February 13, 2024
Marketing can feel like a black box, and many owners are unsure whether they have what they need for their business to succeed.
The Marketing Maturity Framework is a strategic tool that aids businesses in assessing the effectiveness and maturity of their marketing practices.
Knowing where you are in the journey lets you know what you need to move forward. This guide will outline the phases of marketing maturity.
The existential phase is where everyone begins. It’s the foundation of what we bring to market.
Starting a business comes with unique challenges. A lot of money is saved by starting with clarity. But without it, you’re rudderless.
Understanding the existential stage is crucial and includes elements like:
You can graduate from this stage when you have a solution statement that captures all these elements for each offering.
Learn more about the existential phase on marketing maturity.
Let's validate our ideas by engaging with actual market members.
In the Discovery Phase, we move beyond the theoretical underpinnings of our product or service to truly understand the pulse of the market. Here are the essentials of this phase
Don’t skimp on the discovery phase, as it will set the foundation for everything that follows in your marketing strategy. You can only move forward when you have obtained a level of validation that aligns with your risk tolerance.
In the business world, market adoption is a crucial stage companies must go through to succeed. It’s also where most businesses are currently stuck.
You're taking everything from the previous two phases and placing them into a live format for mainstream adoption.
The essential elements of the adoption phase include:
When you hit this milestone, it means you have won your position in the market and have a solid foundation on which to build.
Sustainability has become an increasingly crucial concept in today's fast-paced and ever-changing business environment. For your business to survive and become sustainable, you must take the essential steps below.
When you’ve stacked enough cycles in the growth spiral, you become a sustainable business.
Learn more about the sustainability phase on marketing maturity.
For founders and visionaries, navigating the scalability phase is a conscious decision to own a market. It is a transitory stage from Sustainability toward Saturation.
In order to scale, you must prioritize these essentials.
The scalability phase is pivotal in the journey towards market dominance. It calls for deliberate actions and calculated risks, an unyielding investment in people, and a tireless pursuit of scaling without losing identity.
You graduate from scalability when you can prove you met your goal for market dominance.
Learn more about the scalability phase on marketing maturity.
Now, you are in the position of owning the market. So you have a big target on your back.
To stay at the top, you must focus on the essentials:
Why will we matter 100 years from now? Saturation involves future-proofing your existential position.
Learn more about the saturation phase on marketing maturity.
The events can happen in any phase of the Maturity Model but become more common during the Saturation phase. These events include
The purpose of the event is to protect the integrity of everything you’ve built. It’s interrupting your regularly scheduled programming. So now the priorities shift or change to weather the event and then move forward.
Navigating through the complexities of the Maturity Model is a dynamic process that requires foresight, adaptability, and strategic planning.
From laying the groundwork in the adoption phase to demonstrating tenacity in the sustainability phase, all the way to achieving market leadership in the scaling and saturation phases, business leaders must remain vigilant and proactive.
The journey is punctuated by various Events that test organizational resilience and require nimble responses. Ultimately, the goal is not just to survive but to thrive and leave a lasting impact—a legacy that resonates for generations.
By mastering each of these phases and thoughtfully engaging with each Event, businesses can aim to weave enduring success into the fabric of their enterprise.
