Uncovering the Key Components of Digital Marketing Maturity

“The State of Digital Maturity in Europe” found a strong correlation between business performance and digital marketing maturity, with marketers at high-revenue companies scoring at the highest levels of maturity. In comparing European countries, the most mature marketers come from companies based in Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Among the top-performers, goal-setting was a shared best practice, with the majority aligning their programs to pipeline goals and viewing success in terms of revenue growth. In fact, 87% align their digital strategy to both sales and marketing goals, and almost just as many use funnel conversion rates and pipeline as key performance indicators. And, the most mature marketers aim to be data-driven, with 81% of those surveyed leveraging digital channels to capture first-party data.

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Even The Most Mature Have Room to Improve

However, the report also found that even the most mature marketers have room to grow. While marketers are successfully setting goals and creating a strategy that aligns with those goals, they are not continuously measuring their progress against those targets: only one in five of those surveyed using data-driven insights to optimize digital engagement throughout the year. This disconnect demonstrates that even the most mature marketers face a gap in performance metrics which could limit the ability to predictably improve results over time.

While European B2B marketers are collecting data, they’re also struggling to utilize the analytics and insights they’ve gleaned to make gains and take action. Only one in five are using this data to revise strategy, and a majority of European B2B marketers are not personalizing digital experiences. The majority of marketers are already collecting the necessary data, so this is a significant missed opportunity to leverage the data to drive increased digital engagement.

“This report showcases that, while European B2B marketers are on the right track, there is a critical gap when it comes to using the existing resources, like data and analytics, to inform engagement strategy,” says Cheri Hulse, Vice President of Strategy and Research at ON24. “This report highlights an opportunity for marketers – from the highest achieving to those still nascent on the path to digital maturity – to leverage the data they gather to achieve greater results.”

To determine digital maturity, ON24 asked marketers a series of questions to calculate an overarching “maturity score.” Questions fell into five categories: 1) Strategy, Process and People; 2) Data and Measurement; 3) Driving Action and Engagement; 4) Technology; and 5) Experiences and Personalization. These categories define the five pillars of marketing maturity, which indicate an organization’s ability to accelerate business goals and scale marketing programs in digital channels.

By outlining the key aspects that make up a digitally mature marketing company, the report reveals significant opportunities for B2B marketers to drive growth in 2023. Moving forward, marketers should leverage data to drive digital engagement, deliver intelligent campaigns, inform optimization and enable personalization at scale. When these steps are taken, marketers can advance digital maturity and improve business results.

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