Imagine you have tons of website visitors, subscribers to your email newsletter, an incredible number of “resource” downloads; but you have way fewer customers. Well there can be a huge number of factors affecting your conversions but in B2B, one of such major factors could be inadequate identification of MQLs
MQLs are web visitors/users that your marketing team(s) should identify from the aforementioned sources. The major issue that B2B businesses face is that they fail to identify leads from early on. Even if they kind of identify leads, they fail to judge the “readiness” of those leads – that is they find it difficult to qualify them.
In this article, we will discuss what actually on earth an MQL is and how do you qualify leads.
What is an MQL?
An MQL is a lead that shows interest in your product/service by different behaviors. This lead is receptive to your sales pitch compared to other leads and s/he is more likely to become your customer.
There are several scoring systems to identify an MQL based on his/her behavior. This lead scoring system differs from organization to organization as it is decided by the marketing expert of the organization. An MQL is scored according to his/her behavior and engagement. Different activities like visiting websites, filling the subscription forms, downloading the resources, etc. have different scores. When a prospect gets engaged with these activities, the marketing team scores this lead and nurtures him/her accordingly. They need to get trustworthy web hosting for WordPress, provide good UX on the website, and consider other elements
Once that lead is positive towards your product/service, the marketing team makes him/her move through the sales funnel.
One remarkable point is that all marketing qualified leads are not assured customers but they are probable customers. Though the behaviors show all positive signs, sometimes they are not ready to purchase.
Examples of Marketing Qualified Lead Behaviors
There are several examples of marketing qualified lead actions that can be noticed to nurture him/her. Here are a few examples:
- Frequent visit to your websites
- Downloading resources like a whitepaper, e-book, infographics, videos, etc.
- Subscribing for the newsletters
- Request for the demo
- Spending a lot of time on your blog or other content
- Registering for webinar
- Registering for the events
- Viewing your ads
- Requesting for more information
- Clicking your every email
These are the common actions through which you can find an MQL but you can’t assume that they will be your definite customers. This is the first step to nurture a prospect to convert to your customer. Apart from these, there are different ways to identify efficient MQL like lead scoring, analytics, buyer persona, etc.
How do you identify an MQL?
All leads that behave positively are not necessarily the marketing qualified leads. One of the most efficient ways to identify the marketing qualified leads is monitoring buyers’ journeys and existing customers’ behavior closely. The monitoring process includes the data of demographics like the type of business, size of the company, job title, location, employee details, etc.
Sometimes the buyers’ habits are also helpful for identifying an MQL. Here are a few points with which you can identify marketing qualified leads (MQL).
- Know historical behavior
- Collect existing customer feedback
- Concentrate on the trends
- Identify your competitors
- Know historical behavior
Generally, it is always important to research your prospects’ account before contacting them. When it comes to identifying an MQL, knowing his/her historical data can provide you correct assumption.
Know the purchase history of the lead and frequency of every purchase. What kind of product or service s/he has taken. These kinds of data will provide you with the idea if that lead is an MQL.
- Collect existing customer feedback
Everyone perceives his/her product/service as a good and perfect one. But only a third person can find a flaw in the product. Collect the feedback from the potential customers (existing customers and from those who backed out) about your product and see any change you can make to give a good shape to it.
After implementing the additional features to your product/service, you can target those who backed out initially.
- Concentrate on the trends
Look at the marketing efforts which acquire more conversions. It may be the resources, content, ads, best webinar platform, events, and offers. Concentrate on those particular ways to identify quality marketing qualified leads.
- Identify your competitors
Look at your competitors and find the USP that attracts a plethora of customers. Adopt the marketing efforts and tactics to show your presence accordingly. Make noise with your USP to attract your customer who is in search of that.
Conclusion
Sometimes a few prospects download the e-book either out of curiosity or to have information, book demo to see how your product performs but their real intention is not to purchase. In that case, it is very difficult to identify marketing qualified leads.
It is always good to set your own lead scoring system according to your business type. It will be helpful to make a decision between a regular lead and marketing qualified lead.
