Today we’re digging into something that I've seen a lot lately. Digital marketing keeps advancing, sometimes at a pace that feels impossible to keep up with. I know it feels extremely difficult for me, and it's what I do for a living. Inside most organizations, the maturity level of their marketing systems isn’t moving fast enough. It's hard, and that gap creates problems. It slows growth. It leads to scattered activity. It makes results feel unpredictable, even when people are working hard every day.

Smart Insights recently published new research, and the numbers make this really clear. Nearly half of all businesses are still sitting at Levels 1 or 2 on a digital maturity scale of five. That’s a big deal. Because those lower levels are where a lot of energy gets spent without much direction. You see teams posting on social, running ads, writing emails, building landing pages… but it's not always connecting. It’s like everyone is rowing, but nobody is in sync or in agreement on the destination.

Today, let's look at 3 takeaways that might help you take the next step in your digital marketing strategy.