How to measure your CreativeOps maturity to unlock performance

Creative operations (CreativeOps) powers martech-driven organizations by turning technology’s potential into reality. Tools alone can’t implement themselves, run efficiently or deliver value.

CreativeOps brings the discipline, processes and accountability that make martech work. It ensures content and creative are scalable, measurable and fully integrated into technology and data ecosystems. More than process efficiency, it’s a core enabler of business value.

As marketing teams face increasing demands, understanding your CreativeOps maturity is essential. Use a simple model across strategy, people, process, data and technology to pinpoint your current state, reveal gaps and chart a path to higher performance.

Assessing your CreativeOps maturity

This simple CreativeOps maturity model helps leaders assess their organization and pinpoint gaps that hinder martech success. Evaluate your operations across five phases of maturity and prioritize investments to close the gaps.

The levels of maturity are as follows:

• Level 1 – Foundational.
• Level 2 – Emerging. 
• Level 3 – Established. 
• Level 4 – Strategic. 
• Level 5 – Visionary.

Strategy

• Level 1: Creative is order-taking and reactive, executing work based on incoming requests.
• Level 2: Mission and vision begin to take shape. Creative leaders try to align with marketing priorities, though strategy is still in the works. 
• Level 3: A clear strategy is in place and communicated. Creative is included in marketing planning and is no longer just executional production.
• Level 4: CreativeOps partners with marketing to drive proactive planning, resource allocation and work prioritization.
• Level 5: CreativeOps is a recognized strategic driver of brand, customer experience and enterprise martech success.

People

• Level 1: Creative talent are generalists wearing multiple hats. No formal ops roles. Firefighting culture.
• Level 2: Project Managers sit within the creative team. Resource bottlenecks begin to be addressed.
• Level 3: Dedicated CreativeOps role emerges. The team has more specialized creative roles.
• Level 4: CreativeOps scales with clear governance, offshore and/or agency models and training programs. Optimized org design with the right skills in the right places doing the right work. Early use of offshore and/or AI support.
• Level 5: Future-ready talent mix (AI-augmented roles, CreativeOps integrated with marketing ops and digital), with a strong culture of innovation and collaboration.

Dig deeper: Should creative operations report to creative or MOps?

Process

• Level 1: Work intake is inconsistent. Requests come in through email, chat or hallway conversations.
• Level 2: Basic project workflows and templates in place. Project Management tool utilized.
• Level 3: Consistent project intake, briefs and approval processes reduce rework and cycle times.
• Level 4: End-to-end workflows integrated with marketing ops. Agile practices are used where appropriate, and project forecasting becomes possible.
• Level 5: Processes are continuously optimized. Automation and AI enable speed-to-market.

Data and metrics

• Level 1: Little or no data. Leaders rely on anecdotal evidence of value.
• Level 2: Some efficiency metrics, such as volume and cycle times, are tracked. 
• Level 3: Operational reports on KPIs (efficiency and utilization). Some performance metrics begin to link creative to marketing results.
• Level 4: Dashboards link creative output to business outcomes (engagement, conversions).
• Level 5: ROI of creative efforts proven and shared. Predictive analytics guide resource allocation.

Technology

• Level 1: Tools are manual and disjointed. Teams rely on spreadsheets, shared drives and email.
• Level 2: Core platforms (i.e., project management, proofing and DAM systems) are adopted but used inconsistently.
• Level 3: Tools are adopted across the team. Creative tech stack is functional and integrations are beginning.
• Level 4: Martech and creative tech are unified. Automation is emerging across workflows. Stakeholders gain easier access to assets.
• Level 5: Advanced AI and automation enable self-serve content and smart workflows. Technology drives efficiency, freeing teams for high-value creative work.

Dig deeper: CreativeOps can’t scale alone — fusion teams make it happen

How to use and apply this maturity model

Follow these steps to benchmark your creative operations and prioritize actions that drive impact.

Step 1: Assess your current state

Honestly evaluate your operations and select your level in each category. Self-assessment can be challenging, so consider gathering a small team and having each person evaluate separately. 

Collect input from creative leads, ops and marketing stakeholders to build a well-rounded view. Then, compare results to identify alignment and areas that need discussion.

Step 2: Define your target state

Using the maturity model, determine your current position based on your business goals. Not every company needs to reach level 5 in every category. Evaluate carefully against your objectives.

Step 3: Identify the gaps

For each pillar, note the difference between your current and target states.

For example:

Dig deeper: Creative misalignment is the silent killer of marketing ROI

Step 4: Build an action plan to close the gaps

IIdentify the lowest-scoring areas first, as these bottlenecks likely block martech success. Review all gaps and prioritize initiatives with the highest impact and lowest resistance to change. 

Each initiative will likely vary in impact (high, medium, low) and change effort (high, medium, low). Understanding the effort required and any dependencies will help you prioritize actions and develop a practical implementation plan.

Below are some sample actions by gap type:

• Strategy: Discuss with Marketing the benefits of including CreativeOps in planning and define expectations (RACI).
• People: Hire a CreativeOps lead and create hybrid resourcing with contractors, offshore teams, or agencies.
• Process: Provide training on tools and workflows with onboarding materials, videos or FAQs, and establish SLAs.
• Data / Metrics: Define key performance indicators, determine data collection requirements and update systems.
• Technology: Integrate the DAM with marketing automation tools and implement dynamic templates.

Step 5: Reassess annually at a minimum

Use the same model as a recurring CreativeOps health check.

CreativeOps is a critical strategic pillar translating martech potential into real-world business value. By identifying and closing gaps in operational maturity, you can build a robust, future-ready foundation that empowers your martech stack to drive enterprise success.

Dig deeper: Closing the gap between creative and marketing performance