What is Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)? [A Marketer’s Guide]

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What is a marketing qualified lead (MQL)?
A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a lead that’s likely to become a customer. They have shown interest in availing your product or service.

Getting leads is one thing. Knowing if they are qualified leads is another.

A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a type of lead who has expressed interest in your offering. They’re valuable to your business because they turn into sales qualified leads (SQLs) that become customers.

In this marketer’s guide to MQLs, we’ll cover everything you need to know to identify and nurture MQLs!

Let’s dive in!

What is a marketing qualified lead (MQL)?
A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a lead that has shown business owner database in your product or services by engaging with your marketing efforts.

MQLs show intent through an action like:

Visiting your site on multiple occasions
Placing products on their wishlist
Adding products to their shopping cart
Completing an online form
Clicking on ads
Trying free software demos
Availing trial subscriptions
Downloading web resources
Signing up for newsletters
Explore: How to Get More Marketing Qualified Leads

What makes MQLs relevant in the sales funnel?
MQLs are more than just part of the lead generation process. They’re a core element of the sales funnel that propels the conversion of leads to sales.

Setting effective MQL criteria saves your sales team a lot of time and resources, allowing them to move to the next process of the sales funnel and eventually bring in customers.

How to set criteria for MQLs


Lead scoring is a key method to identify MQLs by assigning values to each lead to determine a lead’s value. Here are some ways to create a successful lead-scoring system:

Assess historical behavior
Get customer feedback
Monitor leads that convert
Examine the demographics
Use your competitive advantage
Let’s go through each one:

1. Assess historical behavior
Buyer habits are key indicators of how MQLs interact with your business. When examining their historical behavior, it is important to see the entire path of their buying process.

How did these leads behave in the past? Compare leads who converted into sales and leads who failed to convert.

2. Get customer feedback
Responses from customers provide valuable information about their buying patterns.

Get feedback from visitors who decided to buy from you. You can also survey people who decided not to pursue their purchase.

Through customer feedback, you’ll discover the main reasons they decided to go with your competitors.