How to Assess Your Digital Maturity

May 28, 2021

Digital maturity is a measure of an organisation’s ability to create true value through digital means.

Digital maturity is not strictly confined to the technology a company uses. An organisation can have access to the most cutting-edge technology on the market, but if their employees don’t use it correctly, they cannot define themselves as truly digitally mature. For companies that are far from digital maturity, the wealth of digital tools available can be bewildering.

However, the benefits of becoming digitally mature are worth the time and cost investment. One major lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that all companies need to be working towards digital maturity because more consumers are using digital channels to make purchases. More so than ever, digitally mature businesses are likely to outperform their competitors in terms of revenue growth, the quality of their products and services and general efficiency.

Likewise, digitally mature organisations have a more straightforward digital transformation process. They have the tools and culture to implement digital changes quickly and efficiently, allowing them to pivot in line with consumer demands. In today’s competitive landscape, efficiency is vital and is something that many businesses still need to tackle.

How can onefourzero help?

Digital Capabilities Audit

We can help organisations assess their digital maturity by conducting a Digital Capabilities Audit.

Using our Digital Maturity Framework, we are able to help you better understand how your company is performing from the perspective of a digital customer. It will also allow us to develop an endemic technology framework, including data use, storage, and exchange.

As part of the process, we will be able to determine the success of the brand through eCommerce projections and engagement. This exercise will allow us to understand where there are any digital red flags, and where/ if they exist, we can recommend improvements. After assessing the organisation’s digital maturity, we can determine the level of investment required to fix the flagged issues and support you with a plan to prioritise and redress these.

Assessing technical capability

A vital stage of the Digital Capabilities Audit is assessing how your organisation is using technology. We will determine this through a range of technical and organisational indicators which are outlined below.

Does the organisation continually scan for new technologies to adapt to changes in the market and competitor technology?
Are cybersecurity systems in place and is technology is kept up to date?
Do individuals within the organisation understand cybersecurity and take ownership of managing the risks?

Is there a plan in place for responding to a cybersecurity incident and is the plan understood by all staff and volunteers?
Does the organisation use digital collaboration and communication tools to help staff and partners work together effectively?
Does the organisation continually assess and improve its IT setup to make sure it meets the needs of all stakeholders?
If new technology is built, do team members consider if the technology can be made available for other organisations to use?
Does the organisation consider the ethical implications of the technology used or developed?
Does the organisation collect data about the people who use products and services?
Is data collected securely, and is it protected with frequent backups?

The digital customer

There are many different types of customers, but as a group, the number of digital customers is growing quickly, across most sectors. Businesses must know their digital customers as much as possible if they are to compete successfully.

However, digital customers are complex. One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was an expedited retail transformation that saw a significant uplift in the number of people familiar and adept at using digital tools and services as millions of individuals turned to eCommerce to purchase goods and services. While eCommerce made up 13.6% of retail sales in 2019, this figure jumped to 18% in 2020 and is expected to reach 19.5% in 2021.

With access to a whole range of digital services, digital customers can find businesses in various ways, including through social media, websites (desktop and mobile), and email marketing activities, and may seek out reviews before committing to a purchase.

As part of the Digital Capabilities Audit, we assess an organisations’ understanding of their digital customer base using the following statements:

We know the profile of our digital customer.
The organisation understands the customer journey and how consumers find us.
We understand what platforms customers use to engage with us.
Consumer engagement on our platforms is good.
Consumers think highly of our brand and product.
Our content resonates with our audience.
We are perceived as a leader in our field.

Assigning values and rankings to these statements, we can ascertain how the organisation interacts with their digital customers. Vitally, we can then work with a business to better understand their digital customers and improve the relationship, customer journey and engagement between an organisation and their all-important digital customers.

How has the Digital Capabilities Audit helped organisations achieve their digital potential?

We recently worked with a pharmaceutical company on its digital transformation strategy.

The client in question required in-depth analysis of their target digital audiences, platforms, compliance reviews, and an effective go-to-market strategy. Our approach was multi-faceted: we started by mapping the digital behaviours and journeys of healthcare professionals and patients in the clients’ field. Additionally, we provided a compliant platform and a content roadmap to reach these groups, including the facilitation of effective recruitment into closed networks. Finally, we compiled and utilised search and engagement data to make strategic content recommendations for paid, owned and earned search channels.

The impact of these actions was that the client in question had a clear roadmap for their digital transformation strategy, including platforms and channels to utilise. Furthermore, we provided them with an SEO-friendly content plan based on the needs of the clients’ target groups which internal employees or an external agency could implement.

Achieve digital maturity with our help.

Digital maturity is an achievable goal for all organisations, and onefourzero can help companies from any sector reach it.

Our robust datasets provide the foundation for our expert consultants and our proprietary tools help organisations make commercial sense of these digital metrics. Additionally, we offer plans and pathways to full digital transformation from product and service realignment to full technical and organisational implementation.