value over time. 

However, in the digital world, maturity can be systematically measured in order to drive operational efficiencies and bring about new business opportunities. The science behind it? Digital maturity models (DMM). 

Digital maturity models, coupled with company research and analytic tools, help you understand your performance online relevant to your competitors. These frameworks help you draw actionable insights that lead to continuous improvement. 

Read on to understand how to determine your digital maturity and build an effective roadmap for business growth.  

How to define digital maturity

So what actually is digital maturity?

There isn’t one clear definition, as it can vary based on industry size or type. For this article, we define digital maturity as a measure of an organization’s ability to create value and take advantage of technological developments that change how the market functions. 

It’s an attempt to determine how well a company or brand has adopted digital advancements and is capitalizing on new tools and technology available to them.

When discussing digital maturity, you’ll most likely encounter the term digital transformation journey which is a general shift in the technologies used to run your company, such as from analog to digital. There are digital transformation maturity models available that can help you analyze and track this. 

Workflows, decision-making processes, and internal processes are affected by digital transformation. 

What is a digital maturity model?

A digital maturity index lets you assess your company’s level of digital maturity at any given moment. 

The model describes the different stages a business needs to complete to be considered up-to-date with current digital capabilities.

By evaluating how digitally mature you may be at any given moment, you can benchmark yourself to others in your industry, giving you a competitive advantage when planning for the future.

Why digital maturity assessment matters

There are three main reasons why you should make digital maturity assessment a priority for your company.

1. People expect a digital presence

Customers, employees, and business partners expect businesses to provide a seamless digital experience and accessibility. We want fast and effortless communications and actions – and overall a more engaging user experience.

You want to analyze where you stand compared to market leaders to determine how to move forward to meet growing expectations.

2. Organizations need more efficiency

No one should waste time fixing manual errors or repeating processes that can be automated. Increased efficiency will lead to more productivity and should always be one of your primary business goals.

Gauge your efficiency level against the optimal or preferred ones, and determine if there is any technology you can implement to help streamline any bottlenecks.

3. The future is digital

Digitally mature companies are already outperforming the less mature competition. In the long run, this enables growth.

You want to assess your current position in the landscape using market research to evaluate the efforts and next steps towards optimization.

Now let’s take a look at some of the digital maturity assessment tools available to you. 

What are the stages in a digital maturity model?

There are a variety of digital maturity models you can use to measure your digital maturity level. Let’s look at the DMM developed by Google and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which names four stages: nascent, emerging, connected, and multi-moment. 

1. Nascent – basic monitoring 

Nascent means beginning to develop. Companies in this stage use digital technologies, but their data is managed separately, and they are usually monitoring only one or two data sources at a time. Typically, a lack of cooperation between departments characterizes this early phase. Data is only relevant for a small number of use cases, therefore the impact is minimal and is difficult to rely on for decision-making.

Take a look at this example: Like everyone, you have a website. BI analyzes traffic, marketing produces content, sales delivers it to prospects, accounting calculates finances, but each department uses its own set of digital tools and databases. You face challenges like having to manually transfer data from one team to the next and coordinating cross-departmental processes—these present serious stumbling blocks for long-term decisions.  

2. Emerging – developing intelligence 

In this stage, your company’s management team is aware of the imminent need for cooperation between departments and actively supports stronger digitalization. You begin to analyze the importance of various data sources. This means enabling cross-organizational communication methods and data-sharing, as well as creating and documenting repeatable processes. There’s a readiness to test and improve with new technologies, and team members are interested in how they can use data to influence strategic planning.  

Example: You have a CRM that is integrated with your marketing automation and analytics tools. Your marketing team now creates content and campaigns based on data they receive directly from the BI team, and your sales team receives lead information automatically when they qualify for sales. Accounts receivable pulls data from the same source.

What happens at the touchpoints causes a lot of friction, and things can fall through the cracks. You have connected data points but still can’t track revenue back to specific activities or identify root causes of errors. You get more work done but still lack efficiency and accuracy.

3. Connected – blending digital intelligence 

The name given to this stage explains it all. There no longer is a separation between departments. There is a blending of data around consumer insight. Traditional hierarchies are gradually being replaced with specific roles to achieve mutual goals. Data-driven business processes and the connection of online and offline datasets allow you to link efforts to outcomes. Data has become the backbone of your business. 

Data is now accessible to teams who don’t “own” them specifically, informing business decisions across a wide range of organizational processes and functions. 

Example: The increasing focus on data has led to working in project-oriented teams that include members of various departments. You measure results according to coherent metrics and KPIs. The idea is to achieve data-driven goals through collaboration. 

You have reached a level where you can create a digital strategy based on opportunities rather than challenges.

4. Multi-Moment – embedded digital intelligence

In the highest stage of digital maturity, your efforts focus on ongoing improvement and building for the future. Cross-function insights are the norm and you use continuous data monitoring and analysis to identify opportunities to increase effectiveness. There is no standstill; digital technologies and capabilities will keep evolving. Once you reach the top, it’s crucial to keep optimizing so you can stay there.

You have broken down the traditional department structure and set up cross-functional workflows and teams. Measuring every touchpoint enables you to analyze all processes and track results back to effort. You use a digital transformation maturity model to identify opportunities for improvement based on data and creating a cycle of optimization.

How to move up the digital maturity ladder

In order to understand your maturity gaps, identify your company’s specific challenges, regardless of whether they are directly related to digital technology or not. Set long-term goals, but adopt a step-by-step approach. 

For example, Deloitte’s approach to evaluating digital maturity is a three-stage process that helps you determine actions to move your digital transformation in the right direction. The basic framework can be described in the following steps:

Level 1 – Assess 

Assess your current state of digital maturity and set a vision for the future.

Level 2 – Prioritize 

Prioritize capabilities, improve your offerings, and take action.

Level 3 – Implement 

Implement the chosen action plan while leaving room for continuous improvement. 

The role Similarweb plays in your journey towards digital maturity

At the end of the day, it all comes down to having the right data. 

Moving towards a higher level of digital maturity starts with proper data analysis and leads to optimization of focus areas, a continuous and ongoing process.

Optimization is a cycle of action and reaction – measuring data, acting upon it, monitoring performance, analyzing the results, and improving your process. Then start again: measure, act, monitor, analyze, improve.

Similarweb lets you measure and monitor all your data and can also crunch some of the numbers for you. 

For example, Similarweb’s Research Intelligence platform calculates weekly or monthly averages and carries out year-over-year (YoY) comparisons. Automatically get a stickiness measure for your product or app. Receive percentages of traffic share distribution in your industry, including a breakdown per channel, location, device, etc. 

Take the next step

Correlate your company’s data with your direct competitors or industry-at-large so you can get a realistic view of where you stand. It helps you identify the steps you need to take to move to the next level. Implement, reevaluate and keep the wheel of optimization turning. 

Try Similarweb now for free to calculate your digital maturity level with competitive intelligence.

This blog post was written by Ruth M. Trucks.

The post is subject to Similarweb legal notices and disclaimers.

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