Marketing Qualified Lead
A lead that has been deemed more likely to become a customer based on engagement with marketing activities.
Definition
A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospect who has demonstrated interest in your offerings through specific behaviors—downloading content, attending webinars, or repeatedly visiting pricing pages. They've moved beyond casual browsing.
MQL criteria vary by business but typically involve lead scoring based on demographic fit and behavioral engagement. When a lead crosses a threshold score, they become an MQL ready for sales outreach.
Why It Matters
MQLs bridge marketing and sales, ensuring reps focus on prospects with genuine interest rather than cold leads. This alignment improves conversion rates and sales efficiency.
Tracking MQL-to-customer conversion helps optimize marketing campaigns. Low conversion rates signal either poor lead quality or sales process issues that need addressing.
Examples in Practice
A B2B company defines MQLs as leads who download at least 2 resources AND visit the pricing page. These get 3x higher sales conversion than other leads.
After analyzing data, a marketing team discovers webinar attendees convert to MQL at 40% versus 5% for blog readers—shifting budget toward webinar production.